Expressing your emotions on chat apps was earlier limited to emojis. Now, you can send stickers and GIFs to add a bit of flavor to messaging. Fortunately, WhatsApp supports both animated and image stickers in chats. Read on to learn how to send, install, create, delete, and do much more with WhatsApp stickers.
How to View and Send WhatsApp Stickers
- On mobile, open the chat where you want to send a sticker.
- Tap on the Emoji button on the left side (Android) or right side (iOS) of the typing box.
- Press the Sticker icon at the bottom to view the available stickers.
Tip: type a word that describes the sticker. If a sticker is available, you will see the results. Tap on it to quickly access the stickers.
- The installed sticker packs will show up at the top. Tap on a pack to open it and press the desired sticker to send it.
To do the same on a PC, follow the below instructions.
- Similarly, on PC, click on the Emoji icon next to the typing area.
- Press the Sticker icon to view the sticker categories and send stickers. You will see numerous stickers on PC without installing third-party sticker packs.
- Use the search bar to find the sticker of your choice.
What Is the Clock Icon in Stickers?
The Clock tab (on both mobile and PC) under the Sticker section houses your recently used stickers. The stickers will keep on changing in this section as you send new stickers.
To remove any sticker from the Recent section, touch and hold it. Then choose “Remove” from the pop-up window.
What Is the Star Icon in Stickers?
If you use some WhatsApp stickers frequently, you can favorite them. The Star icon next to the Clock icon on Android and iPhone houses your favorite stickers.
You can favorite a sticker in two ways.
Firstly, to favorite a sticker from the installed packs, touch and hold the sticker and tap on “Add.”
Secondly, to favorite a received sticker, tap on it in the chat and select “Add to favorites.”
To remove a sticker from the Favorites section, touch and hold it, then press the “Remove” button.
What Is the Heart Icon in Stickers?
The Heart icon organizes stickers into various categories like smile/laugh, love, angry, and other expressions. Press the Heart icon in Stickers to reveal the categories. Tap the category to view the stickers.
How to Add More Stickers to WhatsApp?
In addition to the pre-installed sticker pack, you can download more WhatsApp stickers in three ways:
Method 1: Install Sticker Packs from WhatsApp
- Go to the Sticker screen.
- Tap on the + (Add) icon at the top to reach the “All Stickers” screen.
- Tap on the “Download” icon next to the sticker pack you want to download. Once downloaded, you will see it on the sticker screen.
Tip: the Play icon next to the sticker pack means that it includes animated stickers.
Method 2: Install Third-party Sticker Packs
- If you don’t like the sticker collections offered by WhatsApp, scroll down a bit on the sticker packs screen and click on “Discover sticker packs.”
- This will take you to the Play Store (Android) and App Store (iPhone) where you can download apps that include stickers that are compatible with WhatsApp. Alternatively, search for WhatsApp stickers on Play Store and the App Store.
- Press the Install button on the desired app. After the app is installed, open it. Depending on the app, you can import the stickers to WhatsApp in several ways.
- Some apps will give you a direct “Add pack” button, and in others, you may have to click on the sticker or sticker pack. You will be asked whether you want to add the sticker pack to WhatsApp. Confirm the action.
- After the stickers are imported, a new tab for the sticker pack will be created on the Sticker screen. Tap on the tab to show the stickers.
- If you want more help finding the best ones, check out the best WhatsApp sticker packs.
Method 3: Add Sticker Packs from Received Stickers
If you receive a sticker you like a lot, you can install its full sticker pack quite easily.
- Tap on the received sticker.
- A pop-up screen will appear. Tap on “View sticker pack.”
- Tap on the button that says “Download” or “Add.”
- Alternatively, you may see “View more” instead of “View sticker pack.” That will take you to the app used to create the sticker, where you can add the pack as shown above.
Tip: tap on a sticker to preview and play it if it’s an animated sticker.
How to Reorder Sticker Packs
The sticker packs will show up in the sticker section in the order they were installed. However, you can reorder them according to your preferences.
- Open the “My stickers” section. For that, open the sticker screen and tap on the add (+) icon.
- Press the “My Stickers” tab at the top to view the installed sticker packs.
- On iPhone, tap on the “Edit” button at the top. Drag the sticker pack using the three-bar icon to reorder it. Or, press the red remove (-) icon to delete the pack. Tap on “Done” to save the changes.
- The steps are a bit simpler on Android. Directly use the three-bar icon next to the sticker pack to change its position. Press the Trash icon to delete the sticker pack.
How to Create Your Own WhatsApp Stickers
You can make WhatsApp stickers on PC as well as sticker-maker apps. Let’s check the methods.
1. Using WhatsApp Web or Desktop App
On PC, you can create a sticker from any image directly in WhatsApp without using a third-party app. Follow these steps:
- Launch WhatsApp Web or the desktop app on your PC.
- Open any chat and press the Emoji icon.
- Click on the Sticker icon.
- Under the Recents tab, click on the “Create” button.
- Select the image you want to use to create a sticker.
- When you reach the sticker editing screen, you will find a variety of tools to edit the sticker, such as outline, emoji, sticker, text, pencil, crop, rotate, and undo. Use them to make the sticker.
- Press the “Done” button to create the sticker and hit the “Send” button to send it.
- You can access all your created stickers under the Recents sticker section on PC.
Note: WhatsApp won’t sync stickers created on your PC to your phone, but you can send stickers you want to save to a chat, then add them as a favorite on your phone to use these on your mobile chats.
2. Using Third-Party Apps on Phone
Several third-party apps exist for both Android and iPhone that let you create WhatsApp stickers from photos and text. Let’s check the steps to create image stickers on mobile.
- Install the Sticker Maker app on Android or iPhone.
- When installed, open the app and tap on “Create a new sticker pack.”
- Type a name for your sticker pack and add the author’s name. Press the “Create” button, then tap on the sticker pack that you created.
- You will see empty boxes on the next screen. Tap on the first button to choose an image. You can capture a new photo, add from Gallery, create text stickers, or choose from the sticker library. Choose the desired option.
- When you will reach the editing screen, crop the image or outline it. Add text on the next screen, then press the “Save sticker” button.
- Create more stickers similarly. Please note that a sticker pack should have at least three stickers to import it to WhatsApp.
- Tap on the Tray icon to create a thumbnail for the sticker pack.
- Once you have created at least three stickers, tap on the “Add to WhatsApp” button.
- If you have both regular and business WhatsApp, a pop-up menu will show up asking you to select one.
- Tap on “Add” or “Save” in the confirmation box.
That’s it. The sticker pack will show up on the sticker screen.
Below is a list of some other apps that let you create WhatsApp stickers:
- Sticker Studio (Android)
- Sticker.ly (Android, iPhone)
- Sticker Maker (Android)
- Sticker Maker ! (iPhone)
- StickersApp (Android, iPhone)
- Top Stickers Maker Studio Memes (Android, iPhone)
3. Create Custom Animated Stickers
In addition to image stickers, you can create custom animated or moving stickers for WhatsApp on Android and iPhone. Follow the steps below:
- Download the Sticker Maker app on Android or iPhone. It’s the same app used in the above method.
- Launch the app and tap on “Create a new sticker pack button.”
- Add names for the sticker pack and author, then hit the “Create” button.
- Tap on the sticker pack.
- Tap on the first image box, then on “Select File” from the menu.
- Choose the video or GIF file you want to use to create an animated sticker.
- The app will automatically select a portion of the video for stickers and will not give you the option to trim the video. I would suggest trimming the video to the desired length before you start making a sticker from it. For help with this, read our guide on how to trim a video on Android and iPhone.
- Create more animated stickers in the sticker pack in a similar fashion and add a thumbnail using the Tray icon button. Then, tap on “Add to WhatsApp” to import the custom animated stickers into WhatsApp.
Note: do not mix image and animated stickers in one sticker pack, as the pack won’t be imported to WhatsApp.
Tips for Using WhatsApp Stickers
1. Add Stickers to Status and Images
WhatsApp stickers can be added to images and videos in your WhatsApp status and any media that you send in chats.
To do so, select the image or video to be added to a status or chat. On the editing screen, press the Emoji icon. You will find two tabs at the top: “Stickers” and “Emoji.” Tap on “Stickers” and select the desired sticker. Once added, you can change the position and size of the sticker using regular gestures.
In addition to the stickers from sticker packs, WhatsApp lets you add dynamic stickers like a clock and location, which will add your current location and time. Furthermore, you can annotate screenshots using shapes like an arrow, circle, square, or chat bubble.
2. Send Stickers Using Keyboards
On Android, keyboards like Gboard and SwiftKey offer their own stickers. You can send these stickers on WhatsApp too. You can also use Gboard’s emoji kitchen to create a wide variety of interesting stickers by mixing emojis.
The Best of WhatsApp
Using stickers and knowing how to create your own can easily make your whole WhatsApp experience more fun. If you’re looking for more tips on how to use the app, check out our earlier posts that show how to add high-quality videos on WhatsApp and manage WhatsApp groups.