Short answer: on a Mac, emoji shortcodes such as :tada: work only in apps that built the feature themselves: Slack, GitHub, Notion, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, Discord and a few more. Apple's own apps (Messages, Mail, Notes) have none. To type an emoji by name in every app, you need a system-wide picker such as Slash.
What a shortcode is.
A shortcode is a name for an emoji that you can type: :heart: for ❤️, :joy: for 😂, :+1: for 👍. You type a colon and the first letters, the app shows a list, and Enter or Tab puts the emoji in your text. People like shortcodes because their hands stay on the keyboard.
App by app.
| App on Mac | Own emoji codes? | What you type |
|---|---|---|
| Slack | Yes | :tada: (a colon, then the name) |
| GitHub (website) | Yes | :rocket:; a list appears after the colon |
| Notion | Yes | :apple |
| Telegram | Yes | :heart (a colon and a keyword) |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes | :smile: |
| Discord | Yes | :fire: |
| Signal Desktop | Yes | :name, then Tab (described in Signal's public issue tracker, not in its help pages) |
| WhatsApp for Mac | Not documented | WhatsApp's own list of Mac shortcuts names no emoji code |
| Viber for Desktop | Not documented | We found no official description |
| Messages | No | Uses the macOS emoji picker |
| Mail, Notes, Pages, TextEdit | No | Use the macOS emoji picker |
| Text fields on most websites | No | Depends on the website; most have none |
| Any app, with Slash | Yes | //tada, then Enter |
The problem: the habit does not travel.
Once you are used to :tada: in Slack, you type it in Messages too, and nothing happens. You get the text ":tada:" and have to delete it. Every app is different, so you cannot build one habit.
How to get emoji codes in every app.
There are two ways.
Free: text replacements, one emoji at a time.
In System Settings > Keyboard > Text Replacements, add :tada: and 🎉 as its replacement. Do the same for each emoji you want. It costs nothing, but you add each one by hand, there is no list to pick from, and Apple says replacements are not available in all apps.
One tool for all apps: Slash.
Slash is a Mac app that adds one emoji trigger to the whole system. You type // in any text field, the picker opens at your cursor, you type the name, and Enter inserts the emoji. It knows 3,900+ emojis and uses the familiar names: heart, joy, fire, thumbsup, +1, tada.
Slash uses // and not a colon on purpose. A colon is common in normal writing ("Note: …", "10:30"), and the apps in the table already listen for it. Two quick slashes almost never appear at the start of a word, so Slash does not get in the way. If you prefer a colon, you can set the trigger to : or :: in Settings.
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Names that work almost everywhere.
| Emoji | Name | Also |
|---|---|---|
| 😂 | joy | lol in Slash |
| ❤️ | heart | love in Slash |
| 👍 | +1 | thumbsup |
| 🎉 | tada | party in Slash |
| 🔥 | fire | |
| 🙏 | pray | thanks in Slash |
| 👀 | eyes | |
| 🚀 | rocket | |
| ✅ | white_check_mark | |
| 💯 | 100 |
The whole list is on the emoji names page.
Questions and answers.
What is an emoji shortcode?
An emoji shortcode is a short name for an emoji that you type with the keyboard, usually between colons, for example :tada: for 🎉 or :+1: for 👍. The app replaces the code with the emoji.
Do emoji shortcodes work in Apple Messages on Mac?
No. Messages on Mac has no colon codes. It uses the macOS emoji picker (Fn/Globe + E). To type an emoji by name in Messages, you need a tool that works in every app, such as Slash.
Are emoji shortcodes the same in every app?
Mostly, but not completely. Many apps follow the names that GitHub and Slack made popular, such as :heart:, :fire: and :thumbsup:, but each app has its own list. Slash uses the GitHub names (the "gemoji" list) plus extra short names such as lol.
How can I use Slack-style emoji codes in every Mac app?
Install a system-wide emoji picker. Slash opens when you type // in any text field, takes the emoji name as you type, and inserts the emoji when you press Enter. It works in native Mac apps and on websites.
Where can I find the list of emoji names?
The emoji names list on this site has every emoji in Slash with the names you can type, sorted into nine categories.
