Unicode: Emoji vs Text

When is a Unicode Character Rendered as Text or Emoji?

• ↔ (U+2194: LEFT RIGHT ARROW). Displayed as text.
• ↔ (U+2194: LEFT RIGHT ARROW). Displayed as emoji.

By Unicode's spec:

1. Some characters have both emoji and textual presentation.
2. Some characters have only emoji presentation.
3. Some characters have only textual presentation.

For those that have both emoji and textual presentation, Unicode specifies which one should be default.

A Unicode Variation Selector can be used to chose a presentation.

“Variation Selector” is a invisible character. It indicates a rendering preference for the character before it.

Unicode character in Browser

Browser or application do not necessarily respect the variation selector. For example, twitter renders vast majority of emoji as emoji, and ignores the variation selector. (as of 2018-06-12)

Font Influence

If the app has an associated font with text, the font most likely determine if a character is represented as text or emoji.

Determine Text/Emoji Presentation of a Character

There's no programable way to tell which character have both emoji and or text presentation.

Unicode Variation Selector

• Unicode Variation Selector

Can be Emoji or Text, Default to Emoji

The following can be emoji or text, default to emoji. (In practice, what it actually shows mostly depend on font or the app.)

😐 👽 🏂 🏄 🏊 👪 👈 👉 👆 👇 👍 👎 👂 💣 👓 🎓 🐕 🐈 🐦 🐟 🍸 🌍 🌎 🌏 🏠 🏭 🚇 🚍 🚑 🚔 🚘 🚲 ⏳ 🕛 🕧 🕐 🕜 🕑 🕝 🕒 🕞 🕓 🕟 🕔 🕠 🕕 🕡 🕖 🕢 🕗 🕣 🕘 🕤 🕙 🕥 🕚 🕦 🌕 🌜 🏆 🎮 🎭 🔈 🎧 📻 📟 💻 💿 🎬 📺 📷 📹 🔍 📚 💰 💳 📤 📥 📦 📫 📪 📬 📭 📋 🔒 🔓 🚹 🚺 🚼 🚭 ⏩ ⏪ ❓ ⛪ ⛲ ⛺ ⛽ ⛵ ⛅ ⛄ ⚽ ⚾ ⛔ ⭕ ❗ 🈯 🈚 ⛳ ⭐ 🀄 ⬜ ⬛ ⚓ ⚪ ♿ ⚫ ☕ ☔ ⚡ ◽ ◾ ⌛ ⌚ ♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♍ ♎ ♏ ♐ ♑ ♒ ♓ ☺ ☹ ☝ ✌ ✍ ❣ ❤ ✈ ☁ ❄ ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ☎ ✉ ✏ ✒ ✂ ➡ ↕ ↔ ✡ ☸ ☯ ✝ ☪ ▶ ◀ ☑ ✔ ✖ ✳ ✴ ❇ ▪

Can be Emoji or Text, Default to Text

The following can be emoji or text, default to text. (In practice, what it actually shows mostly depend on font or the app.)

🕵 🕴 🗣 🏌 🏋 🏎 🏍 🖐 👁 🗨 🗯 🕳 🕶 🛍 🐿 🕊 🕷 🕸 🏵 🌶 🍽 🗺 🏔 🏕 🏖 🏜 🏝 🏞 🏟 🏛 🏗 🏘 🏚 🏙 🛣 🛤 🛢 🛳 🛥 🛩 🛰 🛎 🕰 🌡 🌤 🌥 🌦 🌧 🌨 🌩 🌪 🌫 🌬 🎗 🎟 🎖 🕹 🖼 🎙 🎚 🎛 🖥 🖨 🖱 🖲 🎞 📽 🕯 🗞 🏷 🗳 🖋 🖊 🖌 🖍 🗂 🗒 🗓 🖇 🗃 🗄 🗑 🗝 🛠 🗡 🛡 🗜 🛏 🛋 🕉 ⏸ ⏹ ⏺ 🏳 ⏱ ⏲ ⏯ 🅰 🅱 🅾 🈂 🈷 ⏭ ⏮ ⛹ ⛑ ⛰ ⛩ ⛴ ⛈ ⛱ ⛸ ⛏ ⛓ 🅿 ⛷ ⭐ 🀄 ☘ ⚒ ⚔ ⚙ ⚖ ⚗ ⚰ ⚱ ⚛ ⚕ ♾ ⚜ ⚠ ⬆ ⬇ ⬅ ⏏ ⤴ ⤵ ♻ 〽 ◻ ◼ ⁉ ℹ ☠ ♨ ☀ ☂ ☃ ☄ ♟ ⌨ ☢ ☣ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↩ ↪ ☦ ☮ ♀ ♂ ‼ 〰 © ® ™ Ⓜ ㊗ ㊙ ▫

Always Shown as Emoji, Only

The following can only be shown as emoji. (In practice, what it actually shows mostly depend on font or the app.)

🥰 🥵 🥶 🥳 🥴 🥺 🦸 🦹 🦵 🦶 🦴 🦷 🦰 🦱 🦳 🦲 🥽 🥼 🥾 🥿 🦝 🦙 🦛 🦘 🦡 🦢 🦚 🦜 🦞 🦟 🦠 🥭 🥬 🥯 🧂 🥮 🧁 🧭 🧱 🛹 🧳 🧨 🧧 🥎 🥏 🥍 🧿 🧩 🧸 🧵 🧶 🧮 🧾 🧰 🧲 🧪 🧫 🧬 🧴 🧷 🧹 🧺 🧻 🧼 🧽 🧯 🤩 🤨 🤯 🤪 🤬 🤮 🤫 🤭 🧐 🧒 🧑 🧔 🧓 🧕 🤱 🧙 🧚 🧛 🧜 🧝 🧞 🧟 🧖 🧗 🧘 🤟 🤲 🧠 🧡 🧣 🧤 🧥 🧦 🧢 🦓 🦒 🦔 🦕 🦖 🦗 🥥 🥦 🥨 🥩 🥪 🥣 🥫 🥟 🥠 🥡 🥧 🥤 🥢 🛸 🛷 🥌 🤣 🤤 🤢 🤧 🤠 🤥 🤡 🤴 🤵 🤰 🤶 🤦 🤷 🕺 🤺 🤸 🤼 🤽 🤾 🤹 🤳 🤞 🤙 🤛 🤜 🤚 🤝 🖤 🦍 🦊 🦌 🦏 🦇 🦅 🦆 🦉 🦎 🦈 🦐 🦑 🦋 🥀 🥝 🥑 🥔 🥕 🥒 🥜 🥐 🥖 🥞 🥓 🥙 🥚 🥘 🥗 🥛 🥂 🥃 🥄 🛴 🛵 🛑 🛶 🥇 🥈 🥉 🥊 🥋 🥅 🥁 🛒 🤗 🤔 🙄 🤐 🙃 🤑 🤒 🤕 🤓 🤖 🤘 🏻 🏼 🏽 🏾 🏿 📿 🦁 🦄 🦃 🦀 🦂 🧀 🌭 🌮 🌯 🍿 🍾 🏺 🕌 🕍 🕋 🏐 🏏 🏑 🏒 🏓 🏸 🏹 🛐 🕎 🙂 🙁 🛌 🖕 🖖 🛫 🛬 🏅 📸 🏴 😀 😗 😙 😑 😮 😯 😴 😛 😕 😟 😦 😧 😬 😁 😂 😃 😄 😅 😆 😉 😊 😋 😎 😍 😘 😚 😶 😏 😣 😥 😪 😫 😌 😜 😝 😒 😓 😔 😲 😖 😞 😤 😢 😭 😨 😩 😰 😱 😳 😵 😡 😠 😷 😇 😈 👿 👹 👺 💀 👻 👾 💩 😺 😸 😹 😻 😼 😽 🙀 😿 😾 🙈 🙉 🙊 👶 👦 👧 👱 👨 👩 👴 👵 👮 💂 👷 👸 👳 👲 👰 👼 🎅 🙍 🙎 🙅 🙆 💁 🙋 🙇 💆 💇 🚶 🏃 💃 👯 🛀 👤 👥 🏇 🚣 🚴 🚵 👫 👬 👭 💏 💑 💪 ✋ 👌 ✊ 👊 👋 👏 👐 🙌 🙏 💅 👃 👣 👀 👅 👄 💋 💘 💝 💖 💗 💓 💞 💕 💌 💔 💛 💚 💙 💜 💟 💤 💢 💥 💦 💨 💫 💬 💭 👔 👕 👖 👗 👘 👙 👚 👛 👜 👝 🎒 👞 👟 👠 👡 👢 👑 👒 🎩 💄 💍 💎 🐵 🐒 🐶 🐩 🐺 🐱 🐯 🐅 🐆 🐴 🐎 🐮 🐂 🐃 🐄 🐷 🐖 🐗 🐽 🐏 🐑 🐐 🐪 🐫 🐘 🐭 🐁 🐀 🐹 🐰 🐇 🐻 🐨 🐼 🐾 🐔 🐓 🐣 🐤 🐥 🐧 🐸 🐊 🐢 🐍 🐲 🐉 🐳 🐋 🐬 🐠 🐡 🐙 🐚 🐌 🐛 🐜 🐝 🐞 💐 🌸 💮 🌹 🌺 🌻 🌼 🌷 🌱 🌲 🌳 🌴 🌵 🌾 🌿 🍀 🍁 🍂 🍃 🍇 🍈 🍉 🍊 🍋 🍌 🍍 🍎 🍏 🍐 🍑 🍒 🍓 🍅 🍆 🌽 🍄 🌰 🍞 🍖 🍗 🍔 🍟 🍕 🍳 🍲 🍱 🍘 🍙 🍚 🍛 🍜 🍝 🍠 🍢 🍣 🍤 🍥 🍡 🍦 🍧 🍨 🍩 🍪 🎂 🍰 🍫 🍬 🍭 🍮 🍯 🍼 🍵 🍶 🍷 🍹 🍺 🍻 🍴 🔪 🌐 🗾 🌋 🗻 🏡 🏢 🏣 🏤 🏥 🏦 🏨 🏩 🏪 🏫 🏬 🏯 🏰 💒 🗼 🗽 🌁 🌃 🌄 🌅 🌆 🌇 🌉 🌌 🎠 🎡 🎢 💈 🎪 🚂 🚃 🚄 🚅 🚆 🚈 🚉 🚊 🚝 🚞 🚋 🚌 🚎 🚐 🚒 🚓 🚕 🚖 🚗 🚙 🚚 🚛 🚜 🚏 🚨 🚥 🚦 🚧 🚤 🚢 💺 🚁 🚟 🚠 🚡 🚀 ⏰ 🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌖 🌗 🌘 🌙 🌚 🌛 🌝 🌞 🌟 🌠 🌀 🌈 🌂 🔥 💧 🌊 🎃 🎄 🎆 🎇 ✨ 🎈 🎉 🎊 🎋 🎍 🎎 🎏 🎐 🎑 🎀 🎁 🎫 🏀 🏈 🏉 🎾 🎳 🎣 🎽 🎿 🎯 🎱 🔮 🎰 🎲 🃏 🎴 🎨 🔇 🔉 🔊 📢 📣 📯 🔔 🔕 🎼 🎵 🎶 🎤 🎷 🎸 🎹 🎺 🎻 📱 📲 📞 📠 🔋 🔌 💽 💾 📀 🎥 📼 🔎 💡 🔦 🏮 📔 📕 📖 📗 📘 📙 📓 📒 📃 📜 📄 📰 📑 🔖 💴 💵 💶 💷 💸 💹 💱 💲 📧 📨 📩 📮 📝 💼 📁 📂 📅 📆 📇 📈 📉 📊 📌 📍 📎 📏 📐 🔏 🔐 🔑 🔨 🔫 🔧 🔩 🔗 🔬 🔭 📡 💉 💊 🚪 🚽 🚿 🛁 🚬 🗿 🏧 🚮 🚰 🚻 🚾 🛂 🛃 🛄 🛅 🚸 🚫 🚳 🚯 🚱 🚷 📵 🔞 🔃 🔄 🔙 🔚 🔛 🔜 🔝 🔯 ⛎ 🔀 🔁 🔂 🔼 ⏫ 🔽 ⏬ 🎦 🔅 🔆 📶 📳 📴 🔱 📛 🔰 ✅ ❌ ❎ ➕ ➖ ➗ ➰ ➿ ❔ ❕ 🔟 💯 🔠 🔡 🔢 🔣 🔤 🆎 🆑 🆒 🆓 🆔 🆕 🆖 🆗 🆘 🆙 🆚 🈁 🈶 🉐 🈹 🈲 🉑 🈸 🈴 🈳 🈺 🈵 🔴 🔵 🔶 🔷 🔸 🔹 🔺 🔻 💠 🔘 🔲 🔳 🏁 🚩 🎌