Emotes in League of Legends are small, animated icons that players can use during matches to express emotion, celebrate a play, or tease opponents (lightly, of course). Whether you’re new to the game or just haven’t explored this feature yet, here’s how to unlock, assign, and use emotes effectively.
Where to Find and Equip Emotes
To access your emotes, open the League of Legends client and go to the Collection tab, then click on Emotes. Here you’ll see all the emotes you’ve collected from events, loot, missions, and bundles.
You’ll also find the emote wheel—a customizable radial menu that lets you assign up to five emotes for use during a game. There are also extra slots for situational emotes, like First Blood or Ace reactions.
How to Use Emotes In-Game
Using emotes during a match is simple:
- Press the T key to instantly show your main emote (this is the default keybinding).
- Hold T to bring up your full emote wheel and select one with your mouse.
- Some emotes can be set to trigger automatically, such as after kills, turret destruction, or victory.
You can change the keybinding if T doesn’t work well for you—just go to Settings > Hotkeys > Communication in the client and reassign it.
When to Use Emotes
Emotes can add fun and personality to your gameplay. You might use them to:
- celebrate a great play or Pentakill
- cheer on teammates
- say “oops” after a failed engage
- flash a sad or angry emote after getting caught out
- send a friendly “GG” or “thumbs up” at the end of a match
While emotes are harmless by design, keep in mind that spamming them or using them to taunt can be seen as poor sportsmanship. Riot offers a “mute emotes” option for those who prefer to keep things clean.
Final Thoughts
Emotes are a fun, quick way to express yourself in League of Legends without typing a word. Whether you’re a serious player or a casual competitor, knowing how to use them adds personality to your time on the Rift—and a little flair never hurt anyone.
Written by:
Christian