How to Make Your Own Kaomoji: Build a Face Step by Step

Updated · 3 min read

Every kaomoji is assembled from a handful of parts: a frame, two eyes, a mouth, and optional cheeks, arms, and props. Once you know the parts, you can make a face for any mood in under a minute. This guide walks through each part, shows which characters work best, and builds five faces from nothing.

The five parts of a kaomoji

Read a kaomoji from the outside in. The frame is the head, the eyes carry most of the emotion, the mouth adjusts it, and arms or props say what the face is doing. You rarely need all five parts: ( ^^ ) is a complete face with just a frame and eyes.

PartJobCharacters to try
FrameThe outline of the head( ) ( ) ꒰ ꒱ ʕ ʔ ᕦ ᕤ
EyesThe main emotion^ ^ • • ◕ ◕ ಠ ಠ ╥ ╥ > < ° °
MouthSoftens or sharpens the mood_ ▽ ω ‿ ᴗ □ ﹏ ε
CheeksBlush, warmth, or embarrassment* ✿ ⁄ ⁄ 灬 ๑
Arms and propsAction: waving, hugging, flippingノ ヽ ﾉ ╯ っ و ✧ ♡

Tip: Eyes do the heavy lifting. Swap only the eyes in (◕‿◕) and the mood changes completely: (╥‿╥) is a brave smile through tears, (ಠ‿ಠ) is a forced grin, (≧‿≦) is pure delight.

Build a face in five steps

  1. Decide the feeling first, in one word: proud, sleepy, sneaky, shy.
  2. Pick the eyes that match it. Closed curves (^ ^) read happy, dots (• •) read calm, wide circles (° °) read surprised, and lines (− −) read tired or unimpressed.
  3. Add a mouth only if it adds something. A small ‿ or ᴗ keeps a face soft; □ opens it into a shout; ω makes it cute or smug.
  4. Wrap it in a frame. Round brackets ( ) are neutral, ꒰ ꒱ feel softer, and ʕ ʔ turn any face into a bear.
  5. Give it something to do. Put arms outside the frame (ノ, っ, ╯) and props past the arms (✧, ♪, ☕). Paste the result into the app you will use it in and check the spacing.

Five faces built from scratch

Each face below started from a one-word feeling and was built with the steps above. Copy them as they are, or change one part and see how the mood shifts.

  • (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

    Determined

    Focused eyes •̀ •́, a firm mouth ㅂ, cheeks ๑, a fist و, and a sparkle for confidence.

  • (－_－) zzZ

    Sleepy

    Flat line eyes, a plain mouth, and zzZ as the prop. No arms needed.

  • (¬‿¬ )

    Sneaky

    Side-eye ¬ ¬ plus a small smile reads as up to something.

  • (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)

    Shy

    Slashes ⁄ across the face are blush lines; ω keeps it cute.

  • ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ✧

    Proud bear

    A bear frame ʕ ʔ with determined eyes and a sparkle.

Where to find the characters

Most kaomoji parts come from Japanese kana, the Greek and Cyrillic alphabets, box-drawing symbols, and Korean hangul, which is why few of them are on a standard keyboard. The quickest way to experiment is the kaomoji generator: pick eyes, a mouth, and arms from lists and copy the result. To borrow a single part, copy a face that already has it from a page like cute kaomoji and delete everything else.

On a computer you can also search characters by name. On Windows, open the emoji panel with Windows key + . and use the Symbols tab; on Mac, press Control + Command + Space and type a name such as 'omega' or 'degree'.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

  • The face is lopsided: the two eyes come from different fonts or widths. Use a matched pair, such as ◕ ◕ or • •, rather than mixing a full-width and a half-width character.
  • Too many parts: a face with cheeks, sparkles, arms, and three props is hard to read in a chat bubble. If a part does not change the meaning, remove it.
  • Boxes appear on a friend's phone: rare characters are missing from some fonts. Test on another device, or swap in a common symbol.
  • The face breaks in Discord or Reddit: underscores and asterisks are formatting characters there. See using kaomoji in Discord for the fix.

Frequently asked questions

  • Can I use a kaomoji I made myself anywhere?

    Yes. Kaomoji are ordinary Unicode text, so a face you build works in any app that accepts text, just like a face you copy.

  • What is the easiest kaomoji to make?

    Start with ( ^^ ) or (•‿•): a frame and eyes, plus an optional mouth. Change the eyes to change the mood.

  • Is there a tool that builds kaomoji for me?

    Yes. The kaomoji generator on this site lets you choose eyes, a mouth, and arms from lists, previews the face live, and copies it in one tap.