Everything You Need to Know About Duolingo Status Icons

The Duolingo app is full of interesting features that a lot of regular users don’t seem to know about. In an attempt to be more social and interactive, the popular language learning platform has now launched Duolingo Status Icons.

There’s a lot to know about these little icons, and I’m going to go through everything you need to know about Duolingo Status Icons step-by-step in this guide. I’ve got you!

Are you ready to find out more? Let’s dive in…

What are Duolingo Status Icons?

Duolingo Status Icons are little graphics that sit on the corner of your profile photo both in the Duolingo app and on the desktop version. First things first, you can either get static or dynamic status icons. All that means is that some are still and some are animations.

They’re designed to bring some personality to your account and let users express themselves a bit more. As Duolingo is bringing in more community-centric features like focusing more on leaderboard features, this is another attempt to make Duolingo way more than just a language learning platform.

What Do the Duolingo Status Icons Do?

The different Duolingo Status Icons are used like emojis to show how you’re feeling or what you’re into to other learners on your leaderboard. Practically, they don’t do a whole lot to your account or the way that you interact with other users, but it allows you to add some more personality to your Duolingo profile.

Whether you want to have a little flag of the country your language is from, want a cool face, or a trophy, there are quite a few different options for you to choose from. Express yourself!

How Do I Change my Duolingo Status Icons on my Desktop?

If you’re looking to change your Duolingo Status Icon on the desktop version of Duolingo, it’s super easy.

Click the leaderboards button.
Here you’ll see the option to change your Duolingo Status Icon on the top right hand of the page.
Pick an icon that appeals to you and press done.

See, in just a couple of taps you can easily change your Duolingo Status Icon!

How Do I Change my Duolingo Status Icons on Mobile?

Changing your Duolingo Status Icon on your mobile is actually pretty simple.

First off, click the league button at the bottom of the page (it looks like a little shield).
Once you’re on the league page click the icon on the corner of your profile image. If it’s empty just click on the area where it should be.
You’ll be taken to a page with a choice of different Duolingo Status Icons.
Pick one and press done.

See, it’s super straightforward!

How Do I Get Rid of my Duolingo Status Icon?

Getting rid of your Duolingo Status Icon altogether is also a super simple process that only takes a couple of clicks whether you’re on mobile or desktop.

When you get to the screen where you can pick a new Duolingo Status Icon (inside the League tab), there is also a button that says clear. On mobile, this is just below the done button:

On the desktop version of Duolingo, it’s in the top right-hand corner:

Once you do this, you’ll see a little blue placeholder symbol in the top right corner of your profile photo. Don’t worry, this is only visible to you and you can change it at any time, using the steps we’ve discussed above!

How Can I Unlock More Duolingo Status Icons?

The majority of the time, to unlock more Duolingo Status Icons, you need to pay using gems on the mobile version of the Duolingo app.

Honestly, it costs a whopping 500 gems to get the party popper Duolingo Status Icon and that could pay for a lot of different bonuses and refilled hearts! That being said, if you don’t want to splurge your hard-earned gems on Duolingo Status Icons, there is rumored to be a workaround.

According to some users, if you use Duolingo on your desktop, you automatically get access to all the Duolingo Status Icons. This is insane. Mobile users can only access a few before having to pay to unlock more.

That includes all the premium Duolingo Status Icons as well as all the standard ones. So, this makes this workaround well worth logging in on your desktop as well as your mobile.

The rumor is that if you change your Duolingo Status Icon on your desktop, it automatically switches on your mobile account too, regardless of whether you’ve unlocked it on your phone or not. That’s a great hack and one that I’ll definitely be making the most of moving forward.

What are the Current Duolingo Status Icons?

At the moment, there are a handful of different Duolingo Status Icons that you can swap and change. It’s worth noting that if you’re using Duolingo on your desktop, all Duolingo Status Icons are static, but if you’re on mobile, the dynamic Duolingo Status Icons will come to life.

You also have to use gems to unlock the dynamic Duolingo Status Icons, but if you use the workaround we’ve outlined above, you can save your much-needed gems for something more useful.

Static Duolingo Status Icons

Let’s start off with the static Duolingo Status Icons. Pretty much all of these will be available as standard across mobile and desktop versions of Duolingo without you having to spend your gems.

If you opt for the flag Duolingo Status Icon, it’ll automatically match the country of the language that you’re learning. If you’re learning multiple languages, your Duolingo Status Icon will change depending on which language you’re on and which leaderboard you’re currently in.

The current static Duolingo Status Icons as of 2023 are:

Angry Duo
100
Turd
Trophy
Popcorn
Fire
Flag
Cat

Dynamic Duolingo Status Icons

Moving onto the animated, dynamic Duolingo Status Icons, we have a couple more options. Remember, these Duolingo Status Icons will appear statically on your desktop, and if you try and unlock any of them on your mobile, they’ll cost 500 gems apiece.

Unlock them for free on your desktop and then open up your mobile version of Duolingo to see your new Duolingo Status Icon all animated and dancing around without having to spend a single gem!

The current dynamic Duolingo Status Icons as of 2023 are:

Cool Duo
Party-Popper
Flex
Eyes

Now you know all the different options, you can get choosing your newest Duolingo Status Icon for your account!

What are the Special Edition Duolingo Status Icons?

Every once in a while, Duolingo will treat us all and release a series of special edition or limited edition Duolingo Status Icons. You have to be pretty quick to get them and sometimes they do time out.

For instance, during the Duolingo year review periods, they added icons like planets and swords to the list of available Duolingo Status Icons. A lot of people changed their icons and while some have lasted, a few of them have disappeared, leading us to believe that they were limited edition Duolingo Status Icons. Either that, or there was a glitch in the Duolingo app.

One of the most coveted special edition Duolingo Status Icons is the purple trophy. This iridescent Duolingo Status Icon is only unlocked by a select few who have completed one of the biggest feats in the Duolingo universe: won a Diamond league trophy.

If you’re one of these elite few, you’ll find this badge of honor sitting unlocked in your Duolingo Status Icon selection. Wear it with pride, you’ve definitely earned it!

What Do the Different Duolingo Status Icons Mean?

So, the whole point of the Duolingo Status Icons is to help users express themselves. There are a few different ways that these cute little icons work to do that.

The first is to show how you’re feeling. This is probably the most common use of Duolingo Status Icons. You go in to change your icon and you pick the one that speaks the most to you at that moment.

If you’re feeling strong and you’re getting on really well with your language learning, then you might want to switch up your Duolingo Status Icons to the flexing arm. On the flip side, if you’re really not feeling your best, the turd icon might be more appropriate for what you’re feeling.

Another way Duolingo Status Icons have been used is to show support within the leaderboard. Primarily, users have been using the flag icon to do this, showing how much they’re enjoying learning a certain language.

With a lot of people learning Ukrainian recently, the choice of the Ukrainian flag as a Duolingo Status Icon has been a popular one, showing support for everything that’s going on right now.

Finally, I’ve seen Duolingo Status Icons being used to react to other people in the leaderboard. You’ll notice there are a few negative icons like Angry Duo in the pack that you can use if someone is beating you on XP.

Maybe you’re witnessing a showdown between two users for the top spot, so you might switch your icon to the popcorn status. Alternatively, you might be at the top of the league and opt to use either the 100 or party popper Duolingo Status Icon. The choice is yours!

As you can see, there are a ton of different uses for the new Duolingo Status Icons, and it’s all about what works for you. It’s all about injecting a bit more fun into the language-learning process and building a bit of a community through the leaderboards.

Now You Know About the Duolingo Status Icons!

So, there you have it, absolutely everything that you might ever need to know about Duolingo Status Icons. From how to change your icons to what they mean to how to unlock more premium options, we’ve covered it all.

It’s super cool that Duolingo is adding all these extra features that are more fun and help bring that language-learning process to life. Language learning can be frustrating at times, so being able to express yourself might really help.

Which Duolingo Status Icon is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below. I know I’m going to be changing mine on the regular!