How to Flirt With Emojis

You flirt with emojis by using one or two to show your tone after something playful you actually wrote. A wink 😉, a smirk 😏 or a laughing face 😂 does the work. The emoji supports the line. It never replaces it. If you are asking which emoji is flirting, how to flirt using emojis in a text or what flirty emojis guys use, the answer is the same: sparingly, and matched to the way she writes.

In text there is no voice or face, so a joke can sound like an insult. An emoji fills that gap. It tells her you are teasing, not attacking, and that you are having fun.

a dating coach shows this in a text breakdown. He sends a laughing-crying emoji after a joke so that it reads as amused, not defensive. The emoji is not the flirt. It sets the mood of the sentence, and the sentence does the flirting.

That is why a message made only of emojis rarely works. "😏😏😏" gives her nothing to answer. "You said you hate mornings, so I assume you are fun at 2 a.m. 😏" gives her a line to respond to.

Keep your set small. A handful of faces covers almost everything:

• Wink 😉: playful, a little knowing. Good after a tease or a compliment.
• Smirk 😏: cheekier and more confident. Use it when you are clearly joking.
• Laughing 😂: says you find her funny. Safe and warm.
• Smile 😊: friendly and sincere, a good soft option.
• Eyes 👀: reads as "interesting," useful for light, curious moments.
• Upside-down face 🙃: ironic and playful, good for mock complaints.

A single emoji at the end of a message is usually plenty. Two is the limit.

Skip anything sexual, such as the eggplant or peach, and the heavy romantic ones like hearts and kisses. They are too forward early on, and many women find them crude or presumptuous.

Avoid long strings of the same face. They look excited and a bit desperate. Avoid emojis that signal neediness, like pleading or crying faces, unless you are plainly joking.

Look at how she writes. If she uses lots of emojis, you can use a few more. If her messages are plain text with the occasional smile, keep yours the same. Mirroring her tone makes the chat feel natural.

If she never uses emojis at all, a single wink now and then is enough, and you can do without them. Do not push a style she is not using.

Write the line first. Make it playful or warm. Then add an emoji only if the tone might otherwise be unclear.

Compare these:

"You are trouble 😏"

and

"You pick the movie and then complain about it. I admire the confidence 😏"

The second shows you listened to her, which is what makes a message flirty. The emoji only confirms the playful tone.

On an iPhone, tap the smiley or globe key on the keyboard to open the emoji panel, then look under the smiling faces. Android phones work the same way with a smiley key near the space bar. Most chat apps also let you type a colon and a word to find one.

Know what you are sending before you hit send, since a few emojis look different on different phones. A quick look at the picture is enough.

Match the emoji to what you are doing in the message. Each use below is one emoji at the end of a line that already says something.

• Teasing her: "You say you are not competitive, but you checked the score twice 😏"
• Complimenting her: "That photo of you on the boat is the best one I have seen all week 😊"
• Setting up a plan: "Thursday at seven, a bar near me with good booths 😉"
• Laughing at her joke: "Okay that was funny 😂 Now you owe me a better one."

Notice that each message works with the emoji removed. That is the test. If the line falls flat without it, rewrite the line.

Not every woman likes emoji flirting. If she answers your playful message with a flat reply and no warmth, do not escalate with more faces. Pull back, write something direct and friendly, and see whether she responds.

Emojis are seasoning. A good message, a real plan and an honest tone are the meal. Once she is interested, move off the screen: suggest a time and place for a drink. No emoji does what a first date does.