This WhatsApp Emoji hack will blow your mind

We love a good hack at Tech Advisor Towers and this WhatsApp trick will change the way you use emojis on the popular messenger.

Before we start, I should note that this hack only works on the desktop or web browser versions of WhatsApp, but also on some other apps and services.

Once you’re logged into WhatsApp web or desktop and messaging someone, it may take a few clicks to get the emoji you’re looking for, but this simple hack will save you a lot of time and mean you don’t even have to do that anymore grab your mouse.

All you have to do is type a colon ‘:’ in the message box where you normally type text. As soon as you start typing the desired emoji, suggestions will appear above after just two characters.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

The more you type, the more WhatsApp will refine the suggestions. Once you find the one you want, simply press Enter to add it to the message. You can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to cycle through the options so you don’t have to reach for your mouse.

It does help to know the specific names of emojis to find the right one, but it is not a requirement. You can type things like ‘rage’ or ‘rain’ and WhatsApp will give you a selection of choices, or if you type ‘cry’ the ‘sob’ emjo will still appear.

Even a vague idea can help. For example, ‘face_with_hand_over_mouth’ can be found by typing one of these words (and you don’t need to type underscores, by the way). Or maybe you know you want a flower emoji, but you’re not sure which one, so just type “flower” and see what pops up.

This simple colon hack also works on other services like Slack and isn’t limited to the web version either, although it’s not as much of a time saver on the mobile app.

Give it a try and see what other apps it works on.

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