What does Emoji Search do?
Emoji Search finds an emoji when you know the idea but not the picture. Type a word, and only the emojis tagged with that word stay on screen. Click one and it's on your clipboard, ready to paste into a text, a post, a doc or a commit message.
Here are four real searches and exactly what comes back:
| You type | Results | Why |
|---|---|---|
| sad | 😥 😞 😔 😟 🙁 🥺 😭 💔 | 8 emojis carry the tag "sad", including the broken heart |
| hot | 🥵 🔥 🌶️ ☕ | Hot face, fire, spicy pepper and a hot drink |
| lol | 😂 🤣 | Both laughing faces are tagged "lol" |
| party | 🎉 🎊 | Party popper and confetti ball |
Results appear as you type, because the whole emoji list lives in the page. No server call, no loading spinner, no sign-in. Many emoji sites bury the search box under ads and autoplay video. This one opens with the cursor already in the search box.
How to search for an emoji and get a hit
The search has one rule: it shows every emoji with a tag that contains what you typed. Once you know that rule, three habits get you a hit almost every time.
- Type one word. Tags are single words, so "red heart" finds nothing while "heart" finds 12 hearts. Search for the noun and pick by eye.
- Type the short form. The tag on 🤔 is "think". Typing "think" finds it. Typing "thinking" finds nothing, because no tag contains the longer word. When a search comes up empty, delete letters from the end.
- Hover to learn the tags. Rest the pointer on any emoji and its full tag list appears. 🙏 is tagged pray, thank, please, namaste and hands, so any of those five words gets you there next time.
Watch for surprise matches. Because the search looks inside each tag, short queries match more than you'd expect. "rain" brings back 🚂 and 🚇 alongside the rain cloud, because their tag "train" contains "rain". "dead" returns 💀 and also 😐, whose tag is "deadpan". Add a letter or two and the extras drop off.
Leave the box empty and you get a starter set of 60 faces. Your Recents row, the last 16 emojis you copied, also shows only while the box is empty.
Find an emoji by the name people actually use
Most people don't know an emoji's official name. They know what it means in the group chat. The tags include a lot of those everyday names, so you can search the way you talk:
| What people call it | Type this | You get |
|---|---|---|
| "I'm dead" skull | skull | 💀 |
| Puppy eyes | puppy | 🥺 🐶 |
| Crying laughing | lol | 😂 🤣 |
| It's lit | lit | 🔥 |
| Keep it 100 | 100 | 💯 |
| Tada | tada | 🎉 |
| Bubble tea | boba | 🧋 |
| Please / thank you hands | please | 🙏 |
| Side eye, "I'm watching" | look | 👀 |
If you're trying to identify an emoji someone sent you, hover over it in the results to read its tags. For the exact Unicode code point behind a character, paste it into the Text to Unicode converter.
What's in the set, and what isn't
Emoji Search carries 256 hand-tagged emojis: faces, hand gestures, hearts, animals, food and drink, weather, travel, objects and common symbols like ✅, ❌ and 💯. Each one has between one and five tags. That's the set people reach for in everyday messages.
The full standard is much bigger. As of Emoji 17.0, released in September 2025, Unicode recommends 3,953 emojis. Most of that count is variations: every skin tone of every hand and person, every country flag, and sequences joined into one picture, like families and couples. Here's what you won't find in this tool:
- Flags. A search for "flag" returns nothing.
- People and skin tones. Searches for "man", "woman" and "child" return nothing, and hands like 👍 come in the default yellow only.
- Joined sequences. Families, couples and profession emojis aren't included.
- Official names. The hover shows the tool's own tags, not the Unicode name.
For those, your device's built-in picker has the full set. On a Mac, press Control + Command + Space. On Windows 10 and 11, press the Windows key + period. On an iPhone or iPad, open the emoji keyboard and use the search field at the top. Most Android keyboards have an emoji search too.
Recents and privacy
Every emoji you copy jumps to the front of your Recents row. Copy one that's already there and it moves to the front instead of appearing twice. The row holds 16; the 17th pushes out the oldest.
Recents are saved in your browser's local storage on your device. They don't sync between your phone and laptop, or between two browsers on the same laptop. Clearing your browser data clears them. What you type in the search box isn't saved or sent anywhere. Nothing about your searches leaves the page.
Emoji Search, Emoji Picker or Emoji Translator?
Pick the tool that matches what you already know.
- You know the word: stay here. Emoji Search is the fastest path from "fire" to 🔥.
- You want to browse: the Emoji Picker lays emojis out by category, which is better when you're shopping for the right mood rather than a specific picture.
- You have a whole sentence: the Emoji Translator swaps words in your text for emojis in one go.
- You want a surprise: the random emoji generator picks for you.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find the name of an emoji?
Search a word close to what it shows, then hover over the emoji to see its tags. The tags are everyday words, not the official Unicode name. For the code point, paste the emoji into the Text to Unicode converter.
Why does "thinking" find nothing when 🤔 is in the list?
Its tag is "think". The search looks for your whole query inside a tag, so a longer word than the tag never matches. Shorten the word and try again.
Are flag emojis included?
No. There are no flags in this set. Use your device's emoji picker, where flags have their own category.
Will the emoji look the same when I paste it?
Not always. You copy the character, not the picture. Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung each draw emojis in their own style, so the same 🔥 looks a little different on each device.
Why do I see an empty box instead of an emoji?
The device showing it doesn't have that emoji in its font yet, usually because the system is out of date. The character is still there. It will show once the device updates.
Does Emoji Search work on my phone?
Yes. It runs in any modern mobile browser. Tap an emoji to copy it, then long-press in your message and choose Paste.