What Does the 🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Mean?

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All the possible meanings of this polite emoji over text, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, dating apps, and more

Co-authored by Anyah Le Gilmore-Jones and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: June 14, 2024 Fact Checked

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• 🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Meanings
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• Responding to 🤝 (Handshake Emoji)
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• Adjusting the 🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Skin Tone
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• 🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Combos
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• Tips

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A firm handshake is a meaningful, professional way to greet each other or come to an agreement in the real world, but does the 🤝 (handshake) emoji mean the same things in the digital world? If you’re tentative about using 🤝 because you’re not sure if it has a secret meaning, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll go over every meaning of the 🤝 emoji over text or online, plus show you how to respond to and customize it. You’ll be shaking digital hands like a pro in no time!

Things You Should Know

• The 🤝 emoji represents the same ideas as a real-life handshake—it can be a greeting, a sign of an agreement, or a symbol for a truce.
• In almost every case, respond to the 🤝 emoji by sending another one back. This shows you acknowledge and reciprocate the greeting, agreement, or truce.
• Tap and hold the 🤝 emoji to change the skin tone of either or both hands and symbolize a handshake between 2 different people.

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Meanings

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1. 1
   Send 🤝 as a greeting, especially if you’re “meeting” someone new. Just like in real life, a handshaking emoji over text, on social media, or even on a dating app is a way to politely say hello to or meet a new acquaintance. Send the emoji along with a short message along the lines of “Hello!” or “Nice to meet you!” to be friendly and kick off the conversation. Use the 🤝 emoji with friends or in casual encounters—it’s probably not considered “professional” to send an emoji to your boss, for example (even though it’s very professional to shake hands in person).

   • “Hey there! Nice to meet you 🤝”
   • “Hi! I’m glad to see we matched on here. I’m Brian 🤝”
2. 2
   Use 🤝 to symbolize that you’ve come to an agreement with somebody. Whether you were playfully bickering with a pal about where to grab dinner or negotiating with your partner about who has to take the dog out after work, send 🤝 to say “you’ve got a deal” or “I accept your terms.” In a group chat setting, send 🤝 as a shorthand way to support a suggestion or acknowledge a group consensus (similar to using the ✋ (hand) emoji).

   • “Fine! I’ll pick up the kids after school today 🤝”
   • “Your plan sounds good to me! You’ve got yourself a deal 🤝”
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3. 3
   Declare a truce after an argument with the 🤝 emoji. If you and a pal have been going back and forth in a light argument or you just want to have peace between you after a small misunderstanding, use the 🤝 emoji to say “let’s put this behind us.” Keep in mind that an emoji is usually only good for silly or very minor disagreements (a serious, relationship-altering argument probably needs a face-to-face conversation).

   • “Let’s just move on. Water under the bridge? 🤝”
   • “I don’t want to squabble anymore! Let’s have a truce 🤝”
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Section 2 of 4:

Responding to 🤝 (Handshake Emoji)

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1. 1
   Reply to greetings with “hello!” and a handshake. If someone sends you a 🤝 to open up a conversation, just say “hey!” and reciprocate their handshake by sending one right back. Feel free to add a question like “How are you?” or just wait for them to mention their reason for messaging you.

   • Them: “Morning! 🤝”
     You: “Hey there! 🤝 How’s it going?”
   • Them: “Hi Stacy! Nice to make your acquaintance 🤝”
     You: “Hi! Nice to meet you too 🤝”
     Them: “So what brings you to Hinge?”
2. 2
   Reciprocate a 🤝 after an agreement to show you’re on board. Once you strike a deal about who’s hosting game night or who’s in charge of the vacation itinerary, answer a 🤝 with a 🤝. This shows you’re down to hold up your half of the agreement and that whatever matter you were discussing is settled.

   • Them: “I’ll bring snacks if you bring all your beach blankets. Deal? 🤝”
     You: “Sounds good 🤝”
   • Them: “I owe you a birthday drink! Let’s meet at Halligan’s and I’ll treat you? 🤝”
     You: “Free drinks? Deal! 🤝”
3. 3
   Confirm someone’s truce offer by sending another 🤝 back at them. When it’s time to let bygones be bygones, return your friend’s handshake as a sign of good faith. Remember that a truce doesn’t have to mean everything’s A-OK, but it lets the other person know you’re committed to finding a resolution or moving peacefully forward. Include a short message with your emoji, or send a 🤝 by itself to acknowledge the truce.

   • Them: “I promise I won’t spread any more rumors about you, and I’m sorry I hurt you. Truce? 🤝”
     You: “Of course, I forgive you. Truce! 🤝”
   • Them: “OK, no more pranks at school! Lol you win! Let’s have a truce 🤝”
     You: “Haha, gotcha! Fine, truce it is 🤝”
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Section 3 of 4:

Adjusting the 🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Skin Tone

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1. Change the skin tone of either hand of 🤝 from your emoji keyboard. In 2022, the shaking hands emoji was updated so that users can change the skin tone of the right and left hands separately. Locate 🤝 on your phone’s emoji keyboard, then tap and hold the emoji. A box appears with a row of skin tones for the left hand in the top row and for the right hand in the bottom row—select which tones you’d like to represent to create a custom emoji!

   • Change the skin tones to acknowledge and celebrate both your own skin and that of who you’re shaking hands with. This helps a diverse group of people feel included in the emoji phenomenon.
   • If you’re unsure what the person you’re sending it to looks like, stick with the default yellow emoji.
   • There are 25 possible combinations of different skin tones to use in the 🤝 emoji. The update took several years because the coding needed to customize an emoji with 2 different skin tones is surprisingly complex.

Section 4 of 4:

🤝 (Handshake Emoji) Combos

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1. Pair 🤝 with other emojis to represent peace, friendship, or unity. Think of the 🤝 emoji like a bridge that connects separate ideas (and emojis!). Place it between 2 emojis to illustrate unity between them, or at the end of a string of emojis to show general harmony. Try some of these combos for starters:

   • 🤼🤝 = handshake or truce after a fight
   • 😇🤝🙏 = friendship, peace, “let’s be friends”
   • 💕🤝 = truce, love, reunion
   • 🌏🌎🌍🤝 or 🇺🇸🤝🇨🇦 = world peace or countries united
   • 🚫🤝 = “don’t use handshakes” (for example, if someone is sick)
   • 🧔🏽🫱🏾‍🫲🏻 👩 = strong bond or close friends
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Tips

• Remember that emojis are used lightheartedly or comically. If you need to resolve a serious dispute, leave the emojis out of your messages (and consider a call or a face-to-face chat instead).
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• The handshake emoji is also known as the “handshaking emoji” or “shaking hands emoji.”
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