With the widespread use of masks in the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to understand how emotion recognition is affected by partial face covering. Since individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC) often tend to look at the lower half of the face, they are likely to be particularly restricted in emotion recognition by people wearing masks, since they are now forced to look at the upper half of the face. This study compared the recognition of basic and complex emotions in individuals with and without ASC, when faces were presented uncovered, with face masks, or with sunglasses. We also used eye tracking to examine group differences in gaze patterns during emotion recognition. Individuals with ASC were less accurate at recognizing emotions in all three conditions. Averaged across the three stimulus types, individuals with ASC had greater difficulty recognizing anger, fear, pride, and embarrassment than control group. There was no group difference in emotion recognition between the three conditions. However, compared to individuals without ASC, there was no evidence of either gaze avoidance or preference for the mouth region. Our results suggest that emotion recognition is reduced in individuals with ASC, but this is not due to differences in gaze patterns.