"Emoji & Symbols" no longer coming up after Sequoia update.

The problem has been fixed for me after rebooting my Mac.

That actually did it for me, after I had first installed 15.2. - did everything I could and gave up rebooting and this worked. --> emojis are back 😄

After many failed attempts to correct this problem and many failed suggestions (all are appreciated) The update to 15.4.1 fixed the missing Emoji and Symbols window!

I'm on 15.5 and still doesn't work.

Which platform or app were you having trouble with?

...I tried to see Emoji in Sequoia, but failed.

I pressed Ctr+Cmd+Space, Fn+E or Edit-Emoji & Symbols from menu - no effect.

Finally, I found the source of the problem. But do not understand the reason.

Emoji does not work when I connect to VPN via AnyConnect...

I had this issue for a while now. I turned off Apple Intelligence (System settings » Apple Intelligence & Siri), and since then it works again both with fn+E and control+cmd+space 🤷‍♂️

Hope this helps 🙂

I just got the update to 15.3 and that didn't fix the issue.

If I click Show Emoji & Symbols or Cmd-Ctrl-Space the drop-down many thinks it's opened the chooser (thus the Hide option showing up) but the window still never shows up.

It does seem to work in Messages but that's because the chooser is anchored to the input line so if I really want a symbol, I can do it there then copy-paste it elsewhere. Not a fun workaround...

Impossible to show screen shots of this as the edit button just flashes and immediately turns off as I release the Control/Command/Space keys.

My original message has screenshots of the working and not working situations (works in Messages doesn’t in Mail app)

By the way, I have spent hours with Apple Customer service, on my own, including getting help from Genius Bar and a famous Tv/Radio Tech guru. Based on research it is obvious that MANY people have the same issue. Why can’t Apple Engineering look into this and fix it! It is an obvious issue caused by the latest MacOS update!

banjo92573 wrote:

I have spent hours with Apple Customer service, on my own, including getting help from Genius Bar and a famous Tv/Radio Tech guru.

Were the people you consulted able to duplicate your experience with this problem?

Tom, here is some more insight on the problem. Please offer some detailed solution:

In addition to this weird emoji issue I also experienced a problem in using CCleaner App (that i have been successfully using for more than 10 years). It no longer worked after the latest OS update on my Mac. I deleted the app and reinstalled and still it wouldn't open.

TODAY

I added a new user in my system (just for testing purpose). After I added this and opened it, miraculously the emoji function worked as expected AND the CCleaner app also worked.

So there is something in my setup that is different and caused these issues. I have no idea hopw to begin to identify the difference.

Can someone help me on this?

Thanks,

John

Thanks for the interesting new info. I can't duplicate this problem myself, and always recommend that others remove any "cleaner" and "antivirus" stuff when troubleshooting, because it can sometimes be problematic for obscure reasons. I assume moving everything to the new user account where things work right is not an good option for your situation?

Have you already tried a Safe Boot?

Sometimes this app may help locate unusual problems in accounts.

https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html

Nothing helps. All the same whether I click the menu or use a key combination - the emoji & symbols window does not appear. I can restart even 100 times - still the same thing. Macbook Air 2025 Sequoia 15.4.1. Any idea?

This keeps happening to me too. A reboot usually fixes it. In my case it is not a keyboard shortcut problem as even using the Edit > Emoji & Symbols menu doesn't work. In the Input menu in the menu bar, I noticed that - rather than Show - it says "Hide Emoji & Symbols", as if it thinks the window is already showing.

ME TOO 🙋🏻‍♀️ Same update. ❌No VPN. ❌Fn key. ❌Drop down from bar. All settings spot on. Same problem. 😤

I notice it when I want to put an emoji at the beginning of my Calendar event. If I move the cursor to another spot in the event title it will work. Then I have to Select, Cut, Paste. Which defeats the purpose of having shortcuts. Also tried with all the events for today. So it will randomly pop up for some. I thought it didn't like abbreviated words like Chk instead of Check. No not the case. Almost like being selective.

As I'm tapping this out went back to Calendar to try something. Go to event. Don't put the cursor where I want the emoji. Tap fn key first and Lo & behold it brings up the emoji selector. Still there has to be glitch because it worked fine all these years. Besides how do unlearn not putting your cursor where you want to input something?

ps. Have you noticed how nicely the emoji's are popping up here? I do think for me it is only Calendar. The other feature I don't like is the event being typed out & highlighted below as I am trying to add an event. So, not just from a previous event with the same name. Totally new ones. What the!! Get out of my way. 🤬 Have to figure out how to get rid of that. In the mean time the use of certain vocal explicit words has expanded.