How to Set and Create a Telegram Emoji Status

A Telegram profile card with a selected custom emoji status

A Telegram emoji status is a small icon shown next to a profile name. It can communicate your mood, availability, role or brand identity without changing your bio.

How Telegram emoji statuses work

Telegram Premium users can choose an emoji status from available custom emoji. A status can be permanent or scheduled to disappear after a selected period.

The status is visible next to your name in chats and on your profile. Channel and organization workflows can also use custom emoji as part of a broader visual system.

Telegram profile with an emoji status next to the user name
An emoji status appears next to the user name in a Telegram profile.

How to set or change an emoji status

  1. Open Telegram settings and tap your profile.
  2. Select the emoji status action next to your name.
  3. Choose an emoji from recent or available packs.
  4. Set an optional expiration time.
  5. Confirm the selection.
Telegram profile with the custom emoji picker open
Choose an emoji for the status from the profile picker.

To remove it, open the same control and choose the clear option. Telegram may show its standard Premium badge again when no custom status is active.

Telegram menu for choosing how long an emoji status stays active
Choose how long the emoji status should stay active, or customize the duration.

Create your own emoji status

A custom status belongs to a custom emoji pack. In StickerPen, create a 100×100 composition, keep the symbol centered and avoid fine details that disappear beside a profile name.

  • Use a simple silhouette and strong contrast.
  • Leave breathing room around the edge.
  • Test the icon at very small size.
  • Create light and dark-friendly colors.

Publish the project as a custom emoji pack, add it to Telegram and select the new emoji from the status picker.

StickerPen editor with an image selected for a custom emoji
Create the custom emoji in the StickerPen editor.

Create an emoji status from a video message

You can turn a short Telegram video message into an animated custom emoji and use it as a status. Send the video message to StickerPen, then open it in the editor from the bot's reply.

StickerPen bot message after receiving a video message with an Open editor button
After receiving a video message, the StickerPen bot offers to open it in the editor.
  1. Send a short video message to the StickerPen bot.
  2. Click “Open editor” in the bot reply and select the video message.
  3. Check the crop and keep the main subject centered and easy to recognize at a small size.
  4. Publish the project as a custom emoji pack.
  5. Select the published emoji from Telegram's emoji status picker.

Telegram Premium is required for a custom emoji status. Short motion and a simple high-contrast subject usually work better than a complex scene.

Ideas for useful statuses

Personal packs can include focused, away, traveling, celebrating or resting states. Teams and creators can use launch, support, recording or live-event icons that match their existing visual identity.

Create a custom Telegram emoji

Design a compact icon, publish the emoji pack and use it across Telegram.

Open StickerPen

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