Kaomoji keyboard – Kaomoji Explained
A kaomoji keyboard is any way of typing Japanese-style text faces such as (ᵔᴥᵔ) on a phone or computer: a built-in emoticon tab, a Japanese keyboard, or a copy-and-paste library. OpenGlyph keeps the faces below byte-exact, so one tap copies the face you see and pastes it anywhere that accepts text.
A kaomoji keyboard is any way of typing Japanese-style text faces such as (ᵔᴥᵔ) on a phone or computer: a built-in emoticon tab, a Japanese keyboard, or a copy-and-paste library. OpenGlyph keeps the faces below byte-exact, so one tap copies the face you see and pastes it anywhere that accepts text.
Cat and animal kaomoji — tap any one to copy
71 entries · tap any one to copy Last checked: August 19, 2026
How a kaomoji keyboard works
Kaomoji are not a single character. Each face is a short string built from many Unicode characters, so a keyboard has to either store the whole string as one shortcut or let you paste it. That is why a copy-and-paste library works on every device: it hands the keyboard a finished string instead of asking the keyboard to know it.
Kaomoji keyboard on Android and iPhone
Platform keyboards differ and change between versions, so check your own device’s keyboard settings and help pages rather than trusting a fixed recipe. Two routes are common: a keyboard that includes an emoticon or kaomoji tab, and a text-replacement shortcut that expands a short word into a face. We have not tested every phone, so we do not claim which keyboard has which tab; the copy buttons on this page work on both without any setup.
- Tap a face in the library above to copy it.
- Open the app where you want it and long-press the text field.
- Choose Paste. The face appears exactly as copied.
- To reuse a favourite often, save it as a text-replacement shortcut in your phone’s keyboard settings.
Why a face sometimes shows as boxes
A face can use characters from several Unicode blocks. If the font on a device lacks one of them, that character appears as an empty box. The fix is to choose a face built from more common characters, or to view it on a device with a fuller font set. We have not tested each face on each device, so the library marks nothing as verified here.
Building blocks of one kaomoji
The bear face ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ is four characters from the Unicode database, listed below by name and code point.
| Glyph | Code point | Unicode name |
|---|---|---|
| ʕ | U+0295 | Latin Letter Pharyngeal Voiced Fricative |
| • | U+2022 | Bullet |
| ᴥ | U+1D25 | Latin Letter Ain |
| ʔ | U+0294 | Latin Letter Glottal Stop |
For a deeper look at how faces are assembled, read what is a kaomoji, and browse the full set in the Kaomoji open library. OpenGlyph is a non-profit library and is not affiliated with Unicode, Inc. or any font foundry.
Questions people ask
Is there a kaomoji keyboard for Android?
Some Android keyboards include a kaomoji or emoticon tab, but availability depends on the keyboard app and version. Copying a face from this page works on any Android keyboard.
Is there a kaomoji keyboard for iPhone?
iPhone offers keyboards and text-replacement shortcuts that can produce faces, and the exact options depend on your iOS version. Copy and paste from this page works regardless.
Do I need to install an app?
No. Tap a face to copy it and paste it into any text field.
Why does a pasted face look different on another phone?
Fonts differ between devices, and a character missing from one font can appear as a box or in a different style.