How to Delete or Rename a Custom Emoji in Slack, Teams, and Discord

First, Check Whether You Can Delete It

Check creation and deletion rights separately. Teams and Discord document different controls for these actions; Slack also lets owners restrict roles. Upload access alone is not a reason to promise that a delete option will appear.

• Slack: members can delete emoji they added. Workspace Owners and Admins, or Org Owners and Admins on Enterprise Grid, can delete any custom emoji. Owners can also limit which roles may add and delete.
• Microsoft Teams: by default only admins can delete custom emoji. A Teams admin can turn on the Delete custom emojis setting in a messaging policy for other people.
• Discord: editing or removing an emoji takes the Manage Expressions permission, which the server owner or an admin grants through a role.

If you do not see a delete option, ask an administrator to check the item type and your permissions. Ask the workspace admin, Teams admin, or server owner rather than looking for a workaround.

Delete a Custom Emoji in Slack

1. On desktop, click your workspace name in the top left.
2. Choose Customize [workspace name]. Owners and admins go through Settings & administration first.
3. Open the Emoji tab and search for the emoji.
4. Click the delete icon, then confirm with Delete Emoji.

Check what you are changing

An individual upload

Confirm the exact name, image and workspace or server. A lookalike is not the same item.

A Slack emoji pack

Slack says individual emoji from a pack cannot be removed. Owners and admins can remove the pack through Add Emoji, Emoji packs, the pack, then Remove Pack.

A Slack alias

An alias adds another code for an existing emoji. Test both codes; do not treat it as a separate uploaded image. Slack documents alias deletion separately.

A replacement file

A newly uploaded file is not evidence that historical uses now point to it. Keep the old source and test the intended new item before removal.

Delete a Custom Emoji in Microsoft Teams

Open the emoji or reaction menu, go to the Custom category, and right-click the emoji. If you have the permission, Delete appears in the menu. Confirm it.

The emoji leaves your own list right away, but it can keep showing for coworkers for a while. Microsoft's admin docs say removal can take up to 24 hours to reach everyone in the tenant, and its support page says it may take a few days. Clearing the Teams cache makes it disappear sooner on that device. If other Teams emoji behave oddly, the Teams troubleshooting guide covers the common causes.

Delete a Custom Emoji in Discord

Open Server Settings from the menu next to the server name, go to the Emoji tab, find the emoji, and remove it. You need the Manage Expressions permission or server ownership to see that option.

Server owners grant it under Server Settings, Roles, the role you want, Permissions, then Manage Expressions under General Server Permissions. Discord notes it is still testing parts of this permission system, so the labels may differ slightly on your server.

Renaming: Add the New Name Before You Drop the Old One

A new name is a migration choice, not proof that old references will update. Check the new code in the picker and composer before retiring the old item; this guide does not establish what happens to every previously posted message or reaction.

• Slack: Slack's help pages cover adding and removing emoji and aliases, not editing a name in place. Add an alias with the new name so both codes work. If the old name has to go, upload the image again under the new name, then delete the old one.
• Microsoft Teams: Microsoft documents creating and deleting custom emoji, with no rename step. Upload the same file with the better name, tell people, then delete the old one.
• Discord: members with Manage Expressions can edit custom emoji in Server Settings. If you cannot edit the name, check with a server administrator before using a separate upload: creating an expression and managing one are different permissions. Names need at least 2 characters and can use only letters, numbers, and underscores.

Not sure what the new name should be? The naming guide has patterns people can actually recall.

Replace Instead of Delete When the Image Is the Problem

If the emoji is popular but looks blurry or has a white box around it, fix the file rather than removing the reaction people rely on. The blurry emoji guide and the transparent background guide cover the usual fixes, and the emoji maker can re-export a clean version in your browser. Do not assume an upload can overwrite an existing emoji with the same name. Slack explicitly asks for another name when a name is taken in its iOS flow. A separate upload is a new item, not a verified repair of old messages or reactions. Keep the source file, check available permissions, and test a temporary distinct name before deciding whether to retire the original.