- Yahoo! Messenger users can choose to appear available for chatting only when desired. The Yahoo! Messenger Stealth Settings allow users to set their status to "Available," "Busy" or "Invisible." The Available and Busy settings also allow for the entry of custom status messages, which can consist of any short message that will then appear next to the user's name when signed in to Yahoo! Messenger.
- IMvironments are graphics displays that stay on-screen in the background during instant messaging conversations on Yahoo! Messenger. IMvironment choices include animal themed backgrounds, comic book character backgrounds and love and friendship-themed backgrounds. Multi-player IMvironment background games, such as "Buddies," where players make virtual characters dance, laugh and do "high fives," are also available.
- With the Yahoo! Messenger Avatars, you can create a "virtual you." The avatars, which stand on the left side of the screen during Yahoo! Messenger chats, can be fully customized, from the face to the clothing. The Yahoo! Messenger Avatars can be altered at any time with a visit to the Yahoo! Avatars page. Yahoo! Messenger Avatars are not required, so any person who chats on Yahoo! Messenger and has not created an avatar will appear as a silhouette of a male or female, depending on the gender listed in their profile.
- Emoticons, or smilies, are small happy faces and other expressive faces that can be clicked once for insertion into an outgoing Yahoo! Messenger instant message. The Yahoo! emoticons are not required for Yahoo! Messenger but are rather an extra feature that allows users to express themselves without words. Emoticons also include frowning faces, crying faces, laughing faces, faces surrounded with hearts, and many more.