How To: Send Animated Emoji in Telegram Chats (& Which Emoji Work Right Now)

Emoji are, without a doubt, an integral part of messaging on smartphones. Whether you're team iPhone or Android, chances are you send emoji daily. However, years after their introduction, emoji remain static in most cases, even with animated stickers and GIFs supported on almost every major chat app. That said, one of those chat apps, Telegram, makes things more lively.

Since mid-2019, Telegram has provided support for animated emoji. The best part? There's no extra download involved, no third-party app, and no need to search for the right sticker pack. Instead, Telegram adds the capabilities right into each native emoji itself. How novel! The key is that it needs to be the right emoji. At this time, animated emoji supported in Telegram includes but is not limited to:

Ambulance = 🚑
Angry Face with Horns = 👿
Anguished Face = 😧
Birthday Cake = 🎂
Broken Heart = 💔
Cat Face Screaming in Fear = 🙀
Cat Face with Tears of Joy = 😹
Clapping Hands = 👏
Confetti Ball = 🎊
Confused Face = 😕
Crying Cat Face = 😿
Crying Face = 😢
Disappointed Face = 😞
Eggplant = 🍆
Face Blowing a Kiss = 😘
Face with Monocle = 🧐
Face Screaming in Fear = 😱
Face with Head Bandage = 🤕
Face with Medical Mask = 😷
Face with Rolling Eyes = 🙄
Face with Stuck-Out Tongue and Tightly-Closed Eyes = 😝
Face with Tears of Joy = 😂
Face with Thermometer = 🤒
Face with Wide Open Eyes = 😳
Fearful Face = 😨
Fire = 🔥
Ghost = 👻
Grinning Cat Face = 😸
Grinning Face = 😀
Grinning Face with Smiling Eyes = 😁
Grinning Face with Open Mouth = 😃
Grinning Face with Squinting Eyes = 😄
Grinning Face with Squinting Eyes and Sweat Drop = 😅
Grinning Face with Tightly Closed Eyes = 😆
Happy Cat Face = 😺
Heart (all colors, but not the Hearts Suit card) = ❤️🖤🤍🤎💙💚💛💜🧡
Heart with Arrow = 💘
Heart with Ribbon = 💝
Jack-O-Lantern = 🎃
Kissing Cat Face = 😽
Kissing Face with Closed Eyes = 😚
Kiss Mark = 💋
Loudly Crying Face = 😭
Love Letter = 💌
Man and Woman Kissing = 💏
Man and Woman with Heart = 💑
Man Health Worker = 👨‍⚕️
Microbe = 🦠
Nauseated Face = 🤢
Neutral Face = 😐
Party Face with Party Horn, Hat, and Confetti = 🥳
Party Popper = 🎉
Peach = 🍑
Pill = 💊
Pinching Hand = 🤏
Pouting Cat Face = 😾
Red Angry Face = 😡
Relieved Face = 😌
Rolling on the Floor Laughing Face = 🤣
Sad Pensive Face = 😔
See-No-Evil Monkey = 🙈
Skull = 💀
Sleeping Face = 😴
Slightly Smiling Face = 🙂
Smiling Cat Face with Heart-Shaped Eyes = 😻
Smiling Face = ☺️
Smiling Face Licking Lips = 😋
Smiling Face with Hearts = 🥰
Smiling Face with Heart-Shaped Eyes = 😍
Smiling Face with Horns = 😈
Smiling Face with Squinting Eyes = 😊
Smiling Face with Sunglasses = 😎
Smiling Pile of Poop = 💩
Smirking Cat Face = 😼
Smirking Face = 😏
Sneezing Face = 🤧
Snowman = ⛄️
Snowman with Snowflakes = ☃️
Soap = 🧼
Speak-No-Evil Monkey = 🙊
Sponge = 🧽
Surprised Face with Open Mouth = 😯
Syringe = 💉
Thinking Face = 🤔
Thumbs Down = 👎
Thumbs Up = 👍
Two Women Kissing = 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩
Two Women with Heart = 👩‍❤️‍👩
Unamused Face = 😒
Upside Down Face = 🙃
Vomiting Face = 🤮
Waving Hand = 👋
Winking Face = 😉
Winking Face with Stuck-Out Tongue = 😜
Woman Health Worker = 👩‍⚕️
Worried Face = 😟

Try almost any other emoji, and it will send the same static symbol that you would typically expect it to. Telegram is adding more and more as time goes on, so maybe one day all emoji will animate. For the special emoji that Telegram supports right now, there are only two things you need to do to get animating.

First, make sure your Telegram app is updated to the latest version for either iOS or Android. Once you do that, open up any conversation thread, and send any of the emoji to see them come alive. If the other people in the chat aren't using an updated Telegram app (version 5.10 or later), they will see the regular static emoji.

Some emoji animate in unexpected ways, which may be accidental or on purpose. For instance, a "two women kissing "or "man and woman kissing" emoji turns into an animated version of "man and woman with heart," and that's precisely what the "man and woman with heart" and two women with heart" emoji do, too.

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If these emoji aren't animating on your end, it's likely because you have "Large Emoji" disabled for chats. Open up "Settings" in the app, hit "Appearance" (iOS) or "Chat Settings" (Android), then make sure "Large Emoji" is toggled on. If it was off, it should work now.

What's also cool about animated emoji is that they aren't a one-time deal. While they won't loop the animation, a simple tap will get them moving again. Not only that but returning to a thread with one of these emoji present on-screen will result in a repeated animation, even if you've already read the message.

Telegram regularly adds new emoji to the list of animated ones. So make sure you keep an eye out for any new Telegram updates — you never know which emoji could be next!