What custom emoji actually are and why you might want them
Custom emoji on iPhone are small digital images you create yourself and use in Messages, Mail, and some third-party apps. Apple calls them Memoji when they're cartoon versions of a face, and custom emoji when they're objects, animals, or abstract designs. They live in your emoji keyboard alongside the standard emoji everyone has, and only people you message can see them — they don't sync across devices or show up on Android phones.
The feature became available in iOS 16 and works on iPhone XS and newer models. If you have an older iPhone, you won't see the custom emoji option in your emoji keyboard, and that's a device limitation rather than a setting you can change.
Most people use them to react to messages in a more personal way, or to create inside jokes with friends. They take up almost no storage and don't cost anything to make.
Key Takeaways
- Custom emoji require iOS 16 or later and an iPhone XS or newer; older devices cannot create them.
- You access the custom emoji creator through the emoji keyboard by tapping the smiley face icon, then the plus sign.
- You can start from a Memoji face, edit a photo, or draw from scratch using the built-in tools.
- Custom emoji only appear on your iPhone and in conversations with people you message; they don't transfer to other devices or show on Android.
How to open the custom emoji creator
Open any app where you can type a message — Messages, Mail, Notes, or a third-party messaging app. Tap in the text field so the keyboard appears. Look for the emoji icon (usually a smiley face) at the bottom left of the keyboard and tap it to switch to the emoji view.
At the top of the emoji keyboard, you'll see a row of category icons. On the far right is a plus sign (+) inside a circle. Tap that plus sign. This opens the custom emoji creator. If you don't see the plus sign, your device either doesn't support custom emoji or you're running iOS 15 or earlier.
Creating a Memoji face-based custom emoji
When the creator opens, you'll see three options at the top: a face icon, a photo icon, and a pencil icon. Tap the face icon first. This shows you a cartoon face that you can customize — skin tone, hairstyle, facial hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and accessories like glasses or hats.
Swipe left and right through the options for each feature to find the look you want. There's no "save" button — once you've customized the face, tap outside the editor or press the back button, and the emoji appears in your keyboard. You can create as many as you want, and each one is stored separately.
If you want to edit a Memoji later, go back to the custom emoji creator, find the one you made, tap and hold it, and select "Edit". You can change any feature and the changes save automatically.
Creating custom emoji from a photo
Tap the photo icon in the creator. Your photo library opens. Choose any photo on your phone — a picture of yourself, a pet, a landscape, or anything else. The app will crop it to a square and show you a preview.
You can pinch to zoom in or out and drag to reposition the photo so the part you want is centered. Once you're happy with the crop, tap "Done" or the checkmark. The photo becomes a custom emoji and appears in your keyboard when ready.
Photos work best when the subject is clear and fills most of the frame. A close-up of a face or a single object will look better than a wide landscape shot, because the emoji is very small when you use it in a message.
Drawing a custom emoji from scratch
Tap the pencil icon in the creator. A blank canvas appears with a set of drawing tools at the bottom. You can draw freehand, and the app provides a few basic shapes — circles, rectangles, and lines — if you want to be more precise.
Use your finger to draw directly on the screen. If you make a mistake, tap the undo arrow (curved arrow pointing left) to erase your last stroke. You can also tap the eraser tool to remove parts of your drawing. The color picker at the bottom lets you change pen color.
When you're done, tap "Done" or the checkmark. Your drawing becomes a custom emoji. Keep in mind that very detailed drawings become hard to see at emoji size, so straightforward designs with bold lines work better than intricate ones.
Where custom emoji appear and how to use them
Once you've created a custom emoji, it shows up in your emoji keyboard in a dedicated section. In Messages, you can tap it to insert it into a message just like any other emoji. You can also use it as a reaction to someone else's message — tap and hold a message, select "Add Reaction", and your custom emoji appears in the reaction menu.
Custom emoji are stored only on your iPhone. If you get a new phone, they don't transfer automatically. You'll need to recreate them on the new device. When you send a message with a custom emoji to someone with an Android phone or an older iPhone, they'll see a generic placeholder instead of your custom design.
If you want to delete a custom emoji, open the creator, tap and hold the emoji you want to remove, and select "Delete". This removes it from your keyboard permanently, though you can always recreate it later.
Troubleshooting custom emoji that won't appear
If you create a custom emoji but don't see it in your keyboard, first check that you're running iOS 16 or later. Go to Settings, then General, then About, and look at the iOS version number. If it's 15 or earlier, you'll need to update your phone before custom emoji will work.
If you're on iOS 16 or later and still don't see the custom emoji option, restart your iPhone. Hold the power button until "Slide to Power Off" appears, swipe to turn it off, wait a few seconds, then hold the power button again until the Apple logo shows. This clears temporary glitches that sometimes hide the feature.
If the custom emoji creator opens but crashes when you try to draw or select a photo, try closing the app completely and reopening it. If that doesn't work, restart your phone. Crashes are rare but usually resolve after a restart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use custom emoji in apps other than Messages?
Custom emoji work in Mail, Notes, and some third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, but not all apps support them. The app has to be designed to access your emoji keyboard. If an app doesn't show your custom emoji in the keyboard, it doesn't support the feature.
What happens if I send a custom emoji to someone with an older iPhone?
They'll see a generic gray box or a standard emoji placeholder instead of your custom design. The message still sends, but they won't see what you created. This is why custom emoji work best when messaging other iOS 16+ users.
Can I share custom emoji with friends?
No — custom emoji are stored only on your device and can't be exported or shared directly. Your friends would need to create their own versions if they want the same emoji. You can describe how to make it and they can recreate it, but there's no way to send the file itself.
How many custom emoji can I create?
There's no official limit, but creating hundreds of them will make your emoji keyboard slower to scroll through. Most people create between 5 and 20 custom emoji before they have enough variety for daily use.
Do custom emoji take up storage space on my phone?
Very little. Each custom emoji is a small image file, so even 50 of them uses less than 10 megabytes. They won't noticeably affect your phone's available storage.