Are you getting tired of the default yellow color of your Android emojis?
Well, the good news is that you can easily change the default color of your favorite emojis on Android.
You only need to know how to activate such a feature, which I’ll be showing you in a bit.
How to Change the Color of your Emojis on Android
- Launch the on-screen keyboard by tapping the message field of the messaging app you’re using.
- After launching the on-screen keyboard, press the “Smiley” icon found in the lower-left area.
- Long-press on an emoji that you can change its color (it appears with a downward-facing arrow beside it).
- In the skin tone menu that appears, tap on a new color you’d like to use for your emoji.
Changing the Color of your Emojis on Android — How Exactly to Do it
As you already know, emojis have a default yellow skin tone color to them.
The reason why Android uses yellow as their emoji’s default color is to associate sending them to people with good vibes, hope, and happiness.
But, as people nowadays want more representation of their skin color, the developers have added more emoji options to choose from.
So, if you’re eager to try out selecting a new color for your emojis, follow the next steps I’ll teach you below.
Note: Make sure that you’ve already selected an on-screen keyboard you’d like to use for your messaging apps.
For example purposes, I’ll go about using Google Keyboard as my default on-screen keyboard.
Step 1: Tap on a messaging app you’d like to launch (Facebook, Telegram, native Android messaging app, etc.).
Once you launch the app, tap on the message field to activate the on-screen keyboard of your Android device.
You can choose to enlarge the keyboard if you’re having trouble tapping the message field with your large fingers.
Step 2: Once the on-screen keyboard appears, head to the lower-left corner of the keyboard and tap the “Smiley” icon.
You’ll then see an array of emojis you can use and add to your messages later on.
Step 3: Search for an emoji that you can change its color.
You’ll know if such an emoji is editable as a downward-facing arrow appears beside it.
Once you’ve chosen an editable emoji, long-tap on it until you see a menu showing you skin tone options.
Step 4: On the skin tone menu that appears, press once on the color of the emoji you’d like to use.
Do note, though, that once you change a different color for the emoji, it will automatically be set as its default color. Hence, choose what color you’ll use wisely.
And, with those 4 simple steps, you can already send an emoji with a different color.
Now, you can add different colored emojis to your messages to further add variety and fun to them.
Frequently Asked Questions about How to Change the Color of your Emojis on Android
How will you know if you can change the color of an emoji on Android?
You’ll know if an emoji is editable in terms of its color if a downward-facing arrow appears beside it. Just long-press on the said emoji for the skin tone menu to appear. If the emoji doesn’t have a downward-facing arrow, it means you can’t change its color.
Why is the default color for emojis yellow?
Yellow has been chosen as the default color of the emojis as it is associated with hope and happiness. Hence, sending yellow emojis to someone means you’re sending positive vibes to him or her.
Can I change the color of the emoji regardless of the messaging app I’m using?
You can change the color of an emoji no matter what messaging app you’re using. The important thing is you’ve set and activated an on-screen keyboard and selected an emoji that you can change its color.
Can you change the color of all emoji types?
Unfortunately, you can only change the color of hand and human emojis on your Android device. Aside from those two emoji types, there’s no way you can edit how the emoji will look, let alone change its color.
Once I select a new color for my emoji, do I have to change it again the next time I use it?
After changing an emoji’s new color, it will automatically be set as the default color. But, anytime you want to change the color again, just long-press on an emoji to launch the skin tone menu and select a new color from it.

Hey guys! It’s me, Marcel, aka Maschi. On MaschiTuts, it’s all about tutorials! No matter the topic of the article, the goal always remains the same: Providing you guys with the most in-depth and helpful tutorials!