For decades, choosing an emoji was limited to what was available on your smartphone’s keyboard. Every year brings a new emoji—I love the “face with bags under the eyes,” although that one is still ongoing. But there are times when the preinstalled options are not specific enough. Fortunately, Apple has a solution, and it’s called Genmoji.

With the help of Apple Intelligenceyou can create custom emojis right from your keyboard using a text prompt or even a photo of someone from your Photos library. Below, I break down all the steps to make your own Genmoji.

Check out our iOS 18 roundup for a full list of all the top features of Apple’s latest operating system. Be sure to also check out our other Apple guides, including Best iPhones, Best iPhone 16 Accessoriesand Best iPads.

Enable Apple Intelligence

Before we get started, you’ll want to check if you have access to Apple Intelligence. It was launched in iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, but Genmoji was launched specifically in iOS 18.2. To check your software version, go to Settings > General > About. You’re good to go if it says iOS 18.2 or later. If you need to update, back up your device first.

If you don’t already have access to Genmoji, make sure Apple Intelligence is enabled (it should be by default). Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and toggle on Apple Intelligence. It should be noted that only Apple Intelligence available on select iPhones-THE iPhone 16 range, iPhone 15 Proand iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Screenshots courtesy of Brenda Stolyar via Apple Intelligence

Enter your Prompt

1. With the Messages window open, tap the emoji icon (the smiley face) or keyboard icon (the globe) to access the emoji keyboard.
2. In the upper right corner of the keyboard, tap Genmoji icon (the pink and blue smiley face with the plus sign).
3. Type a few words or a phrase in the textbox that describes what you’re looking for and tap It’s over.
4. Swipe the filled Genmojis and tap input of the one you want to use. It will immediately appear in your drawer of emojis and stickers.
5. You can also create Genmojis based on pictures of people in your Photos app. Start by typing a prompt like “Julian celebrating his birthday,” tap “Choose a Person” from the list of contacts that appears, and select the specific person. From there, you’ll see different Genmoji populate based on the prompt. pat input when you find the one you want to use.

Fix Your Genmoji

You can also tweak your original prompt to create new versions of your original Genmoji.

1. In the Genmoji window, tap the text box.
2. Type a refined version of your prompt or a newer version. For example, instead of “dog in a birthday hat,” you can change it to “dog with a birthday cake.” Then it will automatically restore new versions.