How to disable Emoji table in Google Docs

Question

I write in Google Docs, and frequently type a colon followed by a newline. As of 2022, typing colon summon Google Doc's emoji pallet , which interferes with the flow of writing. How do I prevent the emoji pallet from popping up?

I've tried using AdBlockPlus to prevent the specific popup from appearing, without success yet. If I find the specific elements that reliably let me write smoothly, I'll put it in as an answer below.

I've put in a feature request in Google Docs to be able to turn off the emoji pallet, without much expectation.

Answer 1

• Tools > Preferences
• uncheck "Insert emojis using the colon character"

Answer 2

For now, you can't disable them as stated on New Emoji reactions in Google Docs on web:

• Admins:There is no Admin control for this feature
• End users: This feature will be ON by default and can not be disabled by the user. To access reactions in Docs, hover over any message or an existing anchor and click on the “Add reaction” icon.

Maybe in the future, there will be settings to do it. You can try the method describe here as a temporary/permanent measure to disable them.

What you might be able to do is use a browser add-on like uBlock Origin to block the pop-up from ever appearing.

Do whatever it is you do to get the emoji menu to show, open the uBlock menu from your toolbar and choose the eye dropper tool (element picker), hover over the emoji box and when it shows a box around that and only that, click it. You'll then be shown a menu to tweak the selection to make it more or less specific and to apply to just that section or others like it too. When you are happy that the selection is correct (there's a preview option) select "create" to maker a permanent rule to block that element from ever annoying you again.

How specifically the selection and rule definitions work I suggest you read the help docs from uBlock to understand, it's a lot of info to try and share here succinctly. It might seem a little daunting at first but with a little practice isn't terribly hard to get familiar and productive with.