Symbols, emojis and special characters
You can add various symbols, emojis and special characters to Confluence pages. You can also use them in other places that display content, such as pages, blog posts, inline and page comments, and the dashboard welcome message.
Using Confluence Cloud? Check out our info on how to Use symbols, emojis and special characters in the new editor.
Insert symbols and special characters
- Edit the page (if you're viewing the page, press E on your keyboard)
- Choose Insert
> Symbol - Choose a symbol to insert it
Insert emojis
There are a few ways you can add an emoji to your page.
Use the emoji menu
- Edit the page
- Select where you want to add the emoji
- Open the emoji menu
from the editor toolbar - Select an emoji to insert it.
Tip: Open the emoji menu using Ctrl+Shift+M for Windows or Cmd+Shift+M for Mac.
Screenshot: The emoji menu is available in the editor toolbar
You can also select skin tone variations for certain emojis.
Screenshot: The skin tone selector in the emoji menu
Type the keyboard shortcut
- Edit the page
- Select where you want to insert the emoji
- Type its keyboard shortcut.
Emoji shortcuts start and end with a colon ":", for example :wave:. To learn an emoji's shortcut, open the emoji menu and hover over it. The emoji shortcut is visible in the preview panel.
Autoformatting must be enabled in the editor for this to work. See Edit Your User Settings for instructions.
Tip: Knowing an emoji shortcut is useful when the emoji menu isn't available, for example in an inline comment.
Screenshot: The keyboard shortcuts for our original emoticon set
Activate emoji autocomplete
- Edit the page
- Select where you want to add the emoji
- Type a colon ":" to activate the emoji autocomplete menu
- Type the emoji name, shortcut, or browse the suggestions using your up and down arrows or mouse
- Select the relevant emoji to insert it.
The emoji autocomplete menu will continue to change as you type to predict and match your input.
Autocomplete must be enabled in the editor for this to work. See Edit Your User Settings for instructions.
Screenshot: The emoji autocomplete feature is activated when you type a colon in the editor
HipChat plugin emojis
If your team has migrated HipChat plugin emojis to Confluence, you will be able to see them in the emoji menu under All uploads.
Learn how to migrate Hipchat emoticons to Confluence Server and Data Center
Prevent emojis from appearing
To undo the conversion of a character combination or shortcut into an emoticon or emoji, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac).
To prevent Confluence from converting text to emojis automatically, disable 'Autoformatting' in your user profile. See Edit Your User Settings.