Please, the emoji icons after clicking on don't work at all in Windows 11.

Richard Hofman 30 Reputation points
2026-09-11T17:36:30.0566667+00:00

Please, I did everything possible to fix that problem, but after clicking on the emoji icon, it simply doesn't work. It doesn't appear anywhere; it's like frozen...

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings
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AI answer

2026-09-11T17:36:44.7933333+00:00

Try these steps in order:

  1. Press Windows key + . to open the emoji keyboard. In Windows 11, that is the supported shortcut for the emoji panel.
  2. If the panel opens but appears frozen or does not fully respond, restart Windows Explorer:
    • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
    • Find Windows Explorer.
    • Right-click it and select Restart.
    • Test Windows key + . again.
  3. Restart the Windows text input process:
    • Press Windows + R.
    • Type C:\Windows\System32\ctfmon.exe and press Enter.
    • No window appearing is expected.
    • Test the emoji shortcut again.
  4. Check the input service used by the emoji panel:
    • Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
    • Open Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service.
    • Set Startup type to Automatic.
    • If the service is stopped, select Start, then Apply and OK.
    • Test the emoji panel again.
  5. Verify keyboard settings:
    • Go to Settings > Time & language > Language & region.
    • Open the active language’s Language options.
    • Make sure at least one keyboard layout is installed.
    • Remove unused or duplicate keyboard layouts.
    • Restart Windows and test again.
  6. If the problem is only with GIFs inside the emoji panel, install the latest Windows update. A known issue caused GIF functionality in the Windows Emoji Panel to become unavailable on some devices, and it was resolved by updates released August 11, 2026 KB5120240 and later.
  7. If the issue still remains, report it through Feedback Hub so it can be tracked.

References:

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  1. Richard Hofman 30 Reputation points
    2026-09-11T17:56:14.43+00:00

    Yes, this is exactly the problem which I didn't know about: an update appeared, which actually didn't solve anything, because until an update happened my emoji icons worked perfectly... https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/servicing/os/windows-11/2026/08/kb5120240-windows-11-23h2-security-update

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