How to Set Your Status in Google Chat: Menu, Custom Status and Do Not Disturb
Click the Active button at the top right, then Add a status. We opened every menu: 64-character limit, an emoji Google fills in from your words, and clear-after times with no never option.
To set your status in Google Chat, click the status button at the top right of chat.google.com (it reads Active with a coloured dot), then pick Automatic, Do not disturb or Set as away. For a custom status, choose Add a status, type up to 64 characters, check the emoji Google fills in, pick when it clears under Clear status after, and click Done. Gmail and Google Chat share the same status.
We opened each menu on 3 October 2026 in Google Chat on the web with a personal Google account, and saved nothing. The screenshots and the emoji test below come from that session.
The status menu
The button sits next to the help and settings icons at the top right. Its menu has five rows:
- • Automatic, "Based on chat activity", the default.
- • Do not disturb, "Mute chat notifications".
- • Set as away.
- • Add a status.
- • Chat notification settings.
- Click the status button, then Add a status.
- Pick one of Google's suggestions or type your own in Write your own. The counter under the field reads "0/64": the box stops at 64 characters. A 70-character line we typed was cut to 64.
- Check the emoji. Google Chat fills one in from your words; click it to choose another.
- Open Clear status after and pick a time.
- Click Done.
- • 🍽 Lunch, back at 1:30
- • 🎧 Focus time until 3 p.m., DMs checked hourly
- • ✈️ Travelling today, replies tonight
- • 🤒 Out sick, back tomorrow
- • 🌴 Out of office until Monday, ask Sam for anything urgent
Availability (the first three rows) and the custom status are separate. You can be Active with "Working from Lisbon this week", or Away with no text. We read the three icons from the live menu on 8 October 2026: Automatic is a solid green dot (#1E8E3E), Do not disturb a red circle (#D93025) with a white bar, and Set as away an empty grey ring. What every dot and icon means, including the ones you only see on other people, is in Google Chat status icons meaning.
Add a custom status
The suggestions on our account were Be right back (30 minutes), Commuting (1 hour), Out sick (Today) and Vacationing (This week).
Clear status after offered 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, Today, This week and Custom. Today was selected by default, and there was no "never" option, so a preset status always ends. For a longer absence, try Custom; we did not open it.
The emoji Google Chat picks for you
As in Slack, Google Chat chooses an emoji from the words you type, as long as you have not picked one. What it chose in our test:
| You type | Emoji |
|---|---|
| Lunch, back at 1:30 | 🍽 |
| In a meeting | 📝 |
| Out sick | 🤢 |
| Working from home | 🏠 |
| On vacation | 🏝 |
| Focus time | 🎧 |
| Commuting | 🚗 |
| Coffee break | ☕️ |
| Gym | 💪 |
| Dentist | 🦷 |
| Back at 3, or text with no match | 💭 |
The picks differ from Slack's for the same words: Slack gave 📅 for "In a meeting" and 🎯 for "Focus time" in our Slack test.
Do not disturb with a timer or a schedule
Click Do not disturb in the status menu. Google Chat shows "Mute notifications for" with 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours and 24 hours, each with the clock time it ends, then Until a specific time and Set a do not disturb schedule for a daily quiet time.
Google's help says people "can tell how long you paused notifications", and on Workspace accounts Do not disturb shows only inside your organization.
Set as away and back again
Set as away is a manual setting. To return to normal, open the menu and choose Automatic. How to look offline on purpose is in how to appear offline on Google Chat, and how long Google Chat takes to mark you Idle or Away on its own is in how long before Google Chat shows away.
Calendar status on work and school accounts
On a Google Workspace account, Chat can also show "In a meeting" or "Out of office" from Google Calendar, in direct messages. Your admin decides whether that appears. We tested a personal account, so we did not see it. To stop sharing it, Google's help points to Google Calendar Settings, your calendar under Settings for my calendar, and the option under Access permissions for events.
Status ideas that fit in 64 characters
The same kinds of lines for Slack are in Slack status examples.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep a Google Chat status forever? Not with a preset. Clear status after had no "never" option, and the longest preset was This week. We did not open Custom.
How long can a Google Chat status be? 64 characters. The field shows a counter and stops there. Slack allows 100.
Can I set a Google Chat status on my phone? Yes. Google's help says to open the Chat or Gmail app, tap Menu, then your status. We tested the web only.
Does my Google Chat status show in Gmail? Yes. Gmail and Chat use the same status.
Related Articles
How to Appear Offline on Google Chat: Set as Away
Google Chat has no invisible mode, but Set as away gives the same result: your status shows Away, which is also what people see when you are offline, and messages keep arriving. Steps for Gmail, the Chat app and phones, what others can still see, and how blocking and calendar status change it.
How Long Before Google Chat Shows Away? Idle at 5 Minutes, Away at 10
Google Chat shows you Idle after 5 minutes without activity in Gmail or Chat on a computer, and Away once you have been idle for more than 10 minutes. Losing your connection or a sleeping computer shows Away at once. Neither timer can be changed, by you or by a Workspace admin.
How to See When Someone Was Last Active on Google Chat
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