How to React to Instagram Messages With Different Emojis

Post reactions are fun and an easy way to react to someone’s post saving time and effort writing something that may seem redundant. Previously, emoji reactions were limited to Facebook comments and Facebook Messenger. But now you can also react with emojis on Instagram posts. The interesting thing is that you can react with any emoji you want. Wondering how to use personalized emoji reactions on Instagram? This guide will help you.

With the new feature, you are not tied to a few selected emoji reactions. You can react with fire emoji, kisses, hammers or whatever you want. Emoji reactions will appear below your Instagram post.

Let’s see how to react with personalized emojis in Instagram direct messages (DM) on mobile and PC.

How to react with emojis in Instagram messages on mobile and PC

Facebook recently rolled out a new version of Instagram messages that made it similar to Facebook Messenger. The functionalities of FB Messenger should therefore arrive on Instagram. These features include discussion threads, disappear mode, the ability to forward and quote messages, and message reactions.

Let’s check the steps to add emoji reaction on Instagram posts.

How to react to Instagram messages with emojis on Android and iPhone

Launch the Instagram app and open the chat. Long press on the message you want to react to. The emoji reaction panel will open with six emojis. Tap the emoji you want to react with.

If you want to respond to the message with a custom emoji of your choice, tap the add icon (+) and choose the emoji from the list.

Point: Refer to our guide on how to make an emoji of yourself on Android.

To replace existing emojis with your favorite smiley in the emoji panel, touch and hold the emoji in the panel. Then select the emoji to add to the panel. Tap the check mark icon (Android) or tap the Done button (iPhone) to save the changes.

Once added, you can quickly react to other messages with the added new emoji from the panel. Likewise, you can also replace other emojis.

Pro tip: Use the search to quickly find your emojis

Tip 1: How to Replace Double-Tap or Heart Emoji Reaction on Instagram

When you double-tap a message, a cardiac reaction is created. You can also change this behavior and add a new reaction instead of a heart by double-tapping. For this you will have to change the reaction of the heart emoji.

Long press any message to open the emoji reaction panel. Long press the heart emoji. Select the emoji you want and tap the check mark icon at the top or tap Done. Now every time you double tap a message, the new emoji reaction will be sent instead of a heart.

Tip 2: How to Restore Old Emoji Reactions

If you liked the emoji reactions offered by Instagram, you can manually change the emojis to the original emojis as shown above. However, the easiest way would be to reset the reactions.

To do this, long press any message to open the emoji reaction bar. Then long-press any emoji. Tap the Reset icon (Android) or the Reset button (iPhone) to restore the default emojis.

How to react to Instagram posts with emojis on PC

After a long time, Instagram finally introduced the ability to check messages from a computer without extensions. Since the messaging feature is available on Instagram’s web app, you can also react to messages using emojis.

To do this, open the chat where you want to react to a message. Hover your mouse over the message. The emoji reaction icon will appear. Click on it and you will be greeted by various emojis. Select the emoji you want to react with. Use the scroll bar to find more emojis.

Note: From now on, you cannot change the double click behavior for Instagram posts on PC. So the same old heart will be sent.

How not to react to the Instagram message

To delete an emoji reaction on Instagram mobile apps, tap the emoji below the message. A new screen will open. Tap the emoji to delete it.

To cancel sending an emoji reaction to a computer, click the emoji below the message.

In the pop-up window that opens, click on your emoji to remove it.

Instagram Emoji Reactions Not Working

If you cannot respond to Instagram posts with emojis, the feature should not be available in your country yet. Instagram is slowly rolling out the feature. If others have it in your country, you need to update the Instagram app. Once it’s done, restart your phone and try again.

You also need to update the Instagram messaging feature. To do this, open the Instagram app and navigate to your profile. Tap the three bar icon. Select Settings and then Update mail. If emoji reactions still don’t work for you, check out some other ways to fix it using the troubleshooting tips mentioned in our article for Instagram themes. The same can be used here.