What does 🦠 Microbe mean?
A green microbe with little tendrils, standing in for bacteria, viruses and germs in general. It became one of the defining emojis of the COVID-19 pandemic and still appears in posts about colds, flu and handwashing. Science teachers and lab workers use it for microbiology, while friends send it jokingly to say they are sick and staying away. It arrived in 2018, two years before it suddenly became very relevant.
🦠 Microbe is an emoji from the Animals & Nature category (bugs & insects), added in Emoji 11.0 in 2018. People use it in messages about amoeba, bacteria, science and virus.
Example messages
🦠 Microbe on Apple, Google, Microsoft & more
The code is the same everywhere, but every company draws its own artwork. This is how Microbe looks on each platform.
More bugs & insects emojis
See all 17 →Microbe emoji: questions & answers
How do I copy and paste the Microbe emoji?
Press the Copy button at the top of this page and 🦠 is copied to your clipboard. Then paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V, Cmd+V or a long press on your phone. In Slack, Discord and GitHub you can also type the shortcode :microbe:.
When was the Microbe emoji added?
🦠 Microbe was added in Emoji 11.0, released in 2018. It is supported on all current versions of iOS, Android, Windows and macOS.
Why does 🦠 look different on my phone?
Every platform draws its own artwork for Microbe. The underlying code (U+1F9A0) is the same everywhere, so the person you send it to always gets the same emoji, just in their device’s style. Compare the designs in the platform section above.