How to prevent unicode symbols from being converted to emojis on mobile

Store Design
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Topic summary

A user is experiencing an issue where a Unicode symbol on their website displays correctly on desktop but converts to an emoji when viewed on mobile devices.

Attempted Solutions:

  • Tried adding CSS to their theme file
  • Attempted to specify a font family that doesn’t render emojis
  • None of these efforts successfully prevented the conversion

Recommended Fix:
Wrap the Unicode symbol in an HTML <span> tag and apply a font-family that doesn’t support emojis, such as monospace.

Example syntax provided:
<span style="font-family:monospace">★</span>

This approach targets the specific symbol while preventing mobile devices’ built-in features from automatically converting Unicode characters to emojis. The issue remains unresolved for the original poster at this point.

Summarized with AI on November 7. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I have a unicode symbol in my text on my website, but the symbol is being converted to an emoji when viewed on mobile (even though the mobile preview on desktop doesn’t show that). How can I prevent this? I tried editing the theme CSS but none of my efforts worked:

/* Add this to your theme’s CSS file /
.featured-collection-title {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif; / Choose a font that doesn’t render the star as an emoji */
}

1 Like
2

When a Unicode symbol is being converted to an emoji on mobile, it’s usually because mobile devices have built-in features that automatically turn certain symbols into emojis. To prevent this, try wrapping the Unicode symbol in an HTML span tag and then apply a font-family that doesn’t support emojis, like monospace. Here’s a quick example:

★