Where to find stickers on your iPhone
Stickers on iPhone live in the Messages app, the Notes app, and in third-party apps you read. You do not need to buy them separately — Apple includes a set of stickers with every iPhone, and you can add more from the App Store for free or for a price. The fastest way to access them is through Messages, where stickers appear in a dedicated panel next to the keyboard.
To see what stickers came with your phone, open Messages, start a new conversation or open an existing one, and tap the app icon (four dots in a grid) to the left of the text field. Swipe left through the row of app icons until you see the sticker icon — it looks like a smiley face with a curled corner. Tap it, and you will see all the sticker packs installed on your device.
If you want to use stickers in Notes instead, open a note, tap the plus icon at the bottom of the screen, and select the sticker icon from the menu that appears. The same sticker packs will be available there.
Key Takeaways
- Stickers on iPhone are accessed through Messages or Notes using the sticker icon, which looks like a smiley face with a curled corner.
- Apple includes built-in sticker packs on every iPhone, and you can add more packs from the App Store at no cost or for a fee.
- To add a sticker to a message, tap the sticker icon, choose a pack, and tap the sticker you want — it will appear in your message.
- Third-party apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Telegram have their own sticker systems that work only within those apps.
- You can organize your sticker packs by hiding ones you do not use, which keeps your sticker panel cleaner and faster to navigate.
How to add a sticker to a message
Once you have opened the sticker panel in Messages, you will see rows of sticker packs. Each pack has a name and a preview of what the stickers inside look like. Tap the pack you want to use, and the stickers in that pack will appear on your screen. Then tap the individual sticker you want to send. It will appear in your message as a separate element — not as text, but as an image you can resize or move around before you send.
If you want to resize a sticker before sending, tap and hold it, then drag one of the corner handles to make it bigger or smaller. You can also drag the sticker to a different spot in your message. When you are happy with how it looks, tap the send button to deliver it.
You can add multiple stickers to a single message. Just tap another sticker from the same pack or a different pack, and it will appear alongside the first one. There is no limit to how many you can add to one message.
How to read new sticker packs from the App Store
To find more stickers beyond what came with your iPhone, open the App Store and tap the search tab at the bottom. Search for "stickers" or search by theme — "cat stickers", "anime stickers", "funny stickers" — and you will see a list of sticker packs available. Each pack shows whether it is free or costs money, usually between 99 cents and a few dollars.
Tap the pack you want, then tap the cloud icon with a down arrow (or the price if it costs money). If it is free, it will read and install when ready. If it costs money, you will be asked to confirm the purchase using Face ID, Touch ID, or your Apple ID password. Once the pack is installed, it will appear in your sticker panel the next time you open Messages or Notes.
Some sticker packs are bundles — multiple related packs sold together for one price. Others are individual packs. Read the description to see how many stickers are in the pack and what they look like before you buy.
How to organize and hide sticker packs you do not use
If you have downloaded many sticker packs, your sticker panel can become crowded and slow to scroll through. You can hide packs you do not use often to keep the panel cleaner. Open the sticker panel in Messages, then tap "Edit" in the top right corner of the sticker list. You will see all your installed packs with a minus sign next to each one.
Tap the minus sign next to any pack you want to hide. The pack will disappear from your sticker panel, but it will not be deleted from your phone — you can bring it back anytime by tapping "Edit" again and tapping the plus sign next to the pack name. This is useful if you have seasonal stickers or packs you only use occasionally.
You cannot reorder sticker packs by dragging them around the way you can with app icons on your home screen. The order is set by Apple and the order in which you downloaded packs. Hiding unused packs is the main way to customize how your sticker panel looks.
Stickers in third-party apps like Snapchat and Instagram
Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp have their own sticker systems that work only inside those apps. You cannot use Snapchat stickers in Messages, and you cannot use Apple's built-in stickers in Snapchat. Each app manages its own sticker library.
In Snapchat, stickers appear in a panel when you are composing a snap. In Instagram, they appear in the Stories editor when you tap the sticker icon. In Telegram and WhatsApp, they appear in a dedicated sticker panel in the chat screen. Most of these apps let you read additional sticker packs from within the app itself, and many are free.
If you use multiple messaging apps, you will end up with different sticker collections in each one. This is normal — there is no way to sync stickers across apps or use one app's stickers in another.
Troubleshooting: stickers not showing up
If you have downloaded a sticker pack but it is not appearing in your sticker panel, try closing Messages completely and opening it again. Sometimes a newly installed pack does not show up until you restart the app. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or swipe down from the top right on newer iPhones) to close all open apps, then tap Messages again.
If that does not work, check that you have enough storage space on your iPhone. Sticker packs are small, but if your phone is almost full, new downloads may not install properly. Go to Settings, tap General, then Storage to see how much space you have left. If you are below 1 gigabyte of free space, delete some photos, videos, or apps to make room.
If a sticker pack you paid for is still not showing up, open the App Store, tap your profile icon in the top right, and go to Purchased. Find the sticker pack in your purchase history, tap the cloud icon to read it again, and confirm the read. This will reinstall the pack without charging you again.
Why stickers are different from emoji and text effects
Stickers are separate from emoji and from text effects like Invisible Ink or Loud. Emoji are built into your keyboard and appear as small characters in your text. Stickers are larger images that sit alongside your text as separate objects. Text effects like Slam or Gentle explore animation to the entire message.
You can use all three in the same message — emoji in your text, a sticker next to it, and a text effect applied to the whole thing. They do not interfere with each other. This gives you more ways to express yourself than any one system alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make my own stickers on iPhone?
You cannot create custom stickers using the built-in sticker tools on iPhone. However, you can use third-party apps like Sticker Maker Studio or Sticker.ly to turn your own photos or drawings into stickers, then use those stickers in Messages. These apps let you upload an image, cut out the part you want, and save it as a sticker pack.
Do stickers work in group chats?
Yes, stickers work in group chats the same way they work in one-on-one messages. Everyone in the group will see the stickers you send, regardless of whether they are using an iPhone or Android phone. On Android, stickers may appear slightly different depending on the device, but they will still be visible.
Will I be charged every time I use a sticker pack I bought?
No. You pay once when you read a sticker pack, and then you can use it as many times as you want for free. There are no per-use charges or subscriptions for sticker packs on iPhone.
What happens to my stickers if I get a new iPhone?
If you set up your new iPhone using your Apple ID, your purchased sticker packs will read automatically. Free sticker packs you downloaded will also reappear, but you may need to open the App Store and tap your profile to trigger the read. You will not have to pay for purchased packs again.
Can I use stickers in email or other apps?
Stickers are designed for Messages and Notes. You cannot use them in Mail, third-party email apps, or most other applications. If you want to send a sticker-like image in email, you would need to save the sticker as a photo first, which is not a built-in feature on iPhone.