What the Sunglasses Emoji 😎 Means on Snapchat: Friendship Emojis Explained

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Plus, learn how to change & customize your friendship emojis

Co-authored by Dan Hickey Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: March 27, 2025 Fact Checked

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😎 Meaning on Snapchat

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😎 Emoji Combos

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Snapchat 😎 FAQs

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More Snapchat Friendship Emojis

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How do friendship emojis work?

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Customizing Your Friendship Emojis

Emojis are everywhere these days, but Snapchat has found a unique and fun way to put them to work! Snapchat uses “friendship emojis” to show how you interact with your friends on the app. The sunglasses face emoji 😎 is a common one that means you and your friend have a mutual Best Friend (someone you snap frequently). In this article, we’ll cover all of Snapchat’s friendship emojis and what they mean, plus show you how you can customize them to be anything you like.

Emoji with Sunglasses on Snapchat: Quick Overview

The sunglasses face emoji 😎 is one of Snapchat’s friendship emojis. When you see it next to someone’s name, it means that you have a mutual Best Friend (BF) with that person. On Snapchat, a Best Friend is someone who you send lots of snaps to, but who isn’t your #1 Best Friend (or Bestie 💛).

Section 1 of 6:

Sunglasses Emoji 😎 Meaning on Snapchat

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The 😎 emoji next to someone’s name means you have a mutual Best Friend with that person. On Snapchat, a Best Friend is someone you send a lot of snaps to but isn’t your #1 Best Friend (or Bestie, as Snapchat calls it). When you see the 😎 emoji next to a Snapchatter’s name, it means one of your Best Friends is also one of their Best Friends.^{[1]
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- Why is it important? Essentially, the 😎 emoji is an easy, visual way to show that you and one of your contacts send a lot of snaps to the same person. This lets you see how your social circles are interconnected and could encourage you to snap this person more often, too!

Section 2 of 6:

Snapchat Emoji Combos with Sunglasses Face 😎

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You may see a string of emojis next to your friend's name including 😎. Depending on how often you snap someone and who else you (and your Snapchat friends) interact with the most, you might end up with multiple emojis that describe your relationship. Some common ones people see include:
- 😎💛: This person is your Bestie or #1 Best Friend (💛) and you have a mutual Best Friend (😎) that you both send lots of snaps to.
- 😎😊: This person is one of your Best Friends (😊) and you have another mutual Best Friend (😎) that you both snap a lot.
- 😬😎: You and this person share a Bestie (😬) and you also have another Best Friend in common (there’s a good chance you two run in the same circles IRL).

Section 3 of 6:

Snapchat 😎 FAQs

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No, only you can see the friendship emojis in your contacts since they’re based on your Snapchat relationship with others.^{[2]
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Research source} You also cannot see the friendship emoji next to your name in someone else's Snapchat contacts.
No, you can’t see that information in the Snapchat app. However, you can do some sleuthing to find out—if you’re determined to know, you’ll have to ask who your 😎’s friend’s Best Friends are and compare that list to your own Best Friends. Anyone who overlaps could be your mutual!
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Will the 😎 go away if you use Snapchat less? Yes, your friendship emojis can change (or even disappear) based on you and your friends’ Snapchat usage. For example, the 😎 emoji may disappear if either you or your friend stop snapping your mutual Best Friend as often.
- Another easy example is the Snapstreak emoji (🔥)—if you and your friend don’t snap each other every day, your fire emoji will vanish.
Over text and on other social media platforms, the 😎 emoji represents all things “cool” and conveys a confident attitude (and maybe a bit of cockiness, too). In a literal sense, it could also mean that it’s just so bright outside that you need to wear sunglasses.^{[3]
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Section 4 of 6:

More Snapchat Friendship Emojis

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The 👶 emoji next to a Snapchatter’s name means you just became friends with this person. Let the snapping commence! As you snap more, your friendship emoji will change to reflect your relationship.^{[4]
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This person is one of your top friends on Snapchat, and you send them a lot of snaps! However, they’re not quite your #1 Best Friend.^{[5]
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Your Bestie (or #1 Best Friend) is also this person’s Bestie. This means you send the most snaps to the same person they do.^{[6]
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Research source} No need for jealousy, though—there’s plenty of room for everyone to snap to their heart’s content!
The 😏 face next to someone’s name means that you are one of their Best Friends, but they are not one of yours. AKA, they snap you a lot but you don’t send them very many snaps or messages.^{[7]
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Congrats! You and this Snapchatter are each other’s #1 Best Friend. This means you send the most snaps to this person, and they send the most snaps to you.^{[8]
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This friendship emoji is a step up from the yellow heart. It means you and your friend have been Besties for 2 weeks in a row. What a commitment!^{[9]
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OK, now things are getting serious. This emoji means you’ve been each other’s Besties for 2 whole months straight!^{[10]
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Research source} Keep this up and you’ll be best friends for life!
On Snapchat, a streak is when you and a friend snap each other at least once every day consecutively. The fire emoji appears next to their name when this happens and stays there as an encouraging reminder to keep up the streak!^{[11]
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Whoa! You and this Snapchatter have kept up your streak for 100 consecutive days. 😮 That’s some intense friendship right there.^{[12]
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Hourglass ⌛: Snapstreak ending soon Uh oh! Your Snapstreak is about to run out. When you see this emoji, you and your friend have 24 hours to send each other a snap to save your streak. Otherwise, you’ll be starting over from scratch!^{[13]
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- Remember, snaps or chats sent in groups with this person don’t count! Snap them individually to keep the streak alive.
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Birthday cake 🎂: Friend’s birthday When this emoji pops up next to someone’s name, it’s their birthday! Send them a friendly birthday message or a funny snap to give them a laugh and wish them well on their special day.^{[14]
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- A Snapchatter’s birthday is based on what they entered when they created their account, so it’s possible you might see a 🎂 when it’s not their actual birthday if they entered a different date.
- You may also see a purple zodiac sign emoji in your friend’s profile beneath their user name corresponding to their birthday (if they entered it):^{[15]
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  - ♈: Aries (March 21–April 20)
  - ♉: Taurus (April 21–May 21)
  - ♊: Gemini (May 22–June 21)
  - ♋: Cancer (June 22–July 22)
  - ♌: Leo (July 23–August 22)
  - ♍: Virgo (August 23–September 23)
  - ♎: Libra (September 24–October 23)
  - ♏: Scorpius (October 24–November 22)
  - ♐: Sagittarius (November 23–December 21)
  - ♑: Capricorn (December 22–January 20)
  - ♒: Aquarius (January 21–February 19)
  - ♓: Pisces (February 20–March 20)
Someone has replayed this person’s snaps within the last 24 hours. Pay attention next time they send you something—apparently, it’s interesting enough to watch again and again!^{[16]
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This newer addition to the friendship emojis means you and this person are in the same group chat on Snapchat.^{[17]
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Research source} In groups, you can send messages and snaps to multiple people at once for everyone in that group to see (rather than sending separate snaps to multiple people).
This emoji appears next to the Snapchat group you send the most chats and snaps to. It’s an easy way to figure out which groups you spend the most time engaging with.^{[18]
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Section 5 of 6:

How do friendship emojis work on Snapchat?

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Friendship emojis are based on how often you interact with someone. Snapchat’s emoji system is a unique and fun way to keep track of who you’re snapping the most (and who snaps you the most in return), as well as which friends are snapping each other. This way, you can see how your social circles are intertwined and find new mutuals with your friends.^{[19]
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- Frequency is the biggest determining factor for which emoji appears, but some other factors include how long you’ve been friends and other Snapchatters you interact with.
- The friendship emojis are only visible to you, allowing you to manage your friends privately.
- Fun fact: When Snapchat first launched, everyone had 3 Best Friends that were publicly displayed on their profile. However, the system was changed to the current friendship emojis after users expressed privacy concerns.

Section 6 of 6:

Customizing Your Friendship Emojis

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On iOS The friendship emojis above are Snapchat’s defaults, but you can change them however you like! Follow these steps to customize how you see your friends:
- Open Snapchat and tap your profile icon in the top left corner.^{[20]
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- Tap the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.
- Scroll down to “Additional Services” and tap “Manage.”
- Tap “Friend Emojis” to pull up the list of friend emojis, then tap a specific emoji to edit it.
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On Android The steps for editing your friendship emojis on Android are a bit simpler than for iOS:^{[21]
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- Open Snapchat and tap your profile icon in the top left corner of the screen.
- Tap the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.
- Scroll down and tap “Customize Emojis.”
- Tap on a friendship emoji to change it.