Using the built-in emoji key

Most Android keyboards, including Gboard, show a small smiley-face icon on the bottom row of the keyboard. Tapping it switches straight to the emoji picker; tapping it again (or the ABC key) switches back to letters.

If the smiley icon is missing

Open your keyboard app's settings — usually Settings, System, Languages and input, On-screen keyboard — and check that emoji support is enabled, since some third-party launchers or keyboard apps hide it by default.

Searching for emoji on Gboard

Tap the emoji icon, then the search bar at the top of the panel and type a keyword like 'cake' or 'sad' to filter results instead of scrolling through categories manually.

Using a browser-based emoji keyboard on mobile

An online emoji keyboard also works fine in a mobile browser and can be quicker when you want to build a longer emoji message, since the text bar at the top holds everything you've selected until you're ready to copy it all at once.