Last Updated on February 18, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

Windows 11 emojis have been updated to better suit the current Fluent Design trend that is all over the operating system.

Windows 11 2D emojis
An example of the new Windows 11 Fluent Design 2D emojis being used in Microsoft’s Your Phone app that is paired up with the Android-powered Motorola Moto G9 Power smartphone.

Recently there has been talk of Microsoft adding 3D emojis to Windows 11. For now though we are receiving the Fluent Design upgrade, which keeps them in 2D but better suits the rest of the operating system with what is still a modern design.

It’s interesting why 2D emojis have been so popular for most of the last decade because it didn’t use to be that way. Yahoo was using 3D emojis many years ago and then even had animations along with them. Perhaps the drawbacks to more extensive graphics such as slower loading times have been the reason, but the average laptop 10 years ago never had a problem handling it so a modern smartphone wouldn’t either.

Google was the first company to start using the current emoji facial expressions and Fluent Design in the Android operating system. Microsoft allegedly still plans on releasing 3G emojis later this year and when they do they will have Microsoft’s own unique design to the facial expressions, akin to what Yahoo used to have.

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