The Handshake: Medium Skin Tone emoji 🤝🏽 means agreement, partnership, and mutual trust, shown as two hands clasped together in a medium skin tone. People send it to seal a deal, welcome someone, thank a collaborator, or signal respect, while the skin tone lets the sender reflect their own identity.
What Does the Handshake: Medium Skin Tone Emoji Mean?
The 🤝🏽 emoji means a agreement or partnership is in place, with both sides showing trust and goodwill.
At its core it carries the same meaning as the classic handshake emoji: two hands meeting in the middle to confirm a deal, a greeting, or a cooperative relationship. The medium skin tone modifier simply changes how the hands are rendered, so the symbol feels personal rather than generic.
The emoji is filed under the People & Body category in Unicode, alongside other hand gestures and body-part symbols. You can browse related gestures on the People & Body emoji category page.
Common meanings at a glance
- Agreement: "We have a deal" or "I accept your terms."
- Partnership: Announcing a collaboration, merger, or joint project.
- Greeting: A friendly, respectful hello or welcome.
- Respect and trust: Acknowledging someone's good faith or fair play.
- Unity: Showing solidarity or reconciliation after a disagreement.
Why Does the Medium Skin Tone Version Exist?
The medium skin tone version exists so people can choose an emoji that matches their own skin tone instead of defaulting to a yellow or generic appearance.
Skin tone modifiers are based on the Fitzpatrick scale and are applied to a base emoji by adding a modifier character. Here the base handshake (U+1F91D) is combined with the medium skin tone modifier (U+1F3FD), which is why this emoji has two codepoints: U+1F91D and U+1F3FD.
Skin tone options for the handshake are a more recent addition than most gestures. The emoji arrived in Unicode 14.0 and Emoji 14.0, which is why older devices may not display it correctly. For a long time the handshake only existed in a single default appearance, so this release gave people a much more inclusive way to use it.
Does it change the meaning?
No, the skin tone does not alter the meaning of the emoji, only its appearance.
Choosing medium skin tone is a matter of representation and personal preference. Many people also pick a tone to match the person they are talking about, such as when celebrating a business partnership or a friendship between specific people.
How Do You Use the Handshake: Medium Skin Tone Emoji?
Use 🤝🏽 whenever you want to confirm an agreement, welcome a new partner, or show that you respect and trust someone.
It works best at the end of a message or as a short reply, where it acts as a friendly full stop on a deal or decision. Because it is warm but professional, it fits both casual chats and work conversations without feeling over the top.
Here are a few realistic examples:
- Contract signed and delivered. Pleasure working with you 🤝🏽
- Sounds fair to me, let's do it 🤝🏽
- Welcome to the team, Maya! So glad you're here 🤝🏽
Using it to close a negotiation
In negotiations, the emoji works as a quick confirmation that both sides are aligned.
After exchanging terms over chat or email, a 🤝🏽 signals "agreed" more warmly than a plain "OK." It is especially handy in freelance and small business conversations where a quick, friendly confirmation keeps the momentum going.
Using it as a greeting or thank you
The emoji also works as a gesture of thanks or welcome when you cannot offer a real handshake.
You might use it to thank a mentor, greet a new neighbor in a group chat, or congratulate a colleague on a project well done. In these cases it conveys appreciation and respect rather than a formal contract.
What Does 🤝🏽 Mean in Texting and on Social Media?
In texting and social posts, 🤝🏽 usually means "deal," "we're good," or "thanks for working with me."
On social media, brands and creators often use it in announcements of partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborations. A caption like Excited to team up with this amazing crew 🤝🏽 signals a new alliance at a glance.
Among friends, it can also mean making peace after a small disagreement, or agreeing to a plan. Replying with only the emoji often reads as "consider it done."
Tone and sentiment
The tone is positive, sincere, and slightly formal, though it adapts easily to casual contexts.
It rarely reads as sarcastic on its own. If you pair it with a joking message, however, it can be playful, as in You owe me coffee, deal? 🤝🏽
How Does the Handshake Emoji Look on Different Platforms?
The handshake with a medium skin tone looks slightly different on every platform because each company draws its own design.
According to the platform data for this emoji, support begins with these versions:
- Apple: iOS 15.4+ and macOS 12.3+
- Google: Android 12L+
- Microsoft: Windows 11 22H2+
- Samsung: One UI 5.0+
- WhatsApp (Meta): WhatsApp 2.22+
- Twitter/X: Twemoji 14.0+
If your device is older than these versions, the emoji may appear as the plain handshake followed by a separate brown square, or as an unknown character box. Updating your operating system or messaging app usually fixes the issue.
Why do some devices show two symbols?
Some devices show two symbols because they do not recognize the combined emoji and display its parts separately.
The medium skin tone modifier is a separate character, so software without support for Emoji 14.0 shows the base handshake plus a colored swatch instead of one merged image.
Which Emojis Pair Well With 🤝🏽?
The handshake pairs well with emojis that celebrate success, thanks, or good intentions.
- 🤝🏽 + 👍: A confirmed deal with approval. See the thumbs up emoji for more on that gesture.
- 🤝🏽 + 🎉: Celebrating a new partnership or signed agreement.
- 🤝🏽 + 🙏: Gratitude after a successful collaboration.
- 🤝🏽 + 💼: A professional, business-focused agreement.
- 🤝🏽 + ✅: A task or deal marked as complete.
If you want to experiment with combinations, the emoji translator tool can turn short phrases into emoji sequences, and the trending emojis page shows what people are using right now.
What Is the Difference Between the Plain Handshake and the Skin Tone Versions?
The plain handshake and the skin tone versions mean the same thing, but the skin tone versions add personal or inclusive representation.
The default 🤝 handshake uses a neutral appearance, while 🤝🏽 renders both hands in a medium skin tone. Neither is more correct, and choosing one is a style decision.
When to choose a specific skin tone
Pick a skin tone when you want the emoji to reflect you, the person you are addressing, or the people involved in a story.
Pick the default when you want a neutral look, are unsure which tone fits, or are posting to a broad audience. Using the same tone consistently also makes your messages feel more cohesive.
When Should You Avoid the Handshake: Medium Skin Tone Emoji?
Avoid 🤝🏽 when the situation is serious, tense, or when an agreement is not actually settled.
Sending a handshake after a difficult conversation can feel dismissive if the other person is still upset. It can also come across as pushy if used to pressure someone into agreeing before they have confirmed.
- Do not use it in sensitive discussions where a casual symbol might feel inappropriate.
- Do not use it to imply a binding contract; it is a friendly signal, not a legal one.
- Be mindful in formal or legal communication, where plain text is safer.
Also keep in mind that it is not a replacement for reactions of understanding. If someone is confused or in disagreement, a reaction like 🤷🏻♀️ shrugging or 🤦🏻♀️ facepalming better reflects those feelings than a handshake does.
How Do You Copy and Paste the Handshake: Medium Skin Tone Emoji?
You can copy and paste 🤝🏽 instantly with one click on this page, then paste it into any app, post, or document.
Click the emoji at the top of this page and it is copied to your clipboard. Then paste it with Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac), or by long-pressing in the text field on your phone.
If it appears as two symbols after pasting, your device or app probably does not yet support Emoji 14.0. Updating your software, or using a platform from the supported list above, should display it as a single clasped hands emoji.
Ready to use it? Copy 🤝🏽 right now and drop it into your next message to seal the deal.
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