The hug emoji is Smiling face with open hands, U+1F917, which Unicode's character list calls HUGGING FACE. For hug emoji copy and paste, tap it once. Below are 56 more, from People hugging to 13 text hugs and 14 combos.
Read the full guide
Three emoji are filed under hug
CLDR, the Unicode project's list of search words, gives hug to exactly three emoji: the face, People hugging and Open hands. For hugging emoji copy and paste you have two choices, as hugging is listed for the face and for People hugging. The second is the only emoji with the word in its name, and dates from Emoji 13.0.
Match the hug to the message
The face is smiling, so under sad news People hugging is the safer pick: CLDR lists comfort for it, along with hello, goodbye and thanks. Text hugs built on γ€, γ£ or γ₯ borrow Japanese hiragana and need a font for that script. (>^_^)> <(^_^<) and \(^-^)/ are plain ASCII and go wherever text goes.
Tips
Pick a skin tone under More options first: the hands in Open arms, Goodbye hug and Thank you hug follow it.
For someone unwell, Get well hug adds Bouquet. Mending heart, which CLDR lists under recovering, says it in one character.
Search reads CLDR's words as well as names: plush finds Teddy bear and xoxo finds Growing heart.
Questions and answers
Is there a care emoji?
Not in Unicode: care emoji copy and paste has no character. Emojipedia says Facebook's Care reaction, a hugging face holding a heart, works only as a reaction to posts. The nearest is Face hugging a heart. CLDR lists care for Nail polish alone.
Why is the hugging face called Smiling face with open hands?
It has two names. Unicode's character list names U+1F917 HUGGING FACE, and its stability policy says a character name is never changed. CLDR supplies the names keyboards show, and calls it Smiling face with open hands while keeping hug and hugging as search words.
Do the hug emoji come in skin tones?
One of the three does. Emoji 18.0 lists five skin tones for Open hands and none for the face or for People hugging. Choose a tone and Open hands changes, as do five of the ten emoji under Warm, but not a hug.
πOpen handsU+1F450. Arms out, waiting. CLDR lists hug for it, next to jazz. The only one of the three that takes a skin tone. Emoji 0.6.
π«People huggingU+1FAC2. Two figures in an embrace, with no skin tone listed. CLDR lists hello, goodbye, farewell and thanks beside hug, so it covers arrivals as well as bad days. Emoji 13.0.
π€Smiling face with open handsU+1F917. The hug. The character is named HUGGING FACE in Unicode, while CLDR calls it Smiling face with open hands and lists hug and hugging as search words. Emoji 18.0 lists no skin tone for it. Emoji 1.0.
Warm, but not a hug 10
πCouple with heartU+1F491. Two people and a heart between them. CLDR lists together and relationship. Emoji 0.6.
π₯ΉFace holding back tearsU+1F979. CLDR lists aww, grateful and proud. A reply to a hug more than a hug. Emoji 14.0.
π€HandshakeU+1F91D. The formal version. CLDR lists agreement and deal. Emoji 3.0.
π«ΆHeart handsU+1FAF6. Two hands making a heart: love sent from across the room. It takes a skin tone. Emoji 14.0.
Show all 57 hugs (50 more)
Warm, but not a hug, continued
π§βπ€βπ§People holding handsU+1F9D1 U+200D U+1F91D U+200D U+1F9D1. CLDR lists bestie, bff and friends. One step short of a hug, with skin tones. Emoji 12.0.
π₯ΊPleading faceU+1F97A. The face that needs one. CLDR lists puppy and please. Emoji 11.0.
πRaising handsU+1F64C. Both arms up, but CLDR files it under hooray and praise. A cheer, not a cuddle. Emoji 0.6.
πRelieved faceU+1F60C. Eyes shut, small smile. CLDR lists calm and relief. Emoji 0.6.
π₯°Smiling face with heartsU+1F970. Hearts floating round a smile. CLDR lists adore and love, and nothing about arms. Emoji 11.0.
πSmiling face with smiling eyesU+1F60A. The blush. CLDR lists glad and satisfied: what the face looks like after the hug. Emoji 0.6.
Bears and other huggers 7
π»BearU+1F43B. For the bear hug. CLDR lists grizzly, growl and honey. Emoji 0.6.
π¨KoalaU+1F428. Holds on to a tree all day. CLDR lists both bear and marsupial for it, and only one of those is right. Emoji 0.6.
πOctopusU+1F419. More arms than anyone else on the page. Emoji 0.6.
πΌPandaU+1F43C. CLDR lists bamboo. Round enough to count. Emoji 0.6.
π»ββοΈPolar bearU+1F43B U+200D U+2744 U+FE0F. Bear joined to Snowflake. A bear hug for cold weather. Emoji 13.0.
π¦₯SlothU+1F9A5. The slow hug. CLDR lists lazy and slow. Emoji 12.0.
π§ΈTeddy bearU+1F9F8. Built to be hugged, and never lets go first. CLDR lists plush and stuffed. Emoji 11.0.
Care package 10
πBouquetU+1F490. Flowers for when you cannot be there. CLDR lists love and birthday. Emoji 0.6.
π«Chocolate barU+1F36B. CLDR lists sweet and tooth. Emoji 0.6.
πGrowing heartU+1F497. A heart getting bigger. CLDR lists xoxo for it, the typed hug and kiss. Emoji 0.6.
βHot beverageU+2615. CLDR lists tea, coffee and chai, so it is whatever they drink. Emoji 0.6.
πLove letterU+1F48C. An envelope sealed with a heart, for the hug that has to travel. Emoji 0.6.
π²Pot of foodU+1F372. CLDR lists soup and stew. The food version of a hug. Emoji 0.6.
β€οΈRed heartU+2764 U+FE0F. Goes after the hug. It has a plain text form as well. Emoji 0.6.
π§£ScarfU+1F9E3. CLDR lists bundle and up for it: a hug for the neck. Emoji 5.0.
πWrapped giftU+1F381. CLDR lists present and surprise. Emoji 0.6.
Text hugs 13
(>^_^)> <(^_^<)Two ASCII faces about to meet in the middle
(γ£Β΄β½`)γ£Open triangle mouth, coming in for one
(γ£ΛΟΛΟ)A cuddle: omega mouth, final sigma for a curled arm
(γ£ββΏβ)γ£Small hiragana tu: shorter arms, same hug
(γ€β§β½β¦)γ€Squeezed-shut eyes, arms wide
(γ€β§Οβ§)γ€Star eyes, arms out
(γ₯ｑββΏβΏβｑ)γ₯Hiragana du for two reaching arms
\(^-^)/Arms up for a hug, in plain ASCII
Κγ£β’α΄₯β’Κγ£Bear hug: phonetic letters for ears and snout
ΰΌΌ γ€ β_β ΰΌ½γ€Tibetan brackets for shoulders, both arms held out
β((γ»β½γ»))βSubset and superset signs: both arms round
β(ββΏβ)γ€A subset sign for the left arm, fisheye eyes
*hugs*The word between asterisks: a typed action
Hug combos 14
π¬π«Airport hugAirplane arrival, then people hugging. The hello kind. CLDR lists arrivals for the plane and hello for the hug.
π»π«Bear hugBear, then people hugging. The tight kind.
π€πBirthday hugSmiling face with open hands, then birthday cake. A hug, then cake.
π€β€οΈFace hugging a heartSmiling face with open hands, then red heart. The hugging face, then the heart it would be holding. The closest two emoji get to a care reaction, which is not a Unicode character.
π€πGet well hugSmiling face with open hands, then bouquet. A hug and flowers, sent from a safe distance.
π«πGoodbye hugPeople hugging, then waving hand. The farewell kind. The waving hand follows the skin tone you pick.
π€πGoodnight hugSmiling face with open hands, then crescent moon. One last one before bed.
π«π«π«Group hugPeople hugging 3 times. Everybody in.
ππ«Octopus hugOctopus, then people hugging. Eight arms, all in use.
ππ€Open armsOpen hands, then smiling face with open hands. Hands out first, then the face. The hands follow the skin tone you pick.
π₯Ήπ€Proud of you hugFace holding back tears, then smiling face with open hands. CLDR lists proud for the first face. The second one does the hugging.
π§οΈπ«Rainy day hugCloud with rain, then people hugging. For a reply to bad news.
βπ«Tea and sympathyHot beverage, then people hugging. CLDR lists tea for the cup and comfort for the hug.
π«πThank you hugPeople hugging, then folded hands. CLDR lists thanks for both halves. The hands follow the skin tone you pick.
How this list was compiled: Built by script on 2026-09-19, not typed by hand. The 30 emoji, their names, code points, skin tones and Emoji version numbers come from emoji-test.txt, version 18.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/emoji/emoji-test.txt); names are the CLDR short names printed in that file, in sentence case. The search words quoted in the notes are from the CLDR English annotations (https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/annotations/en.xml, main branch). The group Filed under hug is every emoji to which that file gives the search word hug or hugging: 3 in all, and People hugging is the only emoji with the word in its name. The character name HUGGING FACE for U+1F917 is from UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt), and the ages of U+1F917 (Unicode 8.0) and U+1FAC2 (Unicode 13.0) from DerivedAge.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt). CLDR gives the word care to Nail polish and to no hug emoji. That the care reaction is not a Unicode character, and is drawn like a hugging face holding a red heart, is from Emojipedia (https://emojipedia.org/facebook). Text forms come from emoji-variation-sequences.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/emoji/emoji-variation-sequences.txt). The other emoji, the 13 text hugs and the 14 combos are this site's own choice, and the combo names are our own. Every character in a text hug was checked against UnicodeData.txt, and a note that names a letter uses its name from that file. All sources were checked on 2026-09-19. Licence: own work (the selection, the combo names and the wording are ours; emoji names, sequences and search words come from Unicode's data files and CLDR, under the Unicode License v3; facts from Emojipedia, restated in our own words and credited in source)