Emoji 18.0 Candidates Preview 2026

Unicode has draft Emoji 18.0 candidates under review for the next emoji release cycle. The current candidate set includes cracking face, leftwards thumb sign, rightwards thumb sign, monarch butterfly, pickle, lighthouse, meteor, eraser, and net with handle.

These are not final emoji yet. Candidate emoji can change before approval, and platform support usually arrives later after Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and other vendors create their own designs.

Current Emoji 18.0 candidates

The draft list includes new reaction, gesture, nature, food, travel, sky, writing, and tool symbols. Cracking face would add another expressive face. Leftwards and rightwards thumb signs would sit near existing hand symbols such as 👍 thumbs up and 👎 thumbs down.

Monarch butterfly would be more specific than 🦋 butterfly. Pickle would expand food emoji. Lighthouse would add a useful coastal landmark near travel and map symbols such as 🗺 world map. Meteor would sit near space symbols such as ☄ comet. Eraser and net with handle would expand everyday object and tool coverage.

When will Emoji 18.0 be final?

Unicode 18.0 is expected in September 2026. Emoji 18.0 recommendations are expected to align with that release, but the candidate list should be treated as draft until Unicode publishes the final version.

For the approval process, read how emoji get approved and who creates new emoji.

When will Emoji 18.0 come to phones?

Final approval is only the first step. New emoji normally arrive on phones, computers, and apps through later software updates. If someone sends a new emoji before your device supports it, it may display as a blank box.

See why emoji look different and why some emoji disappear for help understanding platform timing.

What came before Emoji 18.0?

The previous major emoji release was 🆕 Emoji 17.0, which added 🫪 distorted face, 🫈 hairy creature, 🫍 orca, 🪊 trombone, 🪎 treasure chest, and more.