Emojis are an essential part of the TikTok experience, allowing users to express themselves and react to videos.
However, sometimes the emojis may disappear or stop working properly on the app. Don’t worry – in most cases, this issue can be easily fixed with a few troubleshooting steps.
Reasons Why TikTok Emojis May Not Be Showing
Before diving into solutions, let’s first understand why you may be facing this emoji issue on TikTok in the first place.
Software Glitches
Since TikTok regularly rolls out updates to fix bugs and introduce new features, sometimes these updates may inadvertently cause certain issues like emojis not displaying correctly. It could be a minor glitch that will likely be patched in the next update.
Outdated App Version
If you haven’t updated the TikTok app in a while, you could be running an outdated version prone to bugs and issues that cause problems like missing emojis. Always ensure you are on the latest version of the app.
Connection Issues
An unstable internet connection is one of the most common reasons behind emojis not loading properly on TikTok. Check if other apps working fine or if it’s just TikTok facing problems due to connection drops.
Server Outages
During peak traffic times, TikTok servers may sometimes become overloaded and go down temporarily. This can prevent certain app features like emojis from working correctly. Checking TikTok’s status pages can confirm if they are facing wider outages.
Software Conflicts
Sometimes security software, VPNs, ad blockers or other apps running in the background may interfere with TikTok and cause issues with emojis not appearing. Disabling them momentarily can help resolve such conflicts.
Unsupported Device Software
If your Android or iOS software is too outdated, certain app features like emojis may not render correctly in TikTok. This happens when your device no longer meets the minimum OS version needed to run the app optimally.
Third-Party Keyboard Issues
If you are using a custom third-party keyboard on your device, it could cause issues with TikTok’s emoji keyboard overlapping or not launching properly within the app interface. Try switching to the standard keyboard.
Now that you know all the potential reasons behind this annoying issue, let’s jump right into the step-by-step solutions.
Fixes for TikTok Emojis Not Showing or Working
Follow these methods sequentially to troubleshoot and identify the specific factor causing emojis to not show up or function on your TikTok app:
1. Check Your Internet Connection
More often than not, connection issues are the culprit behind TikTok emoji problems. Open your internet browser or other apps requiring internet access to check if you have an active internet connection working properly without any lag or buffering issues.
You can also check the speed of your internet connection online using tools such as Google Fiber Internet Speed Test.
Restart your home WiFi router or mobile data to see if it stabilizes your internet connectivity. Toggling Airplane mode on and off can also refresh the network and fix temporary glitches.
While checking, make sure that:
- WiFi or mobile data is enabled on your device
- Data settings for the TikTok app allow background internet access
- Your network speed meets the recommended minimum requirements
- You are not connected to a VPN or proxy that is interfering
If your internet is fine on other apps except TikTok, move on to the next methods. An unstable connection can only be fixed from your end by troubleshooting your WiFi or cellular data.
2. See If Emojis Work In Other Apps
To check whether the issue lies specifically with the TikTok app rather than your device, open up other apps like WhatsApp or Messenger and try sending a test emoji to a chat.
If the emoji appears correctly, then it points to a problem isolated within TikTok rather than your keyboard or device software itself. Move on to TikTok-specific troubleshooting steps next.
However, if the emoji doesn’t show up in other apps too, your core smartphone software could be the issue instead. This requires software-based solutions covered later in the post.
3. Check Server Status of TikTok
Sometimes TikTok rolls out updates or experiences excessive traffic that causes their servers to go down temporarily. To check the real-time status of TikTok’s services, you can also visit third-party sites like DownDetector that provide TikTok outage stats based on live user reports.
It mentions any ongoing issues reported widely by users or incidents identified from TikTok’s end. If you see emojis listed under the services impacted, take note of their estimates on when it will be restored.
The only solution is to patiently wait for TikTok’s engineers to bring the servers back up and running.
If there is a spike in complaints specifically for emojis not appearing, it’s likely a temporary blip that will get resolved soon.
4. Update to the Latest TikTok Version
Another easy fix is to check if you are running the latest version of the TikTok app. Regular updates aim to fix bugs, improve performance and add new emoji packs.
On Android devices, open the Google Play Store, tap the hamburger menu icon, choose ‘My Apps & Games’, swipe to the ‘Updates pending’ section and check if the TikTok app has an update. Tap Update to install the latest version of the app.
On iPhones, open the App Store, tap your profile icon on the top right and swipe down on the screen to manually refresh the pending updates. If TikTok appears, tap update to install the new version. Otherwise, you are running the latest iOS TikTok app.
Updating eliminates any software bugs or glitches causing emoji issues after TikTok rolls out stability patches and optimizes performance. Try using emojis after updating to see if it fixes things.
5. Force Close and Reopen App
One quick hack is to force close the TikTok mobile app if it has been running in the background for too long. Long running apps can build up digital clutter or ‘software rot’ over time that causes UI issues like missing emojis.
On an Android phone, swipe down from the top to reveal all open apps, then swipe left or right on the TikTok app preview to force close it. On an iPhone with Face ID, swipe up from the bottom slowly until app previews appear, then swipe up on the TikTok app to close it.
Now reopen TikTok normally by tapping on its icon and check if emojis start appearing correctly without any glitches. If force closing resolved it, the issue was app state related rather than any deeper software or connection problems.
6. Restart Your Phone
If force closing the TikTok app didn’t help, the next escalation is to restart your smartphone device itself. This clears out any temporary glitches and memory issues causing interface problems in apps.
Power off your phone completely, wait for around 30 seconds, then power it back on. Once the device has fully rebooted and restored all apps in a fresh state, open TikTok and check if emojis are now visible.
On iPhone, press and hold either volume button and the side button to force restart it, as there is no power off option.
Restarting your phone may fix TikTok emoji issues stemming from stale device state rather than the app itself needing fixes.
7. Clear TikTok App Cache/Data
Over time, residual app data like cached images, videos and corrupt program files can accumulate inside TikTok and prevent certain elements like emojis from loading correctly.
Clearing this temporary app data forces TikTok to create fresh local data files the next time it reloads.
On Android:
- Open device Settings > Apps
- Tap TikTok
- Tap Storage and cache
- Tap ‘Clear Cache’
- Confirm clearing cache/data
- Restart TikTok app
On iPhone:
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- Find and tap on TikTok app
- Tap ‘Offload App’ (this clears cache & data)
- Reinstall TikTok from App Store
- Restart TikTok
Try using emojis after clearing TikTok’s locally stored cache and data to see if it fixes missing emoji issues stemming from corrupt residual files.
8. Reinstall TikTok App
If all else fails, uninstalling TikTok completely and reinstalling the app from scratch is the ultimate fix for any deeper software issues causing missing emojis.
This installs pristine copies of all TikTok program files free of any bugs or corrupted components that may prevent emojis from appearing correctly.
- On Android Phones: open Settings > Apps > Tap TikTok > Tap Uninstall to remove the app and all its data
- On iPhones: hold your finger down on the TikTok icon until if jiggles, then tap the X icon displayed to uninstall the app
Now reinstall TikTok normally from the official app store – Play Store for Android or App Store for iPhones. Set up your account freshly in the completely clean TikTok app and check if emojis now appear without issues.
Reinstalling apps often eliminates obstinate software issues that fail to get resolved otherwise. Do keep this in your troubleshooting toolkit if nothing else works!
9. Update Your Operating System
If your Android or iOS versions have become extremely outdated, core device functionality like emojis and keyboards can get impacted in apps like TikTok.
Software development kits that apps are built upon change over time across OS versions. Using a severely outdated mobile OS version can cause loss of compatibility.
Visit the Software Updates section on your Android device settings or iOS Settings > General > Software Updates to check your current operating system version.
Compare it with the latest version released publicly by Google and Apple for your smartphone model. If your device is lagging by 2-3 major OS releases, updating it can help fix not only TikTok problems but also performance and security issues.
Updating the OS will wipe all your locally stored data, so remember to backup important files before initiating an OS update.
10. Check Keyboard Permissions
For TikTok’s emoji keyboard to properly display relevant reactions or suggestions as you type, the app requires access permissions to track keyboard input.
If you have explicitly disabled full keyboard access for TikTok, it can prevent its emoji interface from activating seamlessly.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps
- Select TikTok App
- Tap Permissions
- Enable ‘Full Keyboard Access’ permission
On iPhone:
- Open Settings
- Scroll down and tap Keyboards
- Check if ‘Full Keyboard Access’ is enabled for TikTok
Granting keyboard level access permissions for TikTok allows it to track what you type and accordingly suggest relevant emoji reactions or hashtags without any glitches.
11. Change Your Keyboard App
If you use non-standard third party keyboard apps like SwiftKey or Gboard instead of the default mobile keyboard, it could sometimes interfere with TikTok’s integrated emoji interface.
Try temporarily switching to the default keyboard that comes preinstalled on your Android or iOS device and check if it resolves the emoji issues faced exclusively within TikTok.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > On-screen keyboard
- Tap ‘Manage keyboards’
- Disable any third party keyboard apps
- Enable ‘Gboard’ or ‘Google Voice Typing’
On iPhone:
- Open Settings > General > Keyboard
- Tap Keyboards
- Delete any custom third-party keyboard apps
- Make sure ‘Apple Default Keyboard’ is enabled
Using your device’s native keyboard instead of feature-rich custom ones prevents conflicts arising due to multiple overlapping keyboard interfaces trying to activate simultaneously.
12. Disable Emoji Keyboard Extensions
Some third-party keyboard apps allow the installation of custom extensions that expand their emoji catalog with niche themes or reactions. If you are using such keyboard extensions, temporarily disable them.
Overlays like emoji plugins can directly interfere with TikTok trying to invoke the default keyboard interface whenever you click reaction buttons or attempt to type emojis. Removing such extensions fixes this conflict.
On Android, open the third party keyboard app, visit its extensions or plugins settings and turn off any active emoji packages.
Remove the keyboard extension or plugin app itself on iPhone–disabling is impossible. You can always reinstall the extensions once your TikTok emoji issues have been resolved.
13. Disable VPN/Proxy Connections
If you access the internet via VPN proxy or encryption services, they can actively interfere with region-specific elements like TikTok emoji catalogs designed for particular countries.
Temporarily switch off or disable the VPN app on your device and access TikTok normally over your regular internet connection devoid of any proxies. Certain emojis blocked by routing mechanisms may now start appearing.
On Android devices:
- Open Settings
- Go to Network & Internet (or Connections)
- Tap the gear icon next to the VPN service
- Toggle switch off the always-on VPN connection
On iPhone:
- Open Settings
- Scroll down and tap VPN
- Turn off the VPN by toggling the switch off
Use TikTok for some time without the VPN active so all app traffic routes through your normal internet line devoid of any encryption or masks.
14. Correct Date/Time On Device
An incorrectly set clock on your Android or iOS smartphone can wreak havoc not only with TikTok but also most apps where timestamps decide data periods or update triggers.
If device date is too incorrect, TikTok may halt emojis and other dynamic elements from updating as expected within the app.
On Android
- Go to Settings
- Scroll down to System and tap Date & Time
- Turn off ‘Automatic date & time’
- Manually set the correct current date/time zone On iPhone
- Open Settings > General
- Tap on Date & Time
- Slide the toggle for ‘Set Automatically’ on
- Select your time zone city so iOS fetches most accurate date/time
Once accurate current date and timezone are set, restart TikTok to eliminate any errors thrown off track due to significant date/time deviations making the app confuse update periods.
15. Update Device Software
Very old Android or iOS versions can also impact integrated keyboard and emoji compatibility within apps, due to changes in developer frameworks across OS iterations.
Check ‘Software Update’ under device settings to compare your Android/iOS version with the latest one available. Updating eliminates not only emoji issues faced in TikTok but also dated security flaws.
Back up your mobile data before initiating a major firmware update. Your device may wipe all media and files once the update completes installation. Users are advised to upgrade to maintain optimal smartphone performance.
16. Contact TikTok Support
If none of the above solutions have helped bring back missing emojis even after trying them patiently, it may require intervention from TikTok’s app developers themselves – especially if it is a newly introduced bug impacting users globally.
You can contact their support team directly through the app:
- Open the TikTok app and visit your Profile
- Tap the three Lines menu icon (☰).
- Tap on “Settings and Privacy.”
- Choose Report a Problem from the menu.
- Look for the “Submit a report” link at the bottom of the TikTok help page and tap on it.
- Complete the support request form with details on the problem downloading and viewing your TikTok data.
Alternatively, you can submit feedback through the website.
Cite your phone model, OS version, TikTok app release details and mention how long emojis have been missing for.
TikTok usually diagnoses common technical issues on priority and rolls out suitable bug fixes or stability updates.
Wrapping Up
While TikTok acting up by refusing to show emoji reactions can seem annoying initially, a bit of mobile troubleshooting as covered across all the methods here will sort out the issue in most cases.
By following the step-by-step solutions sequentially, you should be able to identify what is interfering with TikTok’s emoji keyboard and fix the problem permanently.
At times emojis may stop working briefly during widespread TikTok outages – instead of worrying, just grab a snack and try back a bit later once services are restored! Persistent emoji issues typically get resolved within a few app update release cycles at most.
I hope this detailed, easy-to-follow troubleshooting guide helps you say goodbye to missing emojis on TikTok if you ever face this problem. Share with friends who use TikTok extensively – issues like these can often crop up while overusing the app!
