Praying Hands Emoji Meaning: Folded Hands, Please, Thank You and the High Five Mix-Up

Few emojis do as many jobs as 🙏. It thanks a friend, begs a favour, wishes someone well after an injury and stands in for a prayer. In some cultures it's a greeting or an apology. That range is useful, but it also means the same emoji can read very differently to different people. Here's what it means and how to use it well.

Please, thank you or a prayer: reading 🙏

Emojipedia describes Folded Hands as two hands placed firmly together, meaning please or thank you in Japanese culture, with prayer as a common alternative use. Dictionary.com lists a range of meanings, including gratitude, spirituality and hopefulness, as well as pleading, asking for something or wanting an outcome.

So 'Can you cover my shift 🙏' is a please. 'You saved me today 🙏' is a thank you. 'Praying for your mum 🙏' is a prayer or a heartfelt wish. Dictionary.com notes that in non-religious chats, someone saying they're praying for something may just mean they're hoping hard for it, like a favourite band touring their city.

Why its official name is Folded Hands

Emojipedia says this emoji was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the name 'Person with Folded Hands' and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. Unicode never named it praying hands. The neutral name 'Folded Hands' leaves room for all of its meanings: please, thank you, prayer and greeting.

Prayer or high five? The thumbs settle it

This is the mix-up that won't go away. Dictionary.com explains that on some devices the emoji shows only two hands touching, and on their own those hands can look like they're high-fiving. It says people who read them as praying hands point out that in prayer, the thumbs are on the same side of both hands, which isn't the case in a high five.

Emojipedia's view is clear: the emoji is rarely used as a high five, even though emoji keyboard search features often suggest it for that. If you want to celebrate with someone, 🙌 Raising Hands or 👏 Clapping Hands is a safer pick. If someone sends you 🙏 after you've done them a favour, they're thanking you, not slapping palms. And if you've been sending it as a high five for years, don't panic: most people will have read it as a thank you anyway, which is rarely a bad message to send.

Namaste, añjali mudra and Japanese gestures

Emojipedia notes that the gesture can also show a respectful greeting or adoration in many South and Southeast Asian religions and cultures, such as the Hindu namaste or the Buddhist añjali mudra. Dictionary.com adds that in Japanese culture, and some other Asian cultures, pressing your hands together can mean please, thank you and I'm sorry, as well as having spiritual associations.

Dictionary.com says those meanings carried over to Western use too, but that in the West the emoji's more strongly tied to religion. That's worth remembering if you're messaging someone from a different background: to them, 🙏 might simply be a polite greeting.

How the design changed on iPhone and Android

Emojipedia records that an earlier iPhone version showed a yellow burst of light behind the hands, and that Android once showed a round blob character with closed eyes and folded hands. Dictionary.com notes the difference between devices that show only hands and those that show the upper half of a person. Today, most designs show just the two hands, which is partly why the high five idea took hold.

Folded hands by situation

Situation	What 🙏 means	How to reply
After you've helped someone	Thank you	A 'you're welcome' or a smile
When someone asks a favour	Please	Say yes or no in words
After bad news or an illness	Thinking of you, praying for you	A simple 'thank you'
Before an exam or a big match	Fingers crossed, hoping hard	Wish them luck back
As a greeting from a friend in India or Southeast Asia	Hello, with respect	Return the greeting
In a team chat after a fix	Grateful, you're a lifesaver	No reply needed

If someone thanks you with 🙏 and you want a quick reply, plenty of people just send YW, short for you're welcome.

Made-up folded hands messages

These are made-up messages to show how it's used, not real chats:

• 'Thank you so much for the lift 🙏' Simple gratitude.
• 'Please let there be coffee left 🙏' A hopeful, joking please.
• 'Get well soon, we're all thinking of you 🙏' A heartfelt wish.
• 'Fingers crossed for the interview tomorrow 🙏' Hoping for a good result.
• 'Namaste 🙏' A respectful greeting.

Is 🙏 safe in a work email? My answer

For most businesses, yes. A folded hands emoji at the end of a thank you to a customer or colleague reads as polite and warm, and it's widely understood as gratitude. I use it myself when someone's gone out of their way for me.

Two cautions. First, some people see it as religious, so in a very formal or mixed audience I'd write 'thank you' instead. Second, don't use it to soften a demand, as in 'payment by Friday 🙏', because it can read as pleading or passive-aggressive. If you're replying to customers in Instagram DMs, here's how the business chat label in Instagram DMs works too.

Frequently asked questions

Is 🙏 praying hands or a high five?

It's Folded Hands. Emojipedia says it's rarely used as a high five, even though keyboards sometimes suggest it.

What is the official name of the praying hands emoji?

Its Unicode name is Folded Hands. Emojipedia says it was approved in Unicode 6.0 in 2010 as Person with Folded Hands.

What does 🙏 mean in a text?

Usually please or thank you, and sometimes a prayer or a strong hope. Dictionary.com also lists pleading and gratitude.

What does 🙏 mean in Japanese culture?

Emojipedia says the gesture means please or thank you in Japanese culture, and Dictionary.com adds it can also mean sorry.

Can I use the praying hands emoji at work?

Yes, as a polite thank you. In very formal settings, or to people who may see it as religious, words are safer.