Want to make your own custom Memoji on an iPhone? Of course you do! Memoji are the custom version of Animoji, the quirky cartoony digital avatars available in the Messages app for new iPhones.

The fun thing about Memoji is that you can create a completely customized Memoji that can look like almost any character you set your mind to, with custom hair styles, skin, eye wear, head wear, eyes, lips, brows, nose, and many smaller customizations for each defining trait. You can make a little cartoon avatar of yourself, or of a character, or just create a completely unique avatar. After you make a Memoji, then using Memoji is the same as using Animoji, but first you have to create one to use.

This tutorial will show you the process of setting up and making your own unique Memoji on an iPhone.

The Memoji feature requires an iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone X, or newer model iPhone, with iOS 12 or later. This device limitation also applies to Animoji, as the feature does not exist on any older iPhone models, any iPad, or any Mac (yet anyway).

How to Create a Memoji on iPhone

Ready to make a custom Memoji? Here’s how the creation process works:

• Open the Messages app on iPhone

• Open any message conversation thread with any person you’d like to send a Memoji to
• Tap on the Apps button to show the app icon bar in Messages (if it’s hidden)

• Find and tap on the Monkey icon to open the Animoji section

• Swipe over on the Animoji icons until you access “New Memoji” and tap on that

• Start making your custom Memoji, you can customize skin, hair, head shape, eyes, lips, nose, brows, ears, facial hair, headwear, eyewear, and colors for each of those

• When satisfied with your Memoji custom Animoji, tap on “Done” in the upper right corner to save it

• You can now record little Memoji clips with your custom Memoji, just like any other Animoji, tap the red button in the corner to start recording your Memoji clip

• When finished capturing your Memoji clip, tap the red stop button
• Tap the arrow button to send the Memoji to the current contact in Messages

The Memoji clip arrives to the receiving person like any other Animoji would.

If the recipient is on a new enough iPhone model, the Memoji will play automatically, with the animated Memoji character and any audio you record with it. If the recipient is on an older iPhone, a Mac, iPad, or Android, the Memoji will arrive as a video clip that has to be played manually instead.

Once you save your Memoji you can use the same Memoji with anyone else in your contacts list, just select the Memoji character from the Animoji section of Messages as usual. In this regard, using an existing Memoji is exactly the same as using an Animoji in Messages on the iPhone.

You can also edit any Memoji at any time if you want to customize your Memoji or update it. If you want to preserve your original masterpiece Memoji, you can duplicate them and then make edits to the copied Memoji as well.

Or you can simply create a new Memoji at any time. Creating multiple Memoji can be a fun way to use the goofy feature in iOS, since you can really create some ridiculous looking characters.

If you create a particularly exciting Memoji that you’re proud of, remember you can convert an Animoji or Memoji to GIF with the Shortcuts app on iOS, which lets the Memoji sequence repeat endlessly automatically when sent to another person, even if they’re on an older iPhone, Mac, iPad, Android, or otherwise.

How you want to use the Memoji feature is up to you, but surely you’ll have some fun with it. So grab your compatible iPhone, make a Memoji, and have at it. You’re sure to get some laughs.