How to Use Emoji as Tapback Reactions in Messages

Apple’s Messages app has always made conversations more fun and expressive with Tapbacks, the quick reactions like a thumbs-up, heart, or exclamation mark. But do you know you can also send emojis and your favorite stickers as a reaction? Here, we’ll show you how to use emojis as Tapbacks in iPhone Messages. So, you can have more ways to express yourself without typing a word! 

What is Tapback on iMessage?

Tapbacks are Apple’s quick reactions that you can use to reply to a message without actually typing out anything. It’s a tiny shortcut for expressing yourself, like giving a 👍 if you agree, a ❤️ if you love something, or a 😂 if something’s funny. They appear right on the message, so it’s a really fast way of responding and continuing the conversation. 

When first introduced, Tapbacks were limited to just six options: a heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, HaHa, exclamation marks, and a question mark. Handy, but also a little restrictive if you wanted to express something more unique. 

Now with the latest updates, Apple has opened things up! You can use any emoji as a Tapback. That means you’re no longer stuck with the same reactions and can react in ways that really fit your personality. 

Tapback in Messages App on iPhone and iPad: What You Need to Know

• Both you and the recipient must update your iPhones to iOS 18 and later to react to messages using Tapback. 
• On devices that run an older version of iOS, only standard emojis (like the heart, thumbs up/thumbs down, etc.) will be sent as a Tapback reaction. Other emojis may appear as text or emojis. 
• Similarly, if you’re using the RCS feature to send text messages to an Android device, they’ll only be able to see standard emojis as a reaction to the text. Other emojis will be sent as a text or an image. 

Note: You can use iMessage Tapbacks on CarPlay as well with the iOS 26 update.

How to Use Tapback Emoji Reactions in Messages

Here’s how you can send emojis via Tapback in the Messages app on your iPhone:

1. Tap and hold or double-tap on the message you want to react to.
2. You will see a set of emojis you can react with. If you want more, tap the gray smiley emoji icon, and it to open the keyboard and select any emoji you want.
3. Select the emoji you want to send. This will attach the emoji as a reaction to the message.
   

How to Edit the Emoji Reaction for a Message

If you sent the wrong emoji as a reaction, you can edit it using these steps:

1. Tap and hold the message with the emoji reaction. Or you can simply tap on the emoji attached to the message.
2. Simply select a new emoji to replace the current one. You can choose from the preset row or select the gray smiley emoji and pick one as the emoji keyboard opens up.
   

How to Delete a Tapback Message and Remove Emoji

If you accidentally sent an emoji reaction, you can remove it like this:

1. Find the message you reacted to with the emoji. Then, tap and hold the message. Or you can simply tap on the emoji attached to the message.
2. Select the emoji that is highlighted, and it will remove it from the message.
   

How to Check Who Has Sent a Tapback Emoji on iMessage

If it’s an iMessage group chat, you may be wondering who has reacted to what message. You can check this by following these steps:

1. Tap on the emoji reaction on the message.
2. Then, tap on the photo of the sender, and it will expand the emoji and show the sender’s name.
   

Bonus: How to React With a Sticker for Messages

If you’re bored of reacting to messages with emojis, you can use stickers instead. You can either use the default Memoji on the Apple keyboard or react using the stickers you’ve created. Here’s how:

1. Tap and hold or double-tap on the message you want to react to with a sticker.
2. Select Add Sticker.
3. Now, select the sticker icon. Browse the stickers as the keyboard pops up and select the one you want to send.
   

To delete the sticker:

1. Tap and hold the message, and select Sticker Details.
   
2. Now, swipe left on the sticker you want to delete.
   

Quickly React to Your Messages!

That’s it for this guide! Hopefully, this helped you understand how to use emojis as Tapbacks in iMessage and make your conversations more fun and personal. Liked this tip? You can also try creating Live Stickers that you can use in iMessage, Notes, Markup tools, and other supported apps. 

If you have any further questions, you can take a look at the FAQ section below.

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• How to find out what emojis mean on iPhone
• How to combine emojis on iPhone