How to fix and repair disappearing MSN Messenger and WIndows Live Messenger Emoticons

MSN and Windows Live Messenger is nothing more than a piece of computer software. Like all computer software, MSN Messenger occasionally has a tendency to fail in regards to numerous beneficial aspects of its existence. Sometimes, one of the best ways that an individual can display emotion is via the use of “emoticons” which are basically smiley faces that display a certain emotion. However, emotions do not always work. Sometimes they can require fixing as a means of allowing them to appear again.

MSN and Windows Live Messenger can malfunction for a wide variety of reasons and it is these malfunctions that occasionally cause emoticons to stop working. Malfunctions can come from such uncontrollable issues as power cuts or the electricity running out, plug-ins failing to load or improper shutting down of the computer. Sometimes they can stop working seemingly for no reason at all. However, there are several ways to fix the emoticons of MSN messenger as a means of making use of the popular emoticon feature all the time.

Step 1: First, make MSN full screen for the sake of ease. From there, at the top where it says “search contacts or the web”, to the right of that, there will be three small icons.

Step 2: The third one to the right will reveal a drop-down menu that will reveal the tools. Select tools and a second drop down menu will appear. Click options in the second drop down menu to open a new screen.

Step 3: Click the “messages” tab and ensure that the box with the title that states “show emoticons” is ticked. This, in most cases, will fix emoticons and allow them to show again.

Step 4: Open a conversation box and test symbols such as “;)” to see if it has been fixed.

Solution 1: Fixing custom emoticons can be done in two ways. The first method again requires going into tools, options and messages and selecting the title located directly to “show emoticons” called “show custom emoticons”. Again, in most cases, this will fix the problem.

Solution  2: Sometimes, custom emoticons may still not show even if you type in the correct code to make them appear. Ensure that the emoticon you want is right clicked, saved into your emoticons and the code that has been selected is eligible and able to be typed as some codes breach other MSN commands, thus causing the emoticon to not appear.

There are several other things to keep in mind in the case of disappearing emoticons.

Solution 1: Even if the basic methods of fixing them have been tried and you have ensured that the proper codes have been set for custom ones and still they do not appear, there can be other causes to the problem.

Solution 2: The internet connection may be running slow which can cause them to stop appearing. This is more common in wireless internet connections and on Laptops.

Solution 3: For larger custom emoticons, they may simply take longer to appear. Scroll up later on in the conversation and see if they have appeared after some time.

Solution 4: In some cases, some versions of MSN will cause emoticons to not work at all. This is more prominent in web messenger and third party messenger programs.