Where do these emoji shortcodes work?

The colon-wrapped shortcode form such as :rocket: is used by GitHub (issues, pull requests, comments and markdown), Slack and Discord, plus many static-site and chat tools. The exact set supported varies slightly between platforms.

Why use a shortcode instead of pasting the emoji directly?

Shortcodes are plain ASCII text, so they are easy to type, search and review in code or markdown, and they render consistently across platforms that support them rather than depending on your keyboard or device's emoji picker.

Is anything I type or copy sent to a server?

No. The full list, the search and the copy-to-clipboard all run entirely in your browser — nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.

What is the shortcode for the thumbs-up emoji?

It is :thumbsup: (some platforms also accept :+1:). Type it in a GitHub comment, Slack message or Discord chat and it renders as 👍.

Do GitHub, Slack and Discord use the same shortcodes?

They overlap heavily — :rocket:, :fire: and :tada: work everywhere — but each platform maintains its own list, so some codes and custom aliases differ. This reference covers the common, widely supported set.

Can I use these shortcodes in Markdown files?

On GitHub, yes — issues, pull requests, comments and README files render shortcodes. Plain Markdown rendered by other tools may not, in which case paste the actual emoji character instead.

Why do my shortcodes show as plain text instead of emoji?

The platform you pasted into does not support shortcode parsing, or the specific code is not in its list. Confirm the platform supports the colon syntax, or copy the rendered emoji character directly.

What is the Emoji Shortcodes Reference?

A searchable emoji shortcodes reference for GitHub, Slack and Discord — type a keyword, see the emoji and its :shortcode:, and click to copy. Runs entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Emoji Shortcodes Reference

Name: Emoji Shortcodes Reference
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Emoji shortcodes — searchable, click to copy

On GitHub, Slack and Discord you don’t paste an emoji — you type its name wrapped in colons, like :rocket:, and the platform renders 🚀. These shortcodes are plain ASCII, so they’re easy to type on any keyboard, searchable in code review, and render consistently regardless of your device’s emoji picker. This page is a searchable cheat sheet of the common set, with click-to-copy.

How it works

The reference holds a curated list spanning smileys, hand gestures, hearts and symbols, tech objects, nature, food, and celebration emoji. Each entry stores the emoji character, its :shortcode: form and a set of related keywords. As you type in the search box, the list filters live against both the shortcode and those keywords, so searching “fire”, “party” or “thumbs” surfaces the right row. Click any row and its :shortcode: is copied to your clipboard, ready to paste.

Common shortcodes and their uses

Emoji	Shortcode	Typical use
🚀	`:rocket:`	Shipping, deploying, launching
🔥	`:fire:`	Great work, hot topic
🎉	`:tada:`	Celebration, new release
👍	`:thumbsup:`	Approval, LGTM
😄	`:smile:`	Friendly tone
🐛	`:bug:`	Bug reports, issues
✅	`:white_check_mark:`	Done, passing
⚠️	`:warning:`	Caution, deprecation notice
📝	`:memo:`	Notes, documentation
🔧	`:wrench:`	Configuration, fixes
🌱	`:seedling:`	New project, early stage
💡	`:bulb:`	Ideas, suggestions

Platform differences

GitHub, Slack, and Discord all support the colon-shortcode convention but maintain their own shortcode lists, which differ slightly:

GitHub uses shortcodes in issues, pull requests, commit messages, and Markdown files. The set is based on the Gemoji library. Shortcodes work in GitHub-flavoured Markdown rendered on github.com; they do not expand in plain .md files rendered locally or by other tools.
Slack supports a large custom set and allows workspace administrators to add custom emoji with custom shortcodes. Some shortcodes differ from the GitHub equivalent (for example :+1: and :thumbsup: are both valid on GitHub; Slack may only recognise one form).
Discord follows a similar convention but has a separate emoji set for its server custom emojis, referenced as :emoji_name: or <:name:id> for custom server emoji.

The shortcodes in this reference are the widely supported common subset that works across all three platforms.

Why shortcodes instead of pasting the character

Shortcodes are easier to type on keyboards without an emoji picker key, more readable in code review (:tada: is unambiguous; the actual 🎉 character can display differently across fonts and operating systems), and searchable by text. In pull request reviews and commit messages, shortcodes also avoid the encoding edge cases that sometimes arise when pasting emoji characters into tools with older Unicode handling.