How to Create and Use Your Memoji on iPhone

Memoji are personalized animated avatars that look like you — use them as your contact photo, in Messages, on FaceTime, and in reaction stickers.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.Open Messages and find the Memoji button
2.Tap the three dots and choose "New Memoji"
3.Customize your Memoji
4.Save your Memoji
5.Send a Memoji sticker

Open Messages and find the Memoji button

~15s

Open the Messages app and start or open a conversation. Tap the Apps icon (looks like an A or a grid) next to the text box. Find the Memoji icon (smiley face with a plus sign).

Tap the three dots and choose "New Memoji"

~15s

Tap the three-dot menu (⋯) in the Memoji panel → "New Memoji." The Memoji editor opens with a blank character.

Customize your Memoji

~20s

Use the category tabs at the top (Skin, Hairstyle, Eyes, Brows, Nose, Lips, Ears, Facial Hair, Glasses, Headwear) to customize each feature. Swipe through each category to find options that match your appearance.

Quick Tip

You do not have to make your Memoji look exactly like you — many people create fun or fantastical versions with unusual hair colors, accessories, or expressions.

Save your Memoji

~15s

Tap "Done" when you are happy with how it looks. Your Memoji is saved and available whenever you open the Memoji panel in Messages.

Send a Memoji sticker

~16s

Open the Memoji panel in Messages. Tap your Memoji to see a grid of sticker poses. Tap any pose to send it as a sticker in the conversation. You can also use them as reaction replies by long-pressing a received message → selecting a Memoji reaction.

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Memoji are animated cartoon characters you create to look like yourself. They were introduced by Apple in 2018 and have become a popular way to express yourself in messages and video calls.

You can customize your Memoji's skin tone, hair color and style, eye color, glasses, freckles, jewelry, and more. Once created, your Memoji can animate in sync with your facial expressions using the front-facing camera.

Where Memoji appear

: - iMessage stickers: Use your Memoji as reaction stickers in message conversations - FaceTime camera view: Your Memoji can replace your real face during video calls, animated by your facial movements - Contact photo: Set your Memoji as the photo associated with your Apple ID or your contact card - Reactions and effects: Add Memoji reactions to messages and photos

Creating a Memoji takes about five minutes. You do not need an iPhone Pro or a recent model — Memoji creation works on iPhone 6s and later. However, the live animated face (where your Memoji mirrors your expressions) requires iPhone X or later (with Face ID).

Memoji stickers — static or animated stickers of your avatar — work in Messages on older iPhones and even through Android's MMS, though the animation only works in iMessage.

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