How to download and create your own stickers for WhatsApp

WhatsApp stickers became an overnight success since their roll-out for Android and iOS devices in 2018. While there remains a limited number of pre-made stickers that you can download from WhatsApp, you can also create your own customised stickers - meaning there’s plenty of options available.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, WhatsApp has been deepening its collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) as people across the world continue to grapple with these unprecedented times.

Collaborating with the WHO, the instant messaging giant has created a new sticker pack called “Together at Home” that aims to capture the moments and emotions that people are going through each day. The stickers are available in 10 languages including Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

“This pack offers creative ways to remind people to wash their hands, maintain distance, exercise, and importantly to celebrate medical heroes as well as the personal heroes in all of our lives,” WhatsApp wrote in a blog post.

The Facebook-owned service explained that it is attempting to appeal to users in a language that they speak “billions” of times a day on its platform: stickers.

WhatsApp sticker packs

If you’re looking to download any pre-made packs of stickers for WhatsApp on iOS, here’s how:

• Open a WhatsApp conversation.
• Click on the post-it note like symbol on the right-hand side of the chat bar - you’ll see a number of different options appear below.
• You will also see a  "+" symbol above the pre-loaded stickers - this is where you can browse all the WhatsApp sticker packs that can be downloaded. 

The process for Android users is quite similar:

• Open a WhatsApp conversation.
• Click on the emoji symbol - in the left corner of the chat bar.
• You will then see several options displayed at the bottom of the screen, including a post-it like symbol. 
• Click on the post-it like symbol and you will see a plus  "+" symbol appear in the right-hand side of the chat bar.
• Click on the “+” symbol and you see all of the pre-made sticker packages available.

Custom stickers

Create your own custom sticker packs with these simple steps…

1. Go to the Google Play store (Android) or App Store (iOS) and download the "sticker maker for WhatsApp" application.
2. Click on “create a new sticker pack”.
3. Give your sticker pack a name - for your reference.
4. Tap on the new list option and a page will open with an empty stickers tray.
5. You have the option to: take a photo, open a gallery or select a file to begin creating your sticker.
6. After you select the photo, it will be uploaded to the image editor.
7. The image editor allows you to crop your chosen image into different shapes. You can select “free hand” to crop the sticker manually or crop it into a square or circle.
8. Once you’ve finished, save the image and repeat these steps to add more custom stickers to the pack.
9. When you have three or more stickers in your pack, you can select the "publish sticker pack" option. 
10. You will then be asked to add these stickers to your WhatsApp app - accept and head to the WhatsApp app to start using your new custom stickers.
11. To remove a sticker pack: tap the sticker pack you’re looking to delete, tap the three dot icon in the top right corner of the pack and then select “delete”.