Autocorrect emojis in documents and email

Applies To

Word for Microsoft 365 Outlook for Microsoft 365 Word 2024 Outlook 2024 Word 2021 Outlook 2021 Word 2019 Outlook 2019 Word 2016 Outlook 2016

When you type :) or :-) in Word or Outlook, autocorrect converts the characters to the color, smiley-face emoji Smiley face emoji (Segoe UI Unicode character 1F60A).

In earlier versions of Office (and in Windows 7), autocorrect converted that string to the Wingdings character F04A, which is black-and-white.

If your punctuation changes to a box instead of an emoji, you probably don't have the SegoeUI Emoji font installed. The font is included with Windows 8 and later, so you could run the System File Checker tool to repair any missing or damaged system files.

If the punctuation doesn't change to anything at all, follow these steps:

Word

Go to File > Options > Proofing.
Select AutoCorrect Options and then select Replace text as you type.

Outlook

Go to File > Options > Mail.
Select Editor Options> Proofing.
Select AutoCorrect Options and then select Replace text as you type.

Tip

Ctrl+Z will undo the autocorrection as you type. To entirely stop converting punctuation to an emoji, switch off autocorrect for the punctuation: Follow the steps to get to AutoCorrect Options, and then type the punctuation in the Replace box. With the autocorrect entry highlighted in the list, choose Delete.