Discover the Hidden Emoji Reactions in Gmail

Did you realize that for more than two years now, you could send emoji reactions from your personal Gmail account? Well, it appears that many of us forgot, possibly due to its discreet placement next to the Forward button.

As of February 9th, Google is set to enable emoji reactions for all Workspace users by default, which serves as a reminder of these expressive tools and the missed opportunities for quick, emoji-based responses.

To unleash the emoji options, you simply need to tap the subtle smiley icon, which presents a selection of emojis available for use instead of typing out a full response.

When both you and the recipient are using Gmail, any emoji reaction you choose appears at the bottom of the email, enhancing the conversation stream with lively icons.

If the person on the other end uses a different email provider or has disabled emoji capabilities, they’ll instead receive a separate notification email indicating your use of an emoji reaction.

In instances where your message includes many recipients, Gmail also tallies and displays the total reactions as well as who reacted and the emojis they selected. However, certain limitations apply, such as message restrictions when it's sent to listservs, groups with more than 20 people, or if a single message has already received 20 emoji reactions.

The rediscovery of emoji reactions leaves me pondering whether I'll begin using them. Sure, a heart might replace a 'thank you,' but am I prepared to bring the casual feel of text messaging into my email exchanges?