How to React to a WhatsApp or Telegram Message

In this post, you’ll see the steps to react to a message using an emoji and disable reaction notifications on WhatsApp.

Also, you’ll view the steps to react, change the “Quick Reaction” emoji and turn off reactions on Telegram. Let’s begin.

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React to a WhatsApp Message with an Emoji

“Emoji reactions” is a WhatsApp feature that lets you reply to a message using an emoji. Note that you can’t disable this feature.

Here are some important things to note:

You can only use one emoji for a WhatsApp message. The same applies to the other side.
You can react to your message or the message of others.
You can’t remove or change the reaction of others.

Let’s see the steps.

Android or iPhone

Open the WhatsApp app, ensure you’re in the “Chats” tab and hit a contact or group chat.

Long press the message you want.

You can now see these six emojis:

Thumbs up
Heart
Face with tears of joy
Face with open mouth
Crying face
A person’s folded hands

You can view other emojis if you hit the “+” icon. Choose the one you like, and that’s all.

Follow these steps to change your reaction: Long-press the message and hit the emoji you want other than the selected one.

If you wish, you can remove your reaction, and for that, long-press the message and hit the emoji you’ve used.

The message’s author didn’t get notified regarding this.

Here’s an alternate method to remove the reaction: Hit the emoji reaction to the message, find your reaction, and tap it.

Web or Desktop

In WhatsApp Web or Desktop app, open the chat.

Hover over the message, and click the “Emoji” icon. You can see emojis and click on the “+” icon to view more.

Please choose the one you like, and that’s it.

To change the reaction, follow the above steps and select the one you want other than the selected one.

Follow the steps above and click on the currently chosen to remove the reaction. Here’s an alternate method to remove the reaction: Hit the emoji reaction, find your reaction and click it.

See: How to Download Stickers on WhatsApp

Turn Off WhatsApp Reaction Notifications

Note: WhatsApp doesn’t offer this option for individual chats.

By default, when you react to a message using an emoji, WhatsApp will notify the message’s author.

If you don’t like to receive the reaction notification, turn it off and let’s see how to do that on Android, Web, and iPhone.

Android

In WhatsApp, hit the three vertical dots at the top right and select “Settings.”

Hit “Notifications.” Disable “Reaction Notifications” in the “Messages” section to turn off reaction notifications for contact chats.

To do the same for group chats, disable “Reaction Notifications” in the “Groups” section.

That’s it. You can revert anytime by turning on the above options.

iPhone

Hit the “Settings” tab at the bottom of WhatsApp and select “Notifications.”

Disable “Reaction Notifications” in the “Message Notifications” section to turn off reaction notifications for contact chats.

To do the same for group conversations, disable “Reaction Notifications” in “Group Notifications.”

That’s all. To revert, turn on the above options.

Web

Hit the three vertical dots in the left sidebar of the Web.

Select Settings > Notifications. Turn off “Show reaction notifications.”

You can see these three options in the popup: 8 Hours, 1 Week, and Always.

The latter means that it remains turned off until you turn it on. If you choose any of the two other options, the reaction notifications are disabled until the selected time. Once time passes, it’ll be enabled automatically.

Click on the “Mute Notifications” button, and that’s it.

To revert, hit the check box beside the above option and “Unmute.”

See: How to Set Blank WhatsApp Status

React to a Message on Telegram

Telegram lets you react to a message using emojis. Let’s see the steps.

If you’re using Android, you need to tap a message. On an iPhone, long-press a message. On the Desktop or Web, right-click on it.

The message can be yours or others. You can see many emojis.

If you like to view more emojis, hit the “Down arrow.” This doesn’t apply to the Web.

Choose the emoji you want, and that’s it. To remove that reaction, you need to hit it.

Alternatively, long-press (iPhone), right-click (Desktop or Web), or tap (Android) the message and hit the same emoji.

Notes

You can see an emoji on the Desktop when you hover over the message. Hover over it to see many more emojis for reactions. But if you don’t want that to appear, follow these steps:

In the Desktop app, hit the three horizontal lines in the left sidebar. Select Settings > Chat Settings. Disable the “Reaction button on messages.”

That’s all.

Also, note that by default, double-click is for replying. If you want the double-click for the reactions, choose “Send reaction with double click.”

To revert, choose “Reply with double click.”

Change Quick Reaction Emoji on Telegram

You can react quickly to a message with the “Quick Reaction.”

Here’s how: Double-tap the message, and that’s it. If you used the “Quick Reaction” emoji to react, double-tapping the message will remove the reaction.

Also, note that you can’t disable “Quick Reaction.” Let’s see the steps to change the “Quick Reaction” emoji:

On Android, you need to tap the three horizontal lines at the top left of Telegram and select “Settings.”

On iPhone, tap the “Settings” tab at the bottom of the Telegram app.

Select “Stickers and Emoji.”

Tap “Quick Reaction.” On iPhone, tap “Choose Your Quick Reaction.”

Hit the emoji you prefer, and that’s all.

Turn Off Reactions on Telegram

Note: You need to be an admin to follow the below steps.

Note that on private chat, you can’t turn off reactions. But for the group chats, you can, and here’s how on Android and iPhone:

Open the group chat and tap the name at the top.

On Android, hit the “Pencil” icon. On your iPhone, tap “Edit.”

Tap “Reactions.”

You can see these three options: All reactions, Some reactions, and No reactions.

The first option means members can use all emojis, the second means participants can only use the ones you’ve allowed, and the last means turning off reactions.

Choose the last one. On Android, hit the “Back arrow” and tap the “Tick” icon. On your iPhone, tap “Back” and hit “Done.”

You can do the above task on the Web and Desktop, and here’s how:

Click on the group name at the top of the chat.

On the Desktop, hit the three vertical dots and select “Manage group.” On the Web, hit the “Pencil” icon in the right sidebar.

Hit “Reactions.”

On the Desktop, select “No reactions.” Click on “Save,” and that’s it.

On the Web, disable “Enable Reactions.” Hit the “Tick” icon and click on the “Back arrow.”

Here’s how you can enable reactions on the Telegram Channel:

Open the channel on the Telegram app and hit the name at the top.

On Android, hit the “Pencil” icon at the top right. On an iPhone, tap “Edit.”

Select “Reactions.”

Turn on “Enable Reactions,” and you can now choose which emojis the subscribers can use.

On Android, tap the “Back arrow” and hit the “Tick” icon at the top right. On your iPhone, hit “Back” and tap “Done” at the top right.

To disable the reactions, follow the above steps but turn off the option instead of turning it on.

You can do the above task on the Web and Telegram too, and here’s how:

For the Web, please apply the steps above for the group to your channel and turn on (to enable) or off (to disable) “Enable Reactions” as per your wish. Click on the “Tick” icon and “Back arrow.”

On the Desktop, in the channel chat, hit its name and click three vertical dots in the popup. Select Manage Channel > Reactions.

Enable (to turn on reactions) or disable (to turn off reactions) “Enable Reactions” as per your preference. Click “Save.”