220 awesome, ridiculous, and downright creepy Gboard emoji combos you should try out

This story was originally published 2021/01/16
10:51am PSTon Jan 16, 2021 and last updated 2021/09/29
9:30am PDTon Sep 29, 2021. 

It's been more than a year since Google introduced the option to combine two emojis in Gboard to create a totally new mashup sticker that embodies both, and yet, I still find myself in awe when I discover a new combination that I hadn't come across before. This has quickly become my favorite Gboard feature — possibly even the favorite feature on any software keyboard I've every used, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

There are thousands and thousands of combinations and Google keeps adding more and more and even more to the collection. The mashups add so much more personality to existing emojis and allow us to create mixed emotions that a single one wouldn't convey properly, but the choices can get quite overwhelming. We've spent enough time trying out many of the combos and discovering the results, from cutesy to disturbing, so we're going to make things easy for you and share with you our favorites.

How to use Gboard's Emoji Kitchen

Emoji Kitchen is a feature of Google's first-party keyboard on Android only. To use it, you need to download and install Gboard, then open it and set it as the default keyboard on your phone. In Gboard's settings, you should also make sure that Emoji, Stickers & GIFs > Suggestions while typing > Emojis is enabled. This is what ensures that the feature is turned on.

Now, head over to a compatible app (list below) and type two emojis. A strip should show up on top of the keyboard and below the text field with a few large suggested emoji stickers. The first one on the left is a combination of the last two emojis you typed; in the example below, it's the winking face with a hand covering its mouth in one slightly naughty combo.

Left: The 'emojis' should be enabled. Right: Sticker bar above the keyboard.

Compatible apps

These emoji combos don't work everywhere on your phone. Some apps support them, but the majority don't. As a general rule, the ones that do are those that already support stickers (because the combo is actually a sticker). We've verified that the feature works in these apps, but odds are it's also compatible with plenty of other text messaging and social network ones:

• Google Messages
• WhatsApp
• Telegram
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook Messenger
• Signal
• TextNow
• LinkedIn

All the supported emojis (270+)

It probably takes Google's designers a lot of time to come up with each design, especially the ones that aren't a straightforward mash-up of two emojis but a more thoughtful combo (pig + fire = bacon, snowman + fire = melted snowman, etc...), so it's understandable that the combos aren't available for all emojis. We've listed all the ones that can be mashed up with themselves or with another emoji below, but keep in mind that some may be a bit limited. The 100 points or ribbon, for example, are pretty limited in what they can be combined with.

Most notably missing among these are any hand gestures and all the human and activity emojis, so you can't combine a thumbs-up, shrug, doctor, or football with something else. Flags aren't supported either, and the number of compatible emojis in the food, objects, and symbols categories is very limited.

Smileys and emoticons

😀😃😄😁😆😅😂🤣😭😗😙😚😘🥰😍🤩🥳🤗🙃

🙂🥲☺️😊😏😌😉🤭😶😐😑😔😋😛😝😜🤪🤔🤨

🧐🙄😒😤😠😡🤬☹️🙁😕😟🥺😳😬🤐🤫😰😨😧

😦😮😯😲😱🤯😢😥😓😞😮‍💨😖😣😩😫🤤🥱😴😪

🌛🌜🌞🤢🤮🤧🤒🤕🥴😶‍🌫️😵‍💫😵🥵🥶😷😇🤠🤑😎

🤓🥸🤥🤡👻💩👽🤖🎃😈👿☠️🔥💫⭐🌟✨💯💨

💦💤🕳️🎉🎊😺❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍♥️💘💝💖

💗💓💞💕💌💟❣️❤️‍🩹💔❤️‍🔥💋🦠💀👁️

Animals and nature (and still no dog!)

💐🌹🌷🌸🌼🌵🌲🌫️🌪️☃️⛄❄️🔥☀️☁️🌈⭐🌟💫✨🌠

🌆🌃🌍🌎🌏🙈🙉🙊🐵🦁🐱🐻🐨🐼🐭🐰🐷🐽🦄🐢🐁

🐀🐇🐈🐖🐐🦌🦙🦥🐒🦔🦇🪶🐦🦉🐟🐙🦂🕷️🐌🐝🦠

And yes, I'll repeat this until someone at Google hears me: WHERE IS THE DOG?! How come we get lots of animal combos but no dog?! I'm honestly livid. This is unacceptable. And don't try to tell me it's an unintended oversight, this is an evil plan hatched and executed to perfection by all the kittens at Google. (Update: I've been promised it's coming soon.)

Food and drink

🍓🍍🍋🌶️🥑🍞🧀🌭🎂🧁☕🍴🍽️

Travel and places

🎠🌇🏙️🌆🌃🌐

Activities and events

🎉🎊🎈🎂🎄🎃🎗️🎣🪄🎼🎵🎶🎧

Objects

🧸👑💎🕶️🩹📰💌🔮

Symbols

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍🎵🎶🎼🌐💟♥️

Our favorites 'modifiers'

Given the breadth of options available, I wanted to highlight what I'll call our favorite 'modifiers.' These are the emojis that work really well with most others and often yield good or interesting results. Just try them with another face reaction or animal and see for yourself.

For example, you can make anything into a ghost 👻, robot 🤖, alien 👽, pumpkin 🎃, skull 💀, or cyclops 👁. You can put any emoji in a hole 🕳, a crystal ball / snowglobe 🔮, on a platter 🍽, make it the top event on a newspaper 📰, or give it a pair of headphones 🎧.

The upside-down face 🙃 turns any emoji around, the masked face 😷 adds a mask to anything, and the shooting star 💫 makes any emoji dizzy. Fire 🔥, tree 🌲, tornado 🌪, balloon 🎈, and cake 🎂 modify all emojis in a funky way.

The turtle 🐢 is adorable with anything; the hedgehog 🦔, deer 🦌, and llama 🦙 are cute too. And let's not forget the hot dog 🌭 and poop 💩 emojis, they're pretty much ridiculous with anything you add to them.

But most important of all, you can bring back the beloved blobs by adding magic (🪄 or ✨) to any emoji.

60 best emoji intensification combos

*rubs hands*

Ah, we get to the fun part now. First, let's start with the mash-ups made by intensifying the same emoji, i.e. inserting it twice. The results are overall awesome (even if predictable at times), but we're going to focus on some of the most special combos.

Ridiculously funny

• 😶+😶 = blank face
• 🤔+🤔 = hmmmmm mmmmm mmmmmm
• 📰+📰 = important news!!!!!
• ☕+☕ = strong cuppa

• 🎂+🎂 = too old for a few candles
• 🌭+🌭 = lovin' the sausage life
• 🙈+🙈 = hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing
• ☠️+☠️ = real dead

• 🤥+🤥 = big fat liar
• 🤠+🤠 = howdy partner!
• 😇+😇 = innocent Dr Strange
• 😷+😷 = The Masked Singer

• 🥶+🥶 = frrrrrrrooooozzzzzzzeeeennnnn
• 🤕+🤕 = but you should see the other guy
• 🤒+🤒 = even the thermometer caught my fever
• 😣+😣 = about to go kaboom

• 😞+😞 = the world disappoints me
• 😧+😧 = discombobulated
• 🤫+🤫 = my shush is shushing you as well
• 🤐+🤐 = when your friends send you bad memes but you still love them

• 😠+😠 = my wrath has no end
• 😤+😤 = fuming
• 😒+😒 = major side-eye
• 🧐+🧐 = requires further investigation

Slightly unexpected

• 😄+😄 = I come in peace
• 🍽️+🍽️ = fine dinin'
• 🍍+🍍 = bowl of fruits
• 👁️+👁️ = ooouhhh, sexay

• 💫+💫 = stunned
• 🔥+🔥 = hot! hot! hot! *fans self*
• 👽+👽 = alien coming in peace / declaring victory
• 💩+💩 = chocolate ice cream / a serving of dripping poop

• 🥱+🥱 = at the top of my lungs
• 😫+😫 = aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh
• 😔+😔 = depression has never had a better emoji
• 😉+😉 = finger gunz

• 😏+😏 = smirktastic
• 😚+😚 = chef kiss
• 😗+😗 = whistling
• 🌪️+🌪️ = the Twister tornado in emoji form

• 🍞+🍞 = toasted
• 🎵+🎵 = boppin'
• 🌵+🌵 = feeling deserted
• 🍋+🍋 = when life gives you two lemons

Downright adorable

• ☺️+☺️ = a mountain of shyness
• 😊+😊 = kawaii cuteness
• 🌈+🌈 = double rainbow
• 🌛+🌛 = partial eclipse (of the heart)

• 😴+😴 = blissful sleep
• 😳+😳 = you flirtin' with me?
• 🤖+🤖 = robotics
• ⛄+⛄ = a pair of snowmen

• 🦄+🦄 = corny, unicorny
• 🍓+🍓 = when two strawberries really love each other
• 🪄+🪄 = a dash of magic
• 🥴+🥴 = extra woozy

Just weird

• 🌹+🌹 = your creepy stalker
• 🌷+🌷 = a flower float, I guess
• 🕳️+🕳️ = fallin' in the deeeeeeeeep
• 🔮+🔮 = I can see so far into the future that I see myself seeing the future

Special animal combos

• 🐵+🐵 = monkeying around
• 🕷️+🕷️ = your worst fear
• 🦔+🦔 = extra spiky hedgehog
• 🦙+🦙 = fluffy double-headed llamma

• 🐢+🐢 = the slowest ride
• 🐰+🐰 = the biggest bunniest family
• 🐨+🐨 = the cutest parent
• 🐱+🐱 = the worst cat disguise

100 best distinct emoji combos

Things get even more interesting when you step out of the simple path of combining the same emoji twice and start mashing up different ones together. For example you can give any expression to any animal (as long as they're supported by the feature), mix different colored hearts with various emojis for unexpected effects (try them with the birthday cake, cupcake, or sunglasses, to name a few), make a tornado out of anything, and way, way, way more. There's not enough time in the world to try them all, but we'll share with you here the ones we've discovered and loved.

Faces and expressions

• 🤐+🤫 = zip it and shut it
• 🤓+💯 = the nerd of the class
• 🤔+🧐 = hmmmmvestigation
• 🤠+🥴 = drunken cowboy

• 🥳+🤐 = it's a surprise birthday party — don't ruin it, Beth!
• 🤯+🥱 = mind blown even more
• 🤮+🤧 = just a cold
• 🥵+🥶 = fever 'n chills

• 🤒+😷 = likely covid+
• 🤑+🤓 = investment banker / angel investor
• 👁️+😶 = cyclops
• 😂+💯 = perfect joke

• 🤖+🥸 = undercover robot / AI
• 💀+🌈 = dia de los muertos
• ☠️+🥱 = "it's been 84 years..."
• 🎃+💀 = halloween

All the blobs

• 🪄+🥳 = party blob
• 🪄+🤭 = shy giggly blob
• 🪄+🤬 = aaaaaaaangryyyy expplooooodinnggg bloooobbb
• 🪄+😵‍💫 = woozy blob

• 🪄+💩 = that shit is nasty!
• 🪄+💙 = I give you my blue heart
• 🪄+❣️ = blob with a big heart
• 🪄+👁 = triclops

• 🪄+🌪 = when Google decided to kill all the blob emojis
• 🪄+🌵 = cute but prickly
• 🪄+🐐 = goat ate my blob
• 🪄+🐌 = snail blob

Animal kingdom

• 🐝+👑 = queen bee
• 🦁+🙈 = let's play Xtreme hide-and-seek
• 🦌+🦙 = llama feelin' the holiday cheer
• 🕷️+🔥 = killer spider

• 🐰+🤔 = thinking rabbit
• 🐭+🍽️ = Ratatouille
• 🐱+🐙 = cactopus
• 🕷️+🐙 = octopider

• 🐱+🥑 = cat in an avocado costume avocato (thanks, uiasvkjsnda!)
• 🦇+🐦 = night and day
• 🦌+🍍 = honestly no idea what this is supposed to be Carmen Mirandeer (thanks, @scuttlefield!)
• 🦇+🙃 = hanging Batman

The turtle special

• 🐢+🦌 = Rudolph the red nosed turtle
• 🐢+🙈 = shy turtle
• 🐢+🥸 = ninja turtles (close enough)
• 🐢+🐌 = the slowest animal in the kingdom

• 🐢+☕️ = slow service
• 🐢+💞 = this turtle is taken
• 🐢+🤗 = hugging with turtles
• 🐢+🌹 = seduction mode activated

• 🐢+🐱 = adorable caturtle
• 🐢+🎈 = a turtle holding a balloon, because that's all there is to it
• 🐢+❣️ = biiiiiig turtle love
• 🐢+🎂 = your Uber driver will deliver your 30th birthday cake on your 56th birthday

• 🐢+☀️ = sunny turtle
• 🐢+🍓 = strawberry turtle
• 🐢+🎊 = confetturtle
• 🐢+💝 = the cutest gift

• 🐢+🌲 = peek-a-boo
• 🐢+🐟 = sea turtle
• 🐢+🦄 = one in a million
• 🐢+👑 = queen of the Kitchen Emoji kingdom

Cityscapes

• 🌆+🦌 = it's Christmas time!
• 🌆+☃️ = winter wonderland
• 🌆+🔥 = city on fire
• 🌆+🐱 = cat observing its kingdom

• 🌆+🌲 = forest
• 🌆+🐟 = underwater city
• 🌆+🌪 = may God save us all
• 🌆+👑 = king/queen of the city

• 🌆+🍓 = strawberry city
• 🌆+🍞 = skyscraper bread
• 🌆+🎂 = birthday buildings?
• 🌆+🦠 = infected city

Color modifiers

• 💚+👁️ = green eyes
• ❤️+🤓 = red sunglasses
• 💜+💋 = purple lipstick or what happens after a long snogging session
• 🧡+🌹 = orange rose

• 💙+♥️ = blue vibrating heart
• 🤎+☕ = hot chocolate
• 💛+🎂 = lemon cake
• 🤍+🧁 = white chocolate cupcake

Good nature, bad nature

• 💐+🐰 = please accept my bunny love
• 💐+🌹 = bouquet of roses
• 💐+🌲 = bouquet of... trees
• 💐+🔥 = s/he didn't deserve all the love and gifts and roses

• 🌍+🌵 = deserted planet
• 🌍+🧀 = cheese earth ball
• 🌍+🔥 = global warming
• 🌍+🦌 = worldwide Christmas!

• 🔥+☁️ = firestorm
• 🔥+☃️ = s-no-man
• 🔥+🐷 = bacon
• 🔥+🎂 = I tried to make dessert and failed

• 🌲+☕ = coffee tree
• 🌲+🦥 = sloth on a real tree
• 🌲+🕷️ = when you leave the Christmas tree in the attic far too long
• 🌲+☃️ = winter wonderland

Food and lots of hot dogs

• 🎂+☕ = coffee and cake
• 🎂+💯 = happy one hundos!
• 🎂+🌲 = winter cake
• 🎂+🍍 = pineapple cake

• 🍓+🍍 = cocktail
• 🍓+🍋 = zesty strawberry
• 🍓+🎂 = strawberry cake
• 🍋+🧁 = lemon cupcake

• 🍞+🥑 = avocado toast
• 🍞+🧀 = melted cheese toast
• 🍞+🍓 = strawberry cake
• 🍞+🧁 = cake and sprinkles

• ☕+🌭 = WTF is that?!
• ☕+🧀 = No, seriously, WTF is that?!
• 🔥+🧁 = the cupcake's on fire!
• 🐷+🌭 = cannibalism

• 🌭+🧀 = cheesy 'dog
• 🌭+🌶️ = spicy 'dog
• 🌭+💩 = poop in a whole wheat bun
• 🌭+🤬 = angry 'dog

• 🌭+♥️ = lovin' the sausage life, 2.0
• 🌭+🌞 = all you can eat mini 'dogs
• 🌭+🌲 = hot dog tree?!
• 🌭+🧁 = cuppa cake 'dog

• 🌭+🤔 = hmmmmm 'dog
• 🌭+🙈 = peek-a-boo 'dog
• 🌭+🦙 = llama 'dog
• 🌭+🐱 = hot dog cat

All the shitty ones

• 💩+🤯 = shit blew my mind
• 💩+😱 = surprised poop
• 💩+🙃 = inverted poop
• 💩+😖 = the perfect constipation emoji

• 💩+🥳 = party pooper
• 💩+🤮 = gastrointestinal infection
• 💩+🦠 = gastrointestinal infection, part deux
• 💩+🤥 = shitty liar / lying piece of shit

• 💩+🔥 = when you've had too many spicy tacos
• 💩+🌪️ = shitstorm
• 💩+📰 = shitty news
• 💩+💐 = poopy bouquet for a poopy person

Don't stop the music

• 🎧+🤠 = country music
• 🎧+💀 = death metal
• 🎧+☕️ = coffeeshop music
• 🎧+🤬 = when Spotify's Discover Weekly plays the 300th acoustic rendition of the same song

Love, lust, and breakups

• 💞+💀 = love beyond the bones
• 💞+😷 = love in the time of COVID
• 💞+🤖 = robot love
• 💔+🕳️ = s/he broke my heart and threw it away

• 🌈+♥️ = LGBTQ love
• 🔥+🌹 = seduction mode activated
• 💫+🥰 = love at first sight
• 🐱+🌶️ = hot [insert_cat_synonym]

Moaaaaarrrrr

• 💋+🦠 = herpes
• 🦠+💀 = killer virus / bacteria / parasite
• 🌈+👁️ = too many 'shrooms
• 🔮+☃️ = the eternal snowman

• 🎂+🎈 = birthday party
• 💯+🎈 = my approval is flying away
• 🌵+☃️ = a cactus in the snow?! I guess...
• ☕+👻 = the ghost of roasts past

• 🐱+🔥 = devil cat
• 🌆+🐻 = bearzilla
• 🌆+🕷 = let's just not... ok?
• 🐢+😡 = ooooh, little turtle is angry?

Whew... that's a lot of emojis, but even so, we've still barely scratched the surface. There are thousands of other possible combos, so I suggest you fire up your thumbs and start trying them out. I'm sure you'll find even more interesting ones that we didn't include here.

Taylor Kerns contributed to this article.