Copy any face from the panel above. A kaomoji is not a single character. It is a short run of ordinary Unicode characters, mostly parentheses, punctuation, and letters borrowed from several scripts, arranged so the row reads as a face without turning your head.
Because a kaomoji is plain text it travels through any field that accepts Unicode, and it fails in one common way. If one character in the run has no glyph in the current font, that position renders as an empty box and the face stops lining up. Copying the whole string is the reliable route.
Identify the characters inside a kaomoji
The shrug is nine code points. Its arms are MACRON U+00AF at both ends, not HYPHEN-MINUS U+002D and not TILDE U+007E. The face is KATAKANA LETTER TU U+30C4, and the shoulders use REVERSE SOLIDUS U+005C, LOW LINE U+005F, and SOLIDUS U+002F.
Other faces use characters that resemble ASCII but are not. The eyes in (◕‿◕) are CIRCLE WITH ALL BUT UPPER LEFT QUADRANT BLACK U+25D5, the eyes in (¬_¬) are NOT SIGN U+00AC, and the cat face uses KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT U+30FB rather than MIDDLE DOT U+00B7.
The table flip mixes blocks. It uses BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT ARC UP AND LEFT U+256F for the arms, WHITE SQUARE U+25A1 and DEGREE SIGN U+00B0 for the face, PRESENTATION FORM FOR VERTICAL LEFT PARENTHESIS U+FE35 for the arc, and BOX DRAWINGS HEAVY UP AND HORIZONTAL U+253B with BOX DRAWINGS HEAVY HORIZONTAL U+2501 for the table. U+FE35 is a compatibility form and a different character from LEFT PARENTHESIS U+0028.
The parenthesis-and-eye pattern has a dedicated Lenny face guide that breaks it down character by character, and kaomoji that show affection usually borrow a text heart from the heart symbol set.
Insert a kaomoji from the Windows emoji panel
Microsoft documents pressing the Windows key and the period key during text entry in Windows 11 to open the emoji keyboard, and states that you can choose from GIFs and Kaomoji as well as emoji. Select the Kaomoji category, then pick a face. The panel inserts into whichever field has focus, so it is not limited to Office apps.
Build a kaomoji character by character in Word
Word converts a hexadecimal code into the character it names. Microsoft documents typing the character code, then pressing Alt, then pressing X. Type 30C4 and press Alt and X to get ツ. It converts one character at a time, so use it to repair a broken position.
Insert kaomoji pieces with Mac Character Viewer
Apple documents opening Character Viewer with Fn and E, with the Globe key and E, or by choosing Edit and then Emoji & Symbols. Search for a character by name, then click it to add it to your text. Apple also documents Add to Favorites for pieces you reuse.
Store a kaomoji as a Mac text replacement
Apple documents choosing the Apple menu, System Settings, Keyboard in the sidebar, then Text Replacements. Click Add, enter the short text you want replaced along with its replacement, click Add, then click Done. The receiving app needs substitution switched on under Edit, then Substitutions.
Insert kaomoji characters in Google Docs or Slides
In Google Docs or Slides, choose Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, find the character by category, by Unicode value, or by drawing it, then click it to add it. Google states that special characters cannot be inserted directly in Google Sheets.
Use a kaomoji in HTML
A UTF-8 document can hold kaomoji characters directly. The exception is a face built from angle brackets. HTML defines the named references < for U+003C, > for U+003E, and & for U+0026, so (>_<) is written in source as (>_<).
Fix a kaomoji that renders wrong
- 1.Check that the arms of the shrug are MACRON U+00AF and not HYPHEN-MINUS U+002D or TILDE U+007E.
- 2.Confirm the destination accepts characters beyond ASCII, since a restricted field drops ツ at U+30C4 and leaves the punctuation behind.
- 3.Switch to a font that covers the block when one position renders as an empty box.
- 4.Keep the spaces, because the table flip contains SPACE U+0020 between the arc and the table.
- 5.Escape angle brackets before publishing to HTML.
Common questions
Is a kaomoji one character?
No. Each face is a run of separate characters. The shrug is nine code points and the table flip is twelve, counting the space in the middle.
Does Windows include a built-in kaomoji list?
Yes. Microsoft documents a Kaomoji category in the Windows 11 emoji panel that opens with the Windows key and the period key.
Official references
- Unicode Latin-1 Supplement chart
- Unicode Box Drawing chart
- Unicode Geometric Shapes chart
- Unicode Katakana chart
- Unicode CJK Compatibility Forms chart
- Microsoft Windows keyboard tips and tricks
- Microsoft guide to ASCII and Unicode characters
- Apple guide to emoji and symbols on Mac
- Apple guide to text replacement on Mac
- Google Docs special-character guide
- HTML named character references
