Microsoft Teams added custom emoji support and most people have no idea. Let's fix that.
Teams rolled out custom emoji for organizations, but it works differently than you'd expect coming from Discord or Slack. Instead of being channel-specific, your custom emoji are organization-scoped—everyone in your workplace can use them once they're uploaded. That's a feature, not a limitation. It means your internal memes actually spread.
Checking If Custom Emoji Is Enabled
First, the gatekeeping question: does your organization have custom emoji turned on? This is controlled by your Teams administrator, which means you might need to ask nicely if it's currently disabled.
To find out, an admin needs to navigate to the Teams admin center, find Messaging policies, and look for the "Use Giphys, memes, and stickers" setting. If it's turned on, users can upload. If it's off, you're stuck with the default set (which, fair warning, is pretty limited).
The Step-by-Step Upload Process
Assuming custom emoji is enabled, here's how to upload your first one:
- Open the compose box and click the emoji icon (the smiley face).
- Find the Custom tab — depending on your Teams version, it might be labeled "Custom" or "Create." Click it.
- Upload your image. PNG is the safest format. Keep it under 1MB. Minimum dimensions are 100×100 pixels, but aim for 128×128 or higher so it doesn't look pixelated.
- Name it. This is searchable, so choose something people will actually type. "internal_celebration" beats "image_47."
- Hit upload, and you're done. It's available immediately across your entire organization.
That's it. No moderation queue, no waiting. Your emoji goes live right now.
The Key Difference From Discord and Slack
Here's where Teams diverges from platform expectations. In Discord, custom emoji are server-scoped—your gaming server has its emoji set, your work server has another. In Slack, emoji are workspace-scoped, which is closer to Teams, but Slack's interface feels more clunky for uploading.
Teams custom emoji are organization-scoped but individually manageable. Any user can upload their own, but once uploaded, it's available to everyone. This creates a shared visual language faster than you'd think. Three weeks in, your team will have 30 inside joke emoji that didn't exist before.
What Works Well as Custom Emoji
Product logos—make sense. Company mascots—obviously good. Internal memes—this is where custom emoji shines. The best custom emoji are ones that require context to understand. A screenshot from your CEO's all-hands that became legendary? That's your emoji.
The real wins are the things that exist nowhere else. Your team's recurring joke. The running gag from last quarter's project. These are the emoji that make a Teams workspace feel alive, not sterile.
Reality Check: Limits
Free Microsoft Teams users hit limits. Microsoft 365 Business plans have more generous allowances. If your organization is on a free plan and you're uploading dozens of custom emoji, you might hit a wall. Check with your admin first if you're planning a large emoji rollout.
Also, storage matters. Unlike Discord, where you get 50 free emoji slots, Teams doesn't have the same hard cap structure—it depends on your license. Plan accordingly.
Level Up: Animated Emoji
If custom static emoji are good, animated emoji are better. The Microsoft Teams Default Emoji pack includes animated versions of Teams' native emoji set. They're polished, recognizable, and they add motion to your messaging without looking tacky.
These are a solid upgrade from the defaults if you want your organization to look more polished. They render well at small sizes and loop cleanly.
The bottom line: custom emoji in Teams are easy to upload, immediately useful, and a dead giveaway that a workspace actually cares about its culture. Get your first one live today.