How to Type a Heart on Your Keyboard

There are a few different heart characters — here’s the fastest way to get each one

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Whether you’re typing a heart in a message, a document, a social media post, or a spreadsheet, the method depends on which platform you’re on and which type of heart you actually want. Most platforms have a shortcut that’s faster than copying and pasting — you just have to know where to look.

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The Hearts Worth Knowing

There are a few different heart characters in common use:

♥ — the classic suit symbol from a deck of cards (U+2665)

❤ — the emoji-style filled heart (U+2764)

❤️ — the full red heart emoji, which is the emoji version rendered in color on supported platforms

<3 — the text-based heart, universally understood even where symbols don’t render

For most casual use, ❤️ or ❤ is what people are looking for. The suit symbol ♥ is more common in documents and technical contexts. The <3 text version works everywhere without exception.

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Mac

Method 1: Emoji and Symbols Picker

Press Control + Command + Space to open the emoji picker. Type “heart” in the search bar and every heart variant appears instantly. Click any one to insert it.

This works in virtually every Mac application and gives you access to the full range of heart styles — red heart, pink heart, broken heart, anatomical heart, and more.

Method 2: Type It Directly

For the classic suit heart ♥, press Option + Shift + 3 in some applications. Results vary by app, so the emoji picker is more reliable.

Method 3: Text Replacement

Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements and map a shortcut — something like <3 or hrt — to ❤️. From that point on your shortcut auto-expands to the heart emoji anywhere on your Mac.

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Windows

Method 1: Emoji Panel

Press Windows key + . (period) or Windows key + ; (semicolon) to open the emoji panel. Type “heart” in the search bar and select the one you want. This works across most Windows applications and is the fastest method for emoji hearts.

Method 2: Alt Code for the Suit Symbol

Hold Alt and type 3 on the numeric keypad to produce ♥.

• Num Lock must be on
• Use the numeric keypad only
• This gives you the suit symbol ♥, not the emoji heart

For the black suit symbol ♠ or other suits, different Alt codes apply — but for hearts, Alt + 3 is the one to remember.

Method 3: Copy and Keep It

Type or find ❤️ once, then keep it in a sticky note or snippet tool for easy access. Simple but effective for occasional use.

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iPhone and iPad

Method 1: Emoji Keyboard (Fastest)

Tap the smiley face or globe icon on the keyboard to switch to the emoji keyboard. Tap the heart category or type “heart” in the emoji search bar. Tap your preferred heart to insert.

The red heart ❤️ is one of the most frequently used emojis and often appears in your frequently used section, making it a single tap away after the first few uses.

Method 2: Text Replacement

Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add ❤️ as a phrase with a trigger like <3 or hrt. After that it auto-expands in any text field.

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Android

Method 1: Emoji Keyboard

Tap the smiley face icon on your keyboard — on Gboard it’s next to the space bar — to open the emoji panel. Search “heart” or browse the emoji category. Tap to insert.

Method 2: Gboard Symbol Search

In Gboard, tap the G logo and use the search function. Type “heart” and heart emojis and symbols appear as insertable options.

Method 3: Long Press (Some Keyboards)

On some Android keyboards, long pressing certain keys reveals symbols. This varies by keyboard app — Gboard doesn’t use this method for hearts, but third-party keyboards sometimes do.

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Chromebook

Method 1: Emoji Picker

Press Search + Shift + Space to open the emoji picker on ChromeOS. Search “heart” and select from the results.

Alternatively, right-click any text field and look for an “Emoji” option in the context menu — this opens the same picker.

Method 2: Unicode Input

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 2665 for ♥ or 2764 for ❤, then press Enter or Space.

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Linux

Method 1: Unicode Input

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type the Unicode code point, then press Enter:

• 2665 for ♥ (suit heart)
• 2764 for ❤ (emoji-style heart)

Method 2: Compose Key

With a Compose key configured, some desktop environments support heart symbol sequences. The availability depends on your distro and keyboard configuration.

Method 3: Character Map App

Most Linux desktop environments include a character map utility. Search for “heart” to find and copy the symbol you need.

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Microsoft Word

Method 1: Alt Code

Hold Alt and type 3 on the numpad for ♥. Same as the standard Windows method.

Method 2: Insert Symbol

Go to Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Search for “heart” or browse the Unicode character blocks. Select and insert. You can also assign it an AutoCorrect trigger from this menu so typing something like <3 auto-converts in Word going forward.

Method 3: Alt + X

Type 2665 then immediately press Alt + X for ♥, or 2764 then Alt + X for ❤. Word converts the code to the symbol on the spot.

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Social Media and Messaging Apps

Most social platforms and messaging apps — Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram — have their own emoji pickers built into the text input area. Look for the smiley face icon in or near the text field. On desktop versions of these platforms, the emoji picker is usually accessible from an icon next to the text box.

On platforms that render emojis natively, simply typing ❤️ copied from anywhere will display as a full red heart regardless of how it was inserted.

Some platforms also convert <3 into a heart automatically — Facebook Messenger and some others do this by default.

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Quick Reference

Platform	Fastest Method	Suit Symbol ♥
Mac	Control + Command + Space	Option + Shift + 3 (varies)
Windows	Windows + . then search “heart”	Alt + 3 (numpad)
iPhone / iPad	Emoji keyboard	Same
Android	Emoji keyboard or Gboard search	Same
Chromebook	Search + Shift + Space	Ctrl + Shift + U, 2665
Linux	Ctrl + Shift + U, 2764	Ctrl + Shift + U, 2665
Microsoft Word	Alt + 3 (numpad) or Insert Symbol	Alt + 3 (numpad)

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The Bottom Line

On mobile, the emoji keyboard is a single tap away and gives you every heart variant in existence. On Mac, Control + Command + Space opens the emoji picker in any app. On Windows, the Windows + . shortcut does the same thing.

For the classic suit symbol ♥ in documents or anywhere formatting is minimal, Alt + 3 on a Windows numpad is the fastest single shortcut across any platform.

If you use hearts regularly in your writing, a text replacement shortcut mapping <3 to ❤️ is worth the thirty seconds it takes to set up — it works system-wide and means you never have to reach for a picker at all.

The fastest heart is always the one your keyboard already knows how to make — you just have to teach it once.