How to Install New Emoticons

Emoticons are features used in MSN Messenger that allow people to show more of their personalities when chatting with friends online. Emoticons are usually small faces. They come in a variety of styles and with a variety of emotions--happy, sad, silly, mean. The idea behind these emoticons is that they can be used by a person using Messenger to convey how she feels without needing to say a word. One of the ways a person can do even more to show her personality is to install new emoticons.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• MSN Messenger

1. Find new emoticons. There are hundreds of websites that offer emoticons for free, as well as some that offer specialized emoticons for a price. (See Resources below.)

2. Save the desired emoticons in a folder titled "Emoticons" on your desktop. This folder can be created by right clicking on your desktop and choosing "New" and "Folder" from the menus that open. Type the word "Emoticons" and press "Enter."

3. Open MSN Messenger and log-in. If you do not yet have Messenger installed, you can install it by clicking on the link provided at the bottom of this page.

4. Click "Tools" and choose "Emoticons." If the menu bar at the top of the window is not visible, press the "Alt" key on the keyboard to make it visible.

5. Click on "Create." A new window labeled "Add Custom Emoticon" will open. Click on "Find" and navigate to the folder on your desktop where you saved your new emoticons.

6. Click on an emoticon in this folder to select it. You will be prompted to name the emoticon. After you type in the name, click "OK." The emoticon is now ready to be used in Messenger.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't pay for emoticons online. There are thousands of free emoticons that are of a high quality.
• Because emoticons are a popular download, Internet scammers take advantage of this. Do not download emoticons from sites that look less than professional. You could end up uploading malware onto your computer.

Resources

• Install Messenger
• MSN-created Emoticons
• Animated Emoticons
• Funny Emoticons