diff --git a/LOTUS_FEATURES.md b/LOTUS_FEATURES.md
index 5efe081ae..a59109d55 100644
--- a/LOTUS_FEATURES.md
+++ b/LOTUS_FEATURES.md
@@ -950,6 +950,7 @@ A presence status selector in the user panel offering five modes:
 ### Custom Status Message
 
 - Up to 64 characters of free text plus an emoji
+- **Emoji picker is unicode-only** (`EmojiBoard hideCustomEmojis`): a status is plain-text presence (`status_msg`) that can't render a custom mxc-image emoji, so the picker hides custom/image-pack emojis (packs, sidebar icons, search, and custom entries in Recent) — every emoji shown actually inserts. (Previously custom emojis were listed but silently did nothing when clicked, since there was no `onCustomEmojiSelect` on this field.)
 - Optional auto-clear timer with presets: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days
 - Status is broadcast via `mx.setPresence({ status_msg: ... })`
 - Character counter appears at 56/64 characters remaining to warn of the limit
diff --git a/src/app/components/emoji-board/EmojiBoard.tsx b/src/app/components/emoji-board/EmojiBoard.tsx
index 1a591e931..52a18758f 100644
--- a/src/app/components/emoji-board/EmojiBoard.tsx
+++ b/src/app/components/emoji-board/EmojiBoard.tsx
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ import { VirtualTile } from '../virtualizer';
 
 const RECENT_GROUP_ID = 'recent_group';
 const SEARCH_GROUP_ID = 'search_group';
+// Stable empty pack list for hideCustomEmojis (unicode-only) mode — a fresh []
+// each render would needlessly re-run the memoized group/search builders.
+const NO_IMAGE_PACKS: ImagePack[] = [];
 
 /**
  * Lazily pull in the emojibase data (see plugins/emoji `loadEmojiData`). The
@@ -99,6 +102,7 @@ type StickerGroupItem = {
 const useGroups = (
   tab: EmojiBoardTab,
   imagePacks: ImagePack[],
+  hideCustomEmojis?: boolean,
 ): [EmojiGroupItem[], StickerGroupItem[]] => {
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
 
@@ -114,7 +118,9 @@ const useGroups = (
     g.push({
       id: RECENT_GROUP_ID,
       name: 'Recent',
-      items: recentEmojis,
+      // In unicode-only mode drop recently-used CUSTOM emojis (PackImageReader);
+      // keep only unicode ones (IEmoji has `unicode`).
+      items: hideCustomEmojis ? recentEmojis.filter((e) => 'unicode' in e) : recentEmojis,
     });
 
     imagePacks.forEach((pack) => {
@@ -139,7 +145,7 @@ const useGroups = (
     });
 
     return g;
-  }, [mx, recentEmojis, labels, imagePacks, tab, loadedEmojiGroups]);
+  }, [mx, recentEmojis, labels, imagePacks, tab, loadedEmojiGroups, hideCustomEmojis]);
 
   const stickerGroupItems = useMemo(() => {
     const g: StickerGroupItem[] = [];
@@ -434,6 +440,11 @@ type EmojiBoardProps = {
   onStickerSelect?: (mxc: string, shortcode: string, label: string) => void;
   allowTextCustomEmoji?: boolean;
   addToRecentEmoji?: boolean;
+  // Unicode-only mode: hide custom/image-pack emojis (packs, sidebar icons,
+  // search, and custom entries in Recent). For targets that can only hold plain
+  // text — e.g. the presence status message, which can't render an mxc image —
+  // so users only see emojis that actually insert.
+  hideCustomEmojis?: boolean;
 };
 
 export function EmojiBoard({
@@ -447,6 +458,7 @@ export function EmojiBoard({
   onStickerSelect,
   allowTextCustomEmoji,
   addToRecentEmoji = true,
+  hideCustomEmojis,
 }: EmojiBoardProps) {
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
 
@@ -460,8 +472,11 @@ export function EmojiBoard({
   const activeGroupIdAtom = useMemo(() => atom<string | undefined>(undefined), []);
   const setActiveGroupId = useSetAtom(activeGroupIdAtom);
   const setRecentStickers = useSetAtom(recentStickersAtom);
-  const imagePacks = useRelevantImagePacks(usage, imagePackRooms);
-  const [emojiGroupItems, stickerGroupItems] = useGroups(tab, imagePacks);
+  const relevantImagePacks = useRelevantImagePacks(usage, imagePackRooms);
+  // Unicode-only mode: drop all custom/image packs so the sidebar, group list,
+  // and search show only insertable unicode emojis.
+  const imagePacks = hideCustomEmojis ? NO_IMAGE_PACKS : relevantImagePacks;
+  const [emojiGroupItems, stickerGroupItems] = useGroups(tab, imagePacks, hideCustomEmojis);
   const groups = emojiTab ? emojiGroupItems : stickerGroupItems;
   const renderItem = useItemRenderer(tab);
   const { emojis: loadedEmojis } = useEmojiData();
diff --git a/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx b/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx
index cf2aade5c..a2f3f930c 100644
--- a/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx
+++ b/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx
@@ -648,6 +648,11 @@ function ProfileStatus() {
                 imagePackRooms={[]}
                 returnFocusOnDeactivate={false}
                 onEmojiSelect={handleEmojiSelect}
+                // A status message is plain-text presence (`status_msg`), so it
+                // can't hold a custom mxc-image emoji — show unicode only, so every
+                // emoji in the picker actually inserts (custom ones silently no-op'd
+                // because there's no onCustomEmojiSelect here).
+                hideCustomEmojis
                 requestClose={() => setEmojiAnchor(undefined)}
               />
             }