How to make an emoji lock screen background in iOS 16

Admit it: You have a favorite emoji. Whether you’re more of a 🫶 (heart hands) or a 👺 (Japanese goblin) kind of person is up to you, but odds are one of Apple’s thousands of emoji tickles your fancy.

Now, thanks to iOS 16, you can make your lock screen’s background a tribute to your most adored emoji. Here’s how to do it.

1. Open your Settings, and scroll down to Wallpaper.

Start by opening Wallpaper.
Credit: Apple

Wallpaper will be in the third grouping of settings, with a blue icon.

2. Once in Wallpaper, tap on “Add New Wallpaper.”

Create Wallpaper that lets your emojis do the talking.
Credit: Apple

Any previous lock screen and home screen backgrounds will be saved here. Scroll down beneath them until you see “Add New Wallpaper.”

3. In the pop-up window, tap on either the screen titled “Emoji” in the “Featured” section, or scroll down to the the third section, also titled “Emoji,” and tap on one of the screens there.

Tapping either one gets you to your future emoji masterpiece.
Credit: Apple

Each of these options are preset emoji backgrounds. In any of these preset backgrounds, you can customize the emoji selections, patterns, and background color.

4. Tap on the smiley face in the lower left corner and choose your emoji.

Portrait of a life in three emoji.
Credit: Apple

The editing menu will let you choose up to six emoji, and you can do any combination you’d like. When you’re done, tap outside of the emoji window.

5. Scroll left or right while on the main edit screen to see pattern options.

Choose a large-scale pattern
Credit: Apple

Choose concentric circles or several other options.
Credit: Apple

The options will include Small Grid, Medium Grid, Large Grid, Rings, and Spiral. This will determine how your chosen emoji populates your background.

6. Tap on the three dots in the lower right corner to change the background color.

Choose the best color to complement your emoji palette.
Credit: Apple

The pop-up window will display 12 color options, plus a sliding gradient scale to change the shade of each color. Choose your fave, then tap outside the window when done.

7. Tap on date, time, and/or widget space if you’d like to edit those features.

Customize your background even more with different widgets.
Credit: Apple

These are things you can edit in any lock screen.

8. Tap “Done” in the upper right corner when satisfied with your creation.

Behold, your masterpiece.
Credit: Apple

Ta-da! A beautiful piece of emoji artwork to greet you every time you look at your phone.