Install Comoji on your Mac

1. Download the DMG. Download Comoji for Mac and open the disk image. Comoji is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning.
2. Drag Comoji to Applications. Move the app into your Applications folder before you grant anything. macOS ties both permissions below to the app’s location on disk, so granting first and moving afterwards forces you to grant again.
3. Launch it from Applications. Open Comoji from Applications. It has no Dock icon by design: it lives in the menu bar, and a short setup window opens on first run.
4. Grant Input Monitoring. In System Settings › Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring, switch Comoji on. This is what lets it notice a colon token like :fire as you type.
5. Grant Accessibility. In System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility, switch Comoji on. This is what lets it read the focused text field, place the popup at your caret, and insert the emoji.
6. Type a colon token. Open any app, type a colon and a few letters such as :liz, and press Tab to insert the match. Autocomplete starts within a couple of seconds of the second permission, with nothing to restart.

That is the entire install. There is no account to create, no license key, and nothing to configure before it starts working.

The one step people skip is dragging Comoji into Applications before granting anything. macOS records a permission against the app at a specific path, so if you grant Input Monitoring while Comoji is still sitting in Downloads or on the mounted disk image, then move it, the grant stops applying and the popover silently never appears.

If you have already done it in the wrong order, the fix is quick: select Comoji in each list under System Settings › Privacy & Security, remove it with the − button, then add the copy in Applications back and relaunch.

Input Monitoring lets Comoji notice that you typed a colon token like :fire. Without it, nothing triggers.

Accessibility lets Comoji find the focused text field and the caret, so the popup opens next to your text rather than in a corner of the screen, and so the emoji can be inserted back into the field you were typing in. Without it, the shortcut is detected but nothing is inserted.

Both are the standard pair every Mac keyboard utility asks for, and both are invasive enough to be worth checking rather than taking on trust. Comoji processes keystrokes locally only to spot a shortcut: nothing you type is logged or uploaded, and secure password fields are ignored entirely. The security page publishes the complete list of hosts the app contacts and the Terminal commands to verify it yourself, and the step-by-step verification guide walks through running them.

• Both toggles on? Input Monitoring and Accessibility. One without the other is not enough, and this is the cause nearly every time.
• Just updated macOS or Comoji? Updates occasionally invalidate a grant. Remove Comoji from each list with −, add it back, and relaunch.
• Moved the app after granting? Grant again from its final location in Applications.
• Works everywhere except one app or site? Check the per-app and per-website disable lists in Preferences › Privacy. Password managers, terminals and VMs are excluded by default.
• Nothing in a password box? That is deliberate. Comoji ignores secure input fields, so shortcuts never fire there.

Comoji works out of the box, but three settings are worth knowing about. If you write code or timestamps, swap the colon for another token-opening key in Preferences › Shortcuts so a stray popover never interrupts 12:30. If the lime highlight is not your taste, the Appearance pane follows your Mac’s Light/Dark setting and takes any accent color you like. And in Messages, /sticker and /gif are separate commands you can turn on or off independently.

Comoji also keeps itself current: it downloads new versions in the background and installs them while you’re away from the keyboard, rather than interrupting you. Every update is signed and verified before it installs. See everything Comoji does for the full tour.

Why does Comoji need Accessibility and Input Monitoring?

Input Monitoring lets Comoji notice when you type a shortcut like :fire. Accessibility lets it find the focused text field and caret so the popup appears in the right place, and type the emoji back into that field. Neither is used to read the contents of your text fields, and secure password fields are ignored entirely.

Why do I have to move Comoji to Applications before granting permissions?

macOS records the permission against the app at a specific path. If you grant Input Monitoring or Accessibility while Comoji is still in Downloads or on the mounted disk image and then move it, macOS treats the moved copy as a different app and the grant no longer applies. Moving first means granting once.

Comoji is installed but nothing happens when I type a colon. What now?

Almost always one of the two permissions did not stick. Confirm both Input Monitoring and Accessibility are on in System Settings › Privacy & Security, since one without the other is not enough. If both look on, remove Comoji from each list with the minus button, add it back, and relaunch the app.

Which Macs can run Comoji?

Comoji runs on macOS 13 Ventura or later, which covers Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia and macOS 26 Tahoe, on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. It is free, with no account and no subscription.

How do I uninstall Comoji?

Quit Comoji from its menu bar icon, drag the app from Applications to the Trash, then remove its entries from System Settings › Privacy & Security under Input Monitoring and Accessibility. There is nothing else to clean up: Comoji has no background daemon and no login item beyond the app itself.