Emoji Settings
Emoji Settings adds an option to your Writing Settings page to toggle emoji conversion to images.
Use with caution
Emoji Settings works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 2K+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 1 year ago, and scores 49/100 on our health check.
- No update in over a year
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.8 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Emoji Settings stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| emoji | #8 |
| emojis | #12 |
| emoticon | #11 |
| script | >100 |
| twemoji | #4 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 12 reviews
About Emoji Settings
From the official readme · v2.0.0Description
Quickly enable or disable emojis conversion with an option.
When you disable the option, Emoji Settings stops the conversion of ASCII smilies like :) and :D to images on any WordPress installation. This plugin also prevents changing real emojis to Twemoji (Twitter) images. It achieves this by removing several default WordPress scripts.
You can find the option at “Settings > Writing” (/wp-admin/options-writing.php).
This plugin does not prevent real emojis (inserted via an emoji keyboard) from being stored and outputted on your website.
Emoji conversion enabled by default
I wrote this plugin with a WordPress.com-like environment in mind, giving users an option without overriding standard WordPress behavior.
You can change this behavior via filter cw_emoji_overrides. Refer to the code for instructions.
Does more than “Disable Emojis”
Emoji Settings also fixes Character Encoding issues on sites originally installed with WP 4.2 or lower. And this plugin correctly removes the conversion of emojis in the admin area, for example, from post titles.
Translating
You can contribute by translating Emoji Settings via the sidebar on this page.
Installation
- Install Emoji Settings either via the WordPress.org plugin directory or by uploading the files to your server.
- Either Network Activate this plugin or activate it on a single site.
- You can now disable emojis through the admin menu under
wp-admin/options-writing.php. - That’s it! Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
How do I disable emojis by default
You can implement this filter to achieve that: add_filter( 'cw_emoji_overrides', function( $overrides ) { $overrides['default'] = '0'; // Set disabled by default. return $overrides; } );
Changelog
2.0.0
- Rewritten for improved performance.
- Now requires PHP 7.2 or later.
- Now requires WP 5.5 or later because it adds tests against PHP support.
- All function and class names have changed due to added namespacing, hence the major version bump.
- Added filter
cw_emoji_overrides, accepts array[ 'default' => string 1|0, 'force_support' => ?bool ]. - Removed confusing filter
the_emoji_options. - Changed the option label from “Enable emoji support” to “Enable emoji conversion”: this plugin prevents the conversion; it does not prevent actual emojis from being stored and printed.
1.2.0
- Now properly removes the detection script and styles from all admin screens.
- Now requires PHP 5.6 or later.
- Tested up to WP 6.0.
1.1.1
- Tested up to WP 4.9.
1.0.10
- Fixed: When
the_emoji_optionsfilter was incorrectly used, a PHP notice would be cast on every page load. - Fixed: Updated license links in readme and included license file.
- Fixed: Readme typos.
1.0.9
- Improved: Overall sanitation (WordPress.com VIP standards).
- Changed: The class loader function caches the filter within as well.
- Updated: POT file.
- Removed: Dutch translation files; these are now provided through WordPress.org.
- Other: Cleaned up code.
- Note: Plugin license is upgraded from GPLv2+ to GPLv3.
1.0.8
- Improved: (performance) Saving Writing Settings no longer casts the Emoji Setting to an 1 or 0 string when it’s already an 1 or 0 string.
- Improved: (performance) Removed boolean type casting on a boolean if statement.
- Other: This plugin’s description on the activation page is much shorter.
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Emoji Settings alternatives
All emoji plugins →
FAQ
Emoji Settings: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 28, 2026
Is Emoji Settings free?
Yes. Emoji Settings is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Emoji Settings safe to use in 2026?
Emoji Settings works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 2K+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 1 year ago, and scores 49/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Emoji Settings?
Emoji Settings is active on 2K+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 31,961 times since it launched in July 2015. It was downloaded 447 times in the last 30 days.
Does Emoji Settings work with WordPress 7.1?
Emoji Settings is officially tested up to WordPress 6.8.10, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Emoji Settings need?
Emoji Settings requires PHP 7.2.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Emoji Settings last updated?
The latest version, 2.0.0, was released on May 5, 2025 (1 year ago).
Who makes Emoji Settings?
Emoji Settings is developed and maintained by Sybre Waaijer.
What are the best alternatives to Emoji Settings?
The most popular alternatives to Emoji Settings are Native Emoji (5K+ installs), Emoji Toolbar (2K+ installs) and Super Emoji Plus+ (1K+ installs).
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