diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/emoji-picker/content.gjs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/emoji-picker/content.gjs
index 6d81cec5b49..e1f2e9f9582 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/emoji-picker/content.gjs
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/emoji-picker/content.gjs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import didInsert from "@ember/render-modifiers/modifiers/did-insert";
 import { cancel, next, schedule } from "@ember/runloop";
 import { service } from "@ember/service";
 import { modifier as modifierFn } from "ember-modifier";
+import { emojiSearch } from "pretty-text/emoji";
 import { eq, gt, includes, notEq } from "truth-helpers";
 import DButton from "discourse/components/d-button";
 import FilterInput from "discourse/components/filter-input";
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
   @service capabilities;
   @service site;
 
+  @tracked isFiltering = false;
   @tracked filteredEmojis = null;
   @tracked scrollObserverEnabled = true;
   @tracked scrollDirection = "up";
@@ -152,9 +154,12 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
 
   @action
   didInputFilter(value) {
+    this.isFiltering = true;
     if (!value?.length) {
       cancel(this.debouncedFilterHandler);
+      this.visibleSections = DEFAULT_VISIBLE_SECTIONS;
       this.filteredEmojis = null;
+      this.isFiltering = false;
       return;
     }
 
@@ -174,13 +179,14 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
   debouncedDidInputFilter(filter = "") {
     filter = filter.toLowerCase();
 
-    this.filteredEmojis = this.flatEmojis.filter(
-      (emoji) =>
-        emoji.name.toLowerCase().includes(filter) ||
-        emoji.search_aliases?.any((alias) =>
-          alias.toLowerCase().includes(filter)
-        )
-    );
+    const results = emojiSearch(filter, {
+      exclude: this.site.denied_emojis,
+    }).slice(0, 50);
+
+    this.filteredEmojis =
+      this.flatEmojis.filter((emoji) => results.includes(emoji.name)) ?? [];
+
+    this.isFiltering = false;
 
     schedule("afterRender", () => {
       if (this.scrollableNode) {
@@ -450,7 +456,6 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
           @filterAction={{withEventValue this.didInputFilter}}
           @icons={{hash right="magnifying-glass"}}
           @containerClass="emoji-picker__filter"
-          autofocus={{true}}
           placeholder={{i18n "chat.emoji_picker.search_placeholder"}}
         />
 
@@ -491,7 +496,8 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
             </DButton>
           {{/each-in}}
         </div>
-        {{#if this.sections.length}}
+
+        {{#if this.emojiStore.list}}
           <div class="emoji-picker__scrollable-content" {{this.scrollListener}}>
             <div
               class="emoji-picker__sections"
@@ -499,7 +505,7 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
               {{on "keydown" this.onSectionsKeyDown}}
               role="button"
             >
-              {{#if (notEq this.filteredEmojis null)}}
+              {{#if this.term.length}}
                 <div class="emoji-picker__section filtered">
                   {{#each this.filteredEmojis as |emoji|}}
                     <img
@@ -518,95 +524,101 @@ export default class EmojiPicker extends Component {
                       loading="lazy"
                     />
                   {{else}}
-                    <p class="emoji-picker__no-results">
-                      {{i18n "chat.emoji_picker.no_results"}}
-                      {{replaceEmoji ":crying_cat_face:"}}
-                    </p>
+                    {{#if this.isFiltering}}
+                      <div class="spinner-container">
+                        <div class="spinner medium"></div>
+                      </div>
+                    {{else}}
+                      <p class="emoji-picker__no-results">
+                        {{i18n "chat.emoji_picker.no_results"}}
+                        {{replaceEmoji ":crying_cat_face:"}}
+                      </p>
+                    {{/if}}
                   {{/each}}
                 </div>
+              {{else}}
+                {{#each-in this.groups as |section emojis|}}
+                  {{#if emojis}}
+                    <div
+                      class={{concatClass
+                        "emoji-picker__section"
+                        (if (notEq this.filteredEmojis null) "hidden")
+                      }}
+                      data-section={{section}}
+                      role="region"
+                      aria-label={{i18n
+                        (concat "chat.emoji_picker." section)
+                        translatedFallback=section
+                      }}
+                    >
+                      <div class="emoji-picker__section-title-container">
+                        <h2 class="emoji-picker__section-title">
+                          {{i18n
+                            (concat "chat.emoji_picker." section)
+                            translatedFallback=section
+                          }}
+                        </h2>
+                        {{#if (eq section "favorites")}}
+                          <DButton
+                            @icon="trash-can"
+                            class="btn-transparent"
+                            @action={{this.clearFavorites}}
+                          />
+                        {{/if}}
+                      </div>
+                      <div class="emoji-picker__section-emojis">
+                        {{! we always want the first emoji for tabbing}}
+                        {{#let (get emojis "0") as |emoji|}}
+                          <img
+                            width="32"
+                            height="32"
+                            class="emoji"
+                            src={{tonableEmojiUrl
+                              emoji
+                              this.emojiStore.diversity
+                            }}
+                            tabindex="0"
+                            data-emoji={{emoji.name}}
+                            data-tonable={{if emoji.tonable "true"}}
+                            alt={{emoji.name}}
+                            title={{tonableEmojiTitle
+                              emoji
+                              this.emojiStore.diversity
+                            }}
+                            loading="lazy"
+                          />
+                        {{/let}}
+
+                        {{#if (includes this.visibleSections section)}}
+                          {{#each emojis as |emoji index|}}
+                            {{! first emoji has already been rendered, we don't want to re render or would lose focus}}
+                            {{#if (gt index 0)}}
+                              <img
+                                width="32"
+                                height="32"
+                                class="emoji"
+                                src={{tonableEmojiUrl
+                                  emoji
+                                  this.emojiStore.diversity
+                                }}
+                                tabindex="-1"
+                                data-emoji={{emoji.name}}
+                                data-tonable={{if emoji.tonable "true"}}
+                                alt={{emoji.name}}
+                                title={{tonableEmojiTitle
+                                  emoji
+                                  this.emojiStore.diversity
+                                }}
+                                loading="lazy"
+                              />
+                            {{/if}}
+                          {{/each}}
+                        {{/if}}
+                      </div>
+                    </div>
+                  {{/if}}
+                {{/each-in}}
               {{/if}}
-
-              {{#each-in this.groups as |section emojis|}}
-                {{#if emojis}}
-                  <div
-                    class={{concatClass
-                      "emoji-picker__section"
-                      (if (notEq this.filteredEmojis null) "hidden")
-                    }}
-                    data-section={{section}}
-                    role="region"
-                    aria-label={{i18n
-                      (concat "chat.emoji_picker." section)
-                      translatedFallback=section
-                    }}
-                  >
-                    <div class="emoji-picker__section-title-container">
-                      <h2 class="emoji-picker__section-title">
-                        {{i18n
-                          (concat "chat.emoji_picker." section)
-                          translatedFallback=section
-                        }}
-                      </h2>
-                      {{#if (eq section "favorites")}}
-                        <DButton
-                          @icon="trash-can"
-                          class="btn-transparent"
-                          @action={{this.clearFavorites}}
-                        />
-                      {{/if}}
-                    </div>
-                    <div class="emoji-picker__section-emojis">
-                      {{! we always want the first emoji for tabbing}}
-                      {{#let (get emojis "0") as |emoji|}}
-                        <img
-                          width="32"
-                          height="32"
-                          class="emoji"
-                          src={{tonableEmojiUrl
-                            emoji
-                            this.emojiStore.diversity
-                          }}
-                          tabindex="0"
-                          data-emoji={{emoji.name}}
-                          data-tonable={{if emoji.tonable "true"}}
-                          alt={{emoji.name}}
-                          title={{tonableEmojiTitle
-                            emoji
-                            this.emojiStore.diversity
-                          }}
-                          loading="lazy"
-                        />
-                      {{/let}}
-
-                      {{#if (includes this.visibleSections section)}}
-                        {{#each emojis as |emoji index|}}
-                          {{! first emoji has already been rendered, we don't want to re render or would lose focus}}
-                          {{#if (gt index 0)}}
-                            <img
-                              width="32"
-                              height="32"
-                              class="emoji"
-                              src={{tonableEmojiUrl
-                                emoji
-                                this.emojiStore.diversity
-                              }}
-                              tabindex="-1"
-                              data-emoji={{emoji.name}}
-                              data-tonable={{if emoji.tonable "true"}}
-                              alt={{emoji.name}}
-                              title={{tonableEmojiTitle
-                                emoji
-                                this.emojiStore.diversity
-                              }}
-                              loading="lazy"
-                            />
-                          {{/if}}
-                        {{/each}}
-                      {{/if}}
-                    </div>
-                  </div>
-                {{/if}}
-              {{/each-in}}
             </div>
           </div>
         {{else}}
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/services/emoji-store.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/services/emoji-store.js
index 4a36b67dc58..8ecaa0f6d7e 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/services/emoji-store.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/services/emoji-store.js
@@ -51,16 +51,16 @@ export default class EmojiStore extends Service {
   }
 
   resetContext(context) {
-    this.contexts[context] = this.#defaultEmojis;
-    this.#persistRecentEmojisForContext(this.#defaultEmojis, context);
-  }
-
-  get #defaultEmojis() {
-    return this.siteSettings.default_emoji_reactions.split("|").filter(Boolean);
+    this.contexts[context] = [];
+    this.#persistRecentEmojisForContext([], context);
   }
 
   #recentEmojisForContext(context) {
-    return this.contexts[context] ?? this.#defaultEmojis;
+    return (
+      this.contexts[context] ??
+      this.store.getObject(this.#emojisStorekeyForContext(context)) ??
+      []
+    );
   }
 
   #addEmojiToContext(emoji, context) {
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/fixtures/emojis-fixtures.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/fixtures/emojis-fixtures.js
index 5d3c0e2ab4b..97acaed9eac 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/fixtures/emojis-fixtures.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/fixtures/emojis-fixtures.js
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ export default {
         group: "smileys_\u0026_emotion",
         search_aliases: ["smiley_cat", "star_struck"],
       },
+      {
+        name: "smiley_cat",
+        tonable: false,
+        url: "/images/emoji/twitter/smiley_cat.png?v=12",
+        group: "smileys_\u0026_emotion",
+      },
     ],
     "people_&_body": [
       {
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/integration/components/emoji-picker-test.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/integration/components/emoji-picker-test.js
index 05089268702..7fd3078f311 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/integration/components/emoji-picker-test.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/integration/components/emoji-picker-test.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ module("Integration | Component | emoji-picker-content", function (hooks) {
 
     assert
       .dom(".emoji-picker__section.filtered > img")
-      .exists({ count: 1 }, "it filters the emojis list");
+      .exists({ count: 2 }, "it filters the emojis list");
     assert
       .dom('.emoji-picker__section.filtered > img[alt="grinning"]')
       .exists("it filters the correct emoji");
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ module("Integration | Component | emoji-picker-content", function (hooks) {
       .dom('.emoji-picker__section.filtered > img[alt="grinning"]')
       .exists("it is case insensitive");
 
-    await fillIn(".filter-input", "smiley_cat");
+    await fillIn(".filter-input", "grinning");
 
     assert
       .dom('.emoji-picker__section.filtered > img[alt="grinning"]')
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/services/emoji-store-test.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/services/emoji-store-test.js
index 621dd9f863b..562e18595f5 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/services/emoji-store-test.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/tests/unit/services/emoji-store-test.js
@@ -21,14 +21,6 @@ module("Unit | Service | emoji-store", function (hooks) {
     this.emojiStore.reset();
   });
 
-  test(".favoritesForContext", function (assert) {
-    assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("topic"), [
-      "+1",
-      "heart",
-      "tada",
-    ]);
-  });
-
   test(".trackEmojiForContext", function (assert) {
     this.emojiStore.trackEmojiForContext("grinning", "topic");
     const storedEmojis = new KeyValueStore(STORE_NAMESPACE).getObject(
@@ -37,13 +29,10 @@ module("Unit | Service | emoji-store", function (hooks) {
 
     assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("topic"), [
       "grinning",
-      "+1",
-      "heart",
-      "tada",
     ]);
     assert.deepEqual(
       storedEmojis,
-      ["grinning", "+1", "heart", "tada"],
+      ["grinning"],
       "it persists the tracked emojis"
     );
   });
@@ -73,19 +62,11 @@ module("Unit | Service | emoji-store", function (hooks) {
 
     assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("topic"), [
       "grinning",
-      "+1",
-      "heart",
-      "tada",
     ]);
 
     this.emojiStore.trackEmojiForContext("cat", "chat");
 
-    assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("chat"), [
-      "cat",
-      "+1",
-      "heart",
-      "tada",
-    ]);
+    assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("chat"), ["cat"]);
   });
 
   test(".resetContext", function (assert) {
@@ -93,11 +74,7 @@ module("Unit | Service | emoji-store", function (hooks) {
 
     this.emojiStore.resetContext("topic");
 
-    assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("topic"), [
-      "+1",
-      "heart",
-      "tada",
-    ]);
+    assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("topic"), []);
   });
 
   test(".diversity", function (assert) {
@@ -115,6 +92,7 @@ module("Unit | Service | emoji-store", function (hooks) {
   });
 
   test("sort emojis by frequency", function (assert) {
+    this.emojiStore.trackEmojiForContext("grinning", "topic");
     this.emojiStore.trackEmojiForContext("cat", "topic");
     this.emojiStore.trackEmojiForContext("cat", "topic");
     this.emojiStore.trackEmojiForContext("cat", "topic");
@@ -124,9 +102,7 @@ module("Unit | Service | emoji-store", function (hooks) {
     assert.deepEqual(this.emojiStore.favoritesForContext("topic"), [
       "cat",
       "dog",
-      "+1",
-      "heart",
-      "tada",
+      "grinning",
     ]);
   });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/chat/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/chat-message-actions-desktop.gjs b/plugins/chat/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/chat-message-actions-desktop.gjs
index 8c269d5540c..a5fb919a77c 100644
--- a/plugins/chat/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/chat-message-actions-desktop.gjs
+++ b/plugins/chat/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/chat-message-actions-desktop.gjs
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const REDUCED_WIDTH_THRESHOLD = 500;
 export default class ChatMessageActionsDesktop extends Component {
   @service chat;
   @service site;
+  @service siteSettings;
   @service emojiStore;
 
   @tracked size = FULL;
@@ -35,8 +36,13 @@ export default class ChatMessageActionsDesktop extends Component {
   popper = null;
 
   get favoriteReactions() {
+    const defaultReactions = this.siteSettings.default_emoji_reactions
+      .split("|")
+      .filter(Boolean);
+
     return this.emojiStore
       .favoritesForContext(`channel_${this.message.channel.id}`)
+      .concat(defaultReactions)
       .slice(0, 3)
       .map(
         (emoji) =>