Moji

As precise, transparent and straightforward as words are, visual cues can sometimes do a better job of getting a message across by encapsulating a wide variety of details in a single symbol, hence the popularity of emoticon use in most modern instant messengers. When it comes to Windows, if the built-in variant does not suit your preferences, Moji may be the right choice for your needs.

Despite previous statements that the 10 version would be the last major release, Microsoft decided to push through with a graphical overhaul that shipped sans a variety of features at launch in the form of Windows 11. Apart from the missing taskbar functionalities, the newly introduced emoji picker utility within the Clipboard History hub also lacked a search option.

In seeing this, members of the open-source community took it upon themselves to fill in the gaps with third-party utilities such as the one at hand. While nowadays users have a much-needed search bar at their disposal, Moji may still be a good alternative for niche needs, considering its small number of extra features.

Once installed, the app summons a discrete system tray icon for toggling its visibility in an unobtrusive way. Unlike the built-in emoji picker, the program features larger icon previews to both aid those with lower visual acuity and provide touch-screen owners with bigger tap-targets for accessibility purposes.

Leaving the utility open on a secondary monitor lets streamers briefly preview the emoji and its tag before selecting it to manually reply to chat comments when necessary. Resizing its layout increases the vertical number of relevant emoticons displayed, making it ideal for screens set in the portrait orientation.

If you happen to prefer directly viewing the description tags of each icon in order to find it more easily when searching for it, Moji may be a good choice, despite its lack of support for dragging the overlay around for better app grid setups.