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Emoticons stopped working for me in MSN Messenger ... but my friends see them just fine. Why?

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Summary: MSN Messenger emoticons may stop working for you even though your friends may still be able to see them. Here is a straightforward solution to that problem.

Emoticons stopped working for me in MSN Messenger ... but my friends see them just fine. Why?

I'd simply check the emoticon option: Tools, Options, Messages tab, and make sure the emoticons options are checked.

Article C2005 - June 8, 2004

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Recent Comments
106 Comments

Thanks Leo,my emoticons stopped working all of a sudden and my msn messenger was so boring looking without emoticons,now its back to normal,i wouldn't have thought about that.

Posted by: Jonathan at August 11, 2009 6:35 AM

Hello Leo: I've just installed Windows Live Messenger and was getting v. excited at the prospect of winking! Sadly while the installation conpleted successfullythe Wink icon is greyed out notwithstanding that I've downloaded a couple from the Messenger home page. Any ideas? Thanks

Posted by: Jacqueline Jones at August 12, 2009 10:51 AM

Wow! Thanks! It totally worked for me. ^^ I am so happy.

Posted by: Wandy at September 13, 2009 8:12 AM

it didnt work for me at first, but then I did it on the MAIN msn menu, i then signed out and back in and it worked!

Posted by: Harry at September 25, 2009 8:45 AM

Hey, really useful!

But I don't know why mine got unchecked...
It is back when I just re-check it!

Posted by: Moo at September 28, 2009 11:22 AM

this is very wel for those who dont knoww about tools and such
but, my box for showing emotes is clicked
and my msn does not save any emotes
a all..

Posted by: Marx at October 3, 2009 10:39 PM

Wheres the tools button ?

Posted by: Tanya at October 4, 2009 8:44 AM

YAY! thankyou, so much. Ive been getting really anoyed with them not working :)

Posted by: Tanya at October 4, 2009 8:51 AM

Wow, that's fantastic...it worked first time. I can't believe I didn't think of typing the problem into google sooner!! Thank you

Posted by: judz at November 4, 2009 12:24 PM

WHERE IS THE TOOLS MENU OR THE MAIN MENU ON THE NEW MSN ! I TRIED THE CHECK THINGY BUT IT DIDN'T WORK !

Posted by: Mariam at November 7, 2009 12:46 AM

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