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As you probably know,  and Unicode keeps adding new emojis, but, if like me, you can't or you don't want to update to the latest version of macOS, you don't have those emojis. I know that there are several emojis fonts such as

But, I don't want to have this kind of library, I would like to have the "real" emojis from  (Yes, I ❤️ to use the Apple logo and emojis ).

Is there a way to update the emoji list from the  emojis?

This is my question, I think it's technically possible, but I have no idea where to find those emojis and how to update them.

grg
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Arthur Guiot
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3 Answers3

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The font file you need to use a more recent version of is /System/Library/Fonts/Apple Color Emoji.ttc and is about 135MB.

The High Sierra version of the file and the process to install it to /Library/Fonts can be found here: http://stephenradford.me/install-high-sierra-emoji-on-older-versions/

Note that the Emoji & Symbol picker will not list the newer emoji added since your version of macOS. For that to work you would also need to update at least /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreEmoji.framework and maybe some other files.

Matt Sephton
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You have to either obtain a copy of the newer Apple Color Emoji font from a newer OS version and install it in your machine, or manually edit the one you have using a font editor app which can handle this kind of font. I think the second option is not very practical for most users in terms of the work and skills required.

Tom Gewecke
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If you're on El Capitan, it's quite easy. You need to temporarily disable SIP and copy the TTC file over to /System/Library/Fonts. You should turn SIP back on after you copy the font, since that imposes a security risk, since any app can have unlimited access to the /System folder once you grant it access to file system.

Yosemite and earlier are the easiest. All you need to do is copy the file to /Library/Fonts, and maybe reboot for the changes to fully take effect.

Catalina is slightly different. Once you disable SIP, you need to remount the /System partition as Read/Write (again, another security risk) by typing sudo mount -uw / into the Terminal. Copy it to /System/Library/Fonts

With Big Sur, you can't replace the font. However, it's still possible to update the font. Simply install the font, and disable the preinstalled font through Font Book.

Make a back up of the original font!

John R.
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  • You used to be able to just copy it to the user-editable `/Library/` folder, or even just install it in font book. Did something change in recent releases where it has to be in `/System/`? – Wowfunhappy May 27 '21 at 01:54
  • @Wowfunhappy I realized I had made a mistake. In Yosemite, it is still inside `/Library/Fonts`, however since El Capitan and SIP, it was moved to `/System/`. Correct me if I'm still wrong. – John R. Oct 29 '21 at 17:33