Microsoft declared hundreds of emojis open source in one fell swoop. But Clippy is missing, for that reason.
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Over 1,500 Microsoft emojis are now freely available.
©Microsoft
Microsoft has declared almost its entire library of modern (fluent) emojis open source and freely available here on Figma and here on Github. This means that all users can change, use, distribute and use these emojis in their own publications or products as they wish. These emojis are used in Microsoft products such as Microsoft 365, Teams or Windows.
Tip: Use emojis on Windows with this shortcut
In a blog post, Microsoft explains that this is yet another contribution from Microsoft to “democratize the creators’ experience.” A large team of Microsoft designers have been working on the new emojis for over a year so that they can be made available in different formats and languages.
For example, each of the emojis is available in a vector version and also in a flat and monochrome version. In this way, exactly 1,538 emojis were created, which are now made available to all users for free use.
However, there is also a caveat: Microsoft cannot open source some emojis because their content is protected by trademarks owned by Microsoft. This includes Clippy, but also the emojis for country flags, video games and technology experts.
How to get the emojis
On Github you can find all emoji downloads on this page. The folder name gives an indication of which emoji it is. In this folder you will find the “Alien” emoji in the respective subfolders “3D”, “Color”, “Flat” and “High Contrast”. And this in the formats “png” or “svg”. These files can be opened and processed with almost any image editor.
