The quickest way to change a best friend emoji
Open Snapchat and go to your profile by tapping your avatar in the top left corner. Tap the gear icon to open Settings, then scroll down and tap "Manage" under the Snapchat+ section. Select "Best Friends List" and you'll see your current best friends with their assigned emojis displayed next to their names. Tap the emoji next to any friend's name to open the emoji picker, choose a new one, and tap it to confirm the change.
The emoji you pick will show next to that friend's name on your chat list and in your Stories. You can change these emojis as often as you want — there's no limit to how many times you swap them out.
Key Takeaways
- Best friend emojis are a Snapchat+ feature, so you need an active Snapchat+ subscription to use them.
- You change emojis through your profile Settings under the Snapchat+ section, not through individual chats.
- Each of your best friends can have a different emoji, and you can change them whenever you want.
- The emoji appears next to their name in your chat list and when they appear in your Stories.
- Only you see the emojis you assign — your friends won't know which emoji you picked for them.
What you need to have Snapchat+ first
Best friend emojis are only available if you have a Snapchat+ subscription. Snapchat+ is a paid tier that costs $3.99 per month on most devices, though the price may vary depending on your region and whether you're on iOS or Android.
If you don't have Snapchat+ yet, you can add it by opening your profile, tapping the gear icon, scrolling to the top, and tapping "Snapchat+". You'll be taken to a screen showing what features come with the subscription. Tap "Subscribe" and follow the payment steps for your device.
Where to find the emoji picker
The emoji picker is buried a few taps deep, so it's straightforward to miss. From your profile (tap your avatar), go to Settings (gear icon), then scroll down past the main settings options until you see the Snapchat+ section. Tap "Manage" next to it.
You'll land on a page showing all your Snapchat+ features. Tap "Best Friends List" and the full list of your best friends will appear with their current emojis. The emoji sits to the right of each name. Tap it to open the emoji picker.
Choosing and assigning a new emoji
When you tap an emoji next to a friend's name, a large emoji picker opens. You can scroll through categories — smileys, animals, food, activities, travel, objects, and symbols — or search for a specific emoji by typing in the search box at the top.
Once you find the emoji you want, tap it once. It will when ready replace the old one. You don't need to confirm or save — the change takes effect right away. Go back to your chat list and you'll see the new emoji next to that friend's name.
What happens if you remove someone from best friends
If you remove someone from your best friends list, their emoji assignment is deleted along with them. If you add them back to best friends later, they'll start with Snapchat's default emoji for that position (usually a yellow heart or red heart, depending on how close you are), and you'll need to assign a new custom emoji.
You can remove someone from best friends by long-pressing their name in your chat list and selecting "Remove from Best Friends", or by going back to the Best Friends List in Settings and swiping left on their name.
Why you might not see the emoji option
If you don't see the "Best Friends List" option in your Snapchat+ settings, you either don't have Snapchat+ active or your subscription has lapsed. Check that your subscription is current by going to Settings and looking at the top of the page — it should say "Snapchat+ Active" with a purple badge.
If your subscription expired, you'll need to renew it before the emoji customization feature becomes available again. Snapchat will usually send you a notification when your subscription is about to run out, but you can also check manually in Settings.
Emoji limits and what you can and cannot do
You can assign any emoji from Snapchat's full emoji library to any best friend — there are no restrictions on which emojis you can use or how many times you use the same emoji for different friends. You could theoretically give all your best friends the same emoji if you wanted to, though that would defeat the purpose of customizing them.
The only limit is that you can only customize emojis for people on your best friends list. You cannot assign custom emojis to regular friends or people you follow but aren't close with. Best friends are determined by Snapchat's algorithm based on who you message most, though you can also manually add or remove people from the list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my friends see which emoji I assigned to them?
No. The emojis you assign are only visible to you in your own chat list and Stories. Your friends cannot see which emoji you picked for them, and they won't be notified that you changed it.
Do I lose my emoji assignments if I uninstall Snapchat?
No. Your emoji assignments are saved to your Snapchat account, not to your phone. When you reinstall Snapchat and log back in, all your custom emojis will still be there.
Can I use the same emoji for multiple friends?
Yes. There's no rule against giving two or more best friends the same emoji. However, this makes it harder to tell them apart at a glance, which defeats the purpose of customizing them.
What if I want to go back to Snapchat's default emojis?
You can't revert to the default emoji directly, but you can assign a yellow heart, red heart, or any other emoji that Snapchat originally used. Open the emoji picker and choose whichever one you want to use instead.
Do best friend emojis work on the web version of Snapchat?
Best friend emojis are a mobile-only feature. If you use Snapchat on a computer or tablet through the web, you won't see or be able to change the custom emojis. You need to use the mobile app to manage them.