What Does The White Heart Emoji Mean? (And How To Use It)

The first text message, a "Merry Christmas" greeting, was sent by British software programmer Neil Papworth in 1992. A year later, Nokia launched the Nokia 2110 — the first phone with the ability to send texts. In 2002, Sony launched the Ericsson T68i — the first phone that could send multimedia messages. 

By 2011, messaging apps were helping people stay connected with friends and family, with the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger becoming a key source of communication and sending billions of messages per day. Messaging apps are still here, and now offer more ways to send messages than just a combination of a few words and letters. On all of them you have the option to use the emoji, which helps you better express your ideas or emotions.

There are more than 200 popular emoji, each usually having a particular meaning. For instance, a smiling-face emoji is used when you want to express positive feelings. However, the same can't be said about the white heart emoji. The message this emoji is trying to convey depends on the situation it's used in and the person it's sent to.

A white heart emoji mainly conveys the same message as a red heart emoji — love. When you want to express your love to someone, you can use the white heart emoji. You can use it while chatting with your partner, or in messages you're sending to your parents to let them know how special they are to you. Your colleagues or friends may also send you a white heart emoji to express their bond with you.

The next use case of this heart emoji is to express emotional support. If the other person is going through a rough patch in their life — maybe they've lost their job, or someone they care about has died — you can use this emoji to show you're always available to support them.

You can also use it to appreciate things, typically — but not exclusively — related to the color white. For instance, if you see that your friend has posted a picture of their new white car, you can write a congratulatory message in the comments, followed by a white heart emoji.

You can access the white heart emoji the same way you access other emoji on your device. For instance, if you want to use it on your smartphone in an Instagram message, tap the emoji icon on your smartphone keyboard and search for the white heart. You'll have the emoji listed in the result, and you need to simply tap it to use it in your message.

On a Windows laptop, you won't find a dedicated button to access emoji. You will have to use one of the Windows keyboard shortcuts to access the emoji window, so that you can then choose the white heart emoji from there. To access the emoji window on a Windows device, press the Windows key + . – that is, the Windows key as well as a period — on your keyboard. Then, in the emoji window's search bar, type white heart and choose the relevant emoji.

Similar to Windows, a Mac keyboard doesn't have a dedicated emoji button. You need to use a macOS trick to access the emoji palette on Mac. Let's say you want to use the white heart emoji in an email you're sending through your MacBook. Tap the writing field and then press the Globe or Fn key on your keyboard, plus E, to access the Emoji & Symbols palette. Now, use the search bar to quickly search for the white heart emoji.