Linux Mint 22.1 With Emoji Picker Like In Windows 10/11

linux-mint-22.1-with-emoji-picker.md

Linux Mint 22.1 With Emoji Picker Like In Windows 10/11

How it works on Windows

If you're coming from Windows 10/11, you may be used to being able to hit 🪟 + . on your keyboard like:

You can then search for an emoji using the emoji picker that pops up:

Adding this feature to Linux Mint (22.1)

The emoji picker is a missing feature in Linux Mint but we can add it ourselves with similar functionality.

Step 1: Install Emote

I have opted for using Emote in this tutorial and I will install with Flatpak, feel free to check out the linked GitHub to see other installation options.

Step 1.1: Open up Software Manager:

Step 1.2: Search for Emote:

Step 1.3: Click the install button:

Testing out the emoji picker

Open up the application and checkout the Keyboard Shortcuts by clicking on the burger menu:

We can see that hitting Ctrl+Alt+E at the same time will launch the picker. Try it out by clicking somewhere that you can insert text (like in a text editor) and hitting that key combo:

We can see it works pretty similar to the Windows emoiji picker 🎉

Optional Step 2: Getting the 🪟 + . combo working in Mint

Tip

The Windows key is called "Super" in Linux

Okay, but maybe your muscle memory for hitting the Windows key and the dot/period key are just too hard to change, let's change the key combination in Linux Mint.

Warning

Changing the key combination in the application itself doesn't work, but looks like it should:

Here's an approach that works:

Step 2.1: Open the Keyboard application

Step 2.2: Add a custom shortcut

Go to Shortcuts -> Custom Shortcuts -> Add custom shortcut:

In the input boxes, set these properties:

• Name: Emote (or whatever you like)
• Command: /var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin/com.tomjwatson.Emote

Note

The Command link location will be different if you didn't install with Flatpak.

Click the Add button.

Step 2.3: Try adding the keybinding

Click on an "unassigned" keyboard binding, it will say "Pick an accelerator":

Try hitting Windows + . on your keyboard, if you're lucky, it will say "Super + .":

Important

I found that the above worked in VirtualBox, but not actually on my real laptop. If you experience the same issue, continue:

If hitting Windows + . didn't set the key binding correctly, set it as "Windows + q":

Step 2.4: Fixing the keybind

Here's where it gets technical - open the terminal:

Type:

dconf dump /org/cinnamon/ > cinnamon.dconf

This means "dump the configuration settings into a file called cinnamon.dconf". Hit enter to execute.

Open up the file manager and open the cinnamon.dconf file with a text editor:

Find where the binding is for your custom command, it should say:

[desktop/keybindings/custom-keybindings/custom0]
binding=['<Super>q']
command='/var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin/com.tomjwatson.Emote'
name='Emote'

Change the binding=['<Super>q'] line to be binding=['<Super>period'] and save the file:

Head back to the terminal and use:

dconf load /org/cinnamon/ < cinnamon.dconf

This updates the cinnamon settings using that file you just edited. Open up a fresh instance of the Keyboard app and check the config keybind has been set correctly:

Feel free to delete that cinnamon.dconf file now.

Finally, logout and back in:

Test the functionality in a text editor.

It should work 🎉

THANK YOU!!! Why this isn't built into LM is beyond me.

@sohmc glad you found it helpful ❤️

Super guide pas à pas, il m'a été très utile. Merci !