Now that you’ve learned about what Snapchat is, and the basics of how to use the app, you may be wondering what all the little symbols, or “emojis,” you see in the app mean. There are lots of them, so it can get confusing as to what each of them means. In this article, we’ll explain what each of the Snapchat emojis means.
What are Snapchat “emojis”?
“Emojis” are small pictures used to convey information in “snaps.” They may represent an emotion, response, activity, or other environmental condition. Snapchat also uses emojis to denote your relationships to your friends, as well as icons to represent the statuses of your snaps and chats.
What doemojis mean?
Snapchat’s pool of general emojis used in snaps is rather large, so it’s rather difficult to explain what each one means in a single article. We suggest consulting Emojipedia, which is a database on emojis (including what they look like and what they mean).
However, Snapchat also uses emojis to denote relationships with your Snapchat friends, as well as icons that indicate the status of your snaps and stories. The default emojis and icons, and their meanings, are listed below.
Snapchat friend-related emoji meanings
| Emoji | Meaning |
|---|---|
 | You recently added this user as a friend |
 | You have at least one "best friend" (user you interact a lot with) in common with this friend, besides each other |
 | This user is one of your "best friends" |
 | You and this user are each other's "#1 best friend" (most frequent recipient of snaps) |
 | You and this user have been each other's "#1 best friends" for at least two weeks |
 | You and this user have been each other's "#1 best friends" for at least two months |
 | This friend has the same "#1 best friend" as you do |
 | This friend has you as their "#1 best friend," but they are not one of your "best friends" |
 | This friend has had at least one of their snaps replayed within the last 24 hours |
 | You are sharing a "Snapstreak" with this friend (each sending the other at least one snap every 24 hours); number denotes length (in days) |
 | You have had a "Snapstreak" of at least 100 days with this friend |
Snapchat snap-related and chat-related icon meanings
| Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|
 | You have sent a photo snap to this friend |
 | You have sent a video snap to this friend |
 | You have sent a chat message to this friend |
 | This friend has viewed a photo snap you sent them |
 | This friend has viewed a video snap you sent them |
 | This friend has viewed a chat message you sent them |
 | This friend has received "Snapcash" you sent them |
 | This friend sent you a snap without audio |
 | This friend sent you a snap with audio |
 | This friend sent you a chat message |
 | You viewed this friend's snap without audio |
 | You viewed this friend's snap with audio |
 | You viewed this friend's chat message |
 | A snap or chat that this friend sent you is pending or has expired |
 | This friend has taken a screenshot of a snap without audio you sent them |
 | This friend has taken a screenshot of a snap with audio you sent them |
 | This friend has taken a screenshot of the chat message you sent them |
 | This friend replayed a snap without audio you sent them |
 | This friend replayed a snap with audio you sent them |
Besides the emojis and symbols that automatically appear based on your activity using Snapchat, you can also add emojis to the snaps you send to your friends. Next, we’ll show you how to do just that! If you want more information on emojis related to snaps and chats, you can find that here.
How to add an emoji to a snap
- Turn on your mobile device, tap Snapchat to open it, and log in.
- Create a “snap.”
- Once you have captured your “snap” and have moved on to editing it, tap the note icon in the upper-right corner.
- Snapchat will now show you a list of available emojis.
You can tap the category icons at the bottom of the screen to filter available emojis by:
- Emojis that you’ve recently used
- Emotions and people
- Animals and nature
- Food and drink
- Festivals and celebrations
- Sports and activities
- Places and travel
- Objects and signs
Tap an emoji to insert it into your “snap.”
That’s our overview of emojis on Snapchat, including how they work and what they mean. If you want to learn more about the features of Snapchat, including Snapchat stories, be sure to look over the rest of our Snapchat course!
