How to Add the Emoji Keyboard to the iPhone 5

Last updated: January 13, 2017

The iPhone 5 keyboard that comes up when you need to type in a text message, email or Web browser includes almost every character that you might need to express your thoughts in your native language. But you may have seen or received text messages that include image characters called emoji. These characters allow you to express emotions through only the use of a special character. They are particularly popular among young people, but they do have their use for others. So continue reading below to learn how to start using the emoji characters on your iPhone 5.

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This article was written for iOS 6. You can read the article for adding the emoji keyboard in iOS 7 here. We have also added instructions for adding the emoji keyboard to an iPhone 5 in iOS 10 at the end of this article. Click here to go there directly.

Insert Emoji in Messages on the iPhone 5

There are a ton of different emoji that are available to you, and you will find that there is an appropriate one for just about any emotion that you could imagine. It is important to note, however, that the emoji that you include in your text messages are only going to be visible for people that also use iOS devices, such as iPhones, iPads or iPod Touches. With that in mind, follow the steps below to learn how to insert the emoji character icons in your text messages.

Step 1: Tap the Settings icon.

Tap the Settings icon

Step 2: Select the General option.

Open the General menu

Step 3: Scroll down and choose the Keyboard option.

Open the Keyboard menu

Step 4: Tap the Keyboards option.

Tap the Keyboards option

Step 5: Select the Add New Keyboard option.

Add a new keyboard

Step 6: Scroll down and tap the Emoji option.

Select the Emoji option

This is going to add a globe icon to your keyboard, such as in the image below.

You can tap that icon to display the emoji keyboard and start adding those characters to your messages.

How to Get Emojis on an iPhone 5 in iOS 10

The steps for adding the Emoji keyboard are almost identical in iOS 10, but the screens and menus look a little different. You can check below if your iPhone looks different than what is shown above.

Step 1: Open Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down and select General.

Step 3: Scroll down and tap Keyboard.

Step 4: Tap Keyboards at the top of the screen.

Step 5: Select the Add New Keyboard button.

Step 6: Select the Emoji option.

If you are finding that you are becoming annoyed by the sound of the keyboard click as you are typing, it is possible to turn off the iPhone 5 keyboard clicks. This is especially helpful if you are using your phone in public, as those keyboard sounds can be distracting to strangers in public settings.