Slack Status Clear After: How to Make a Status Remove Itself

A Slack status clears itself only if you give it an end. When you set a status in the Slack desktop or web app, the menu that does this is called Duration. It offers Don't clear, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, Today, This week and Choose a start and end time…. When the time comes, the emoji and text disappear from your name, and if you ticked Pause notifications until status is cleared, notifications come back too. We checked the menu and timed a status that cleared itself on October 4, 2026.

The Duration menu in Slack

Click your profile picture, then Update your status (or press Cmd+Shift+Y, Ctrl+Shift+Y on Windows). The Duration menu appears once the status has text or a suggestion.

Each built-in suggestion comes with its own default. In our workspace they were: In a meeting, 1 hour; Commuting, 30 minutes; Out sick, Today; Working remotely, Today; and Vacationing, which asks you to set a start and end date. Click a suggestion, then change the Duration before you save.

A status that clears after 30 minutes doubles as a visible timer; other ways to run one are in Slack timer.

How exact is the clear time?

Close, but early. We set a test status through the API with an end time 120 seconds ahead and read the profile every 4 to 5 seconds. The status was still there 13 seconds before the end and gone 8 seconds before it:

set at        1791099017  (16:30:17 KST)  status_expiration 1791099137
read 1791099124  "sglab clear-after test"   still set, 13 s before the end
read 1791099129  ""                         cleared, 8 s before the end

On October 3 we timed the Duration options in the app and saw statuses clear 51 to 56 seconds before their end time, as described in Slack keeps clearing my status. So expect a status to go up to about a minute early, never late.

While the test status was set, reopening Set a status showed its end time in the Duration box as "--4:32 PM--", because 2 minutes is not one of the menu's choices:

After it cleared, the status showed up under Recent in the same dialog as "Today, 4:30 PM – 4:32 PM", so you can set it again with one click. Hover the row and click the delete button to remove it from Recent.

Clear after vs scheduling a status

Duration with a preset decides when a status ends, starting now. To decide when it starts as well, choose Choose a start and end time… in the same menu. More is in how to schedule a Slack status.

What clearing a status changes

• • It removes the emoji and text, and ends paused notifications that were set with the status.
• • It does not change your green or grey dot, or a Do Not Disturb schedule you set separately.

Clearing a status never changes your dot. Your presence turns grey 10 minutes after your last keyboard or mouse input whether a status is set or not. Slack Green keeps the dot active during your working hours, alongside any status.

If a status disappears when you did not expect it, the cause is usually a Duration you forgot or an app replacing it; see Slack keeps clearing my status. If it will not change at all, see Slack status not updating. The steps for every device are in how to change your status on Slack.

Set a status expiration with the API

In the API a status has a status_expiration field, a Unix timestamp in seconds; 0 means it never clears. Set it with users.profile.set and a user token, as in our test above:

{
  "profile": {
    "status_text": "In a meeting",
    "status_emoji": ":spiral_calendar_pad:",
    "status_expiration": 1791099137
  }
}

A full walkthrough is in set a Slack status with the API.

FAQ

Why is there no "Remove status after" option?

Older guides use that name. In the current web and desktop app the same menu is called Duration.

Does a status with Don't clear ever go away?

No. It stays until you clear it or an app replaces it, which is why people still show "On vacation" a week after they are back.