If you’ve never added emoji to your pages, it’s easy to assume your site isn’t loading anything extra to support them. But if you’re using WordPress, chances are it’s quietly adding emoji scripts to every page of your site, whether you need them or not.
You won’t see them in your content.
But your visitors’ browsers still have to load them.
Every. Single. Time.
And while one small script may not seem like a big deal, it’s often the little things that add up to a slow and bloated site.
What is this emoji script anyway?
Back in 2015, WordPress added a feature to ensure emoji showed up correctly across all browsers. It worked by loading a file called wp-emoji-release.min.js. This script checks if your visitor’s browser supports emoji. If not, it swaps in fallback images.
That might have made sense back then. But now? Most browsers have native emoji support. The fallback script rarely does anything helpful.
Still, it loads on every front-end page by default. No matter your theme. No matter your content. Even if you never use an emoji.
Why it matters more than it looks
You might wonder, does one extra file really slow things down? Not by itself. But rarely is it just one file. Site speed issues creep in quietly. A plugin here. A widget there. A leftover setting you didn’t know existed. And before you realize it, your fast site starts feeling slow.
This script is part of that pattern. It adds a request. It adds code. It adds a delay. It doesn’t help your visitor, but it still gets loaded every time. That’s why Ravi recommends removing the unnecessary emoji scripts. Not because it’s dramatic, but because it’s unnecessary. And unnecessary code has no business slowing down your site!
How to remove the emoji script
There are two easy ways to do this. You can choose the one that fits your workflow.
Option 1: Add a small snippet to your theme
Open your functions.php file and paste this in:
remove_action( 'wp_head', 'print_emoji_detection_script', 7 );
remove_action( 'wp_print_styles', 'print_emoji_styles' );
Done! The script is gone.
Option 2: Use a plugin
If you’d rather avoid code, use a plugin like Perfmatters, Asset CleanUp, or Disable Emojis. Just check the setting to disable emoji support and save. Either approach works. The result is the same: no more unnecessary emoji bloat.
What happens next?
Nothing visible. And that’s exactly the point. Your visitors won’t see a difference. But their browsers will load one less file. Your page will be slightly smaller. Your source code will be cleaner.
It’s a small improvement. But a real one. And when you fix five or six of these small things, your site starts to feel different. Faster. Smoother. More professional.
Start small, finish strong
Site maintenance isn’t about one giant fix. It’s about steady, thoughtful changes that add up over time.
Removing emoji scripts won’t earn you a gold star. But it will move you forward. It’s progress. And it’s the kind that sticks!
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