Microsoft’s 3D Emoji Collection Goes Open-Source

Developers and creatives now have free rein over Microsoft’s awesome 3D emoji. As of August 10th, the Fluent UI emoji collection is open-source—you can download everything on GitHub or Figma. The only exceptions are emoji involving Microsoft logos or Clippy.

Microsoft initially showed off its “Fluent UI” 3D emoji during the Windows 11 announcement. But much to the disappointment of fans, 3D emoji are only featured in Microsoft Teams. The Windows 11 operating system still uses plain-Jane 2D emoji.

This collection includes 1,538 emoji in SVG, PNG, and JPG file formats. Of course, Microsoft also offers open-source code to modify the emoji with new skin tones, expressions, and more.

Because these emoji are open-source, you could use them for just about anything (within the confines of Microsoft’s code of conduct). If you want a custom emoji pack for your Discord chat, for example, Microsoft just gave you a pretty solid head start.

Unfortunately, you can’t upload custom emoji to Microsoft Teams—I call this a missed opportunity. Pairing custom emoji with Microsoft’s official “Fluent UI” selection would provide a more personal experience for people who work in Teams.

Again, you can download the open-source 3D emoji at GitHub or Figma. Bear in mind that emoji containing Microsoft properties, including Clippy, are excluded from this project to protect copyright.

Source: Microsoft via Digital Trends