How to Make an Avatar for My Yahoo! Account

Avatars are images you choose to represent yourself online. Yahoo has avatar templates that you can customize with various hairstyles, eye colors and outfits. Your Yahoo avatar represents you on Yahoo Messenger, on Yahoo forums and on your profile page.

Visit the Yahoo Avatars homepage. Click the "Sign in" link located at the top of the page and sign in. Once in Yahoo Messenger, select "Change my display image" from the toolbar. Click "Create my Yahoo Avatar" to open Yahoo Avatars.

Choose the sex of your avatar to begin. The next screen allows you to change your avatar's hair color, eye color and clothing. Clicking the tabs at the top of the screen brings up individual sections like "Appearance," "Apparel" and "Extras." "Extras" gives you accessory options, such as pets, purses and hats.

Click the "Backgrounds" tab. Browse through the backgrounds and select one or leave the background white by not choosing one. To select an option, highlight it with the mouse by clicking on it.

Save your new avatar by clicking the orange "Save Changes" button located beneath your avatar's preview window. If you want to start over, click "Clear" in the preview window. "Clear" removes all customizations you have made to your avatar during this session unless you already have saved them.

Sign out of Yahoo Messenger. Your new avatar usually takes effect when you sign in for your next session. Sign out of Yahoo Messenger and return to activate your new avatar.