Hot Slack tip: Make your own emoji in 6 easy steps – CNET

If you’re like me, you don’t just use the Slack productivity app on your desktop and phone to chat with coworkers, you practically live on it. Power users might squeeze every last bit out of Slack, but one of the tool’s most enjoyable Easter eggs is the ability to create custom emoji to go with the 2,000-plus emoji that are already in there.

Emoji are a language all their own, and and just one of the ways my coworkers and I communicate in Slack for 40 hours or more every week. Making a custom emoji of the CNET logo, my cat and a guy doing a little dance brings a little smile to my face, especially when someone else happens to find and use it.

At the very least, you can add this skill to your arsenal to show off how much better you are at Slack than your coworkers 😉.

Who can make a Slack emoji?

All Slack members can make emoji, but not Slack guests. It’s available on Free, Standard, Plus and Enterprise Grid plans.

Can I make a ‘Slackmoji’ on the mobile app?

Unfortunately, you can’t make custom emoji from your phone, but you can access the custom emoji you made on the desktop from mobile. Your emoji will be sandwiched by two colon punctuation signs, so to conjure it on mobile bookend the name with the colons (i.e. :cat:)

Slack also notes that some workspaces won’t let you make custom emojis. I know, it’s a bummer. If you’re not sure, you can contact your Workspace or Org Owner.

Here’s how to make a custom emoji on the Slack desktop app:

1. Open Slack
2. Click your workspace name in the top left corner
3. Click Customize Slack
4. Click Add Custom Emoji
5. Upload an image and name it
6. Click save

How can I make a good quality Slack emoji?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but you should make sure you’re using a JPG, GIF or PNG file. You’ll get the best results with a small, square picture. Slack will resize it automatically.  

What can I do with my Slack emoji once it’s live?

A well-placed emoji can spice up your work conversations and let you react to activity. Some are almost meme-worthy. Sprinkle them into responses in conversation, and add as a reaction to a message in one of your channels.

Search for a custom emoji

You can go back in after you’ve made the emoji and search for it by name. You don’t need to add the colons to search for your emoji. You can also scroll through everyone else’s creations for inspiration.

Delete your Slackmoji

Don’t worry. If you messed up, it’s not there forever. Simply click the “X” to get rid of your Slackmoji. You can’t get rid of anyone else’s though. If there’s a particularly inappropriate emoji, Slack says you can contact an administrator to have it removed.