Table of Contents
Introduction
Steam is the most popular digital distribution platform for PC games, with over 120 million active users. While Steam provides many useful social features like seeing what games your friends are playing, sometimes you may want to appear offline and hide your online status when gaming.
There are a few ways to make yourself invisible on Steam, depending on your specific needs. This guide will walk you through the various methods to appear offline, hide your game status, and adjust privacy settings on Steam for desktop and mobile.
Methods to Appear Offline on Steam
Set Status to Invisible
The quickest way to appear offline on Steam is to simply set your status to “Invisible”. To do this:
- On Desktop:
- Click on your username in the top right
- Select “Invisible” in the drop-down menu
- On Mobile:
- Open the Steam Chat app
- Tap the menu icon next to your name
- Select “Invisible”
When you set your status to invisible, you will appear offline to all your Steam friends. However, you can still chat and receive messages from friends.
Set Status to Offline
If you want to completely log out from Steam social features, you can set your status to “Offline”. Doing this will show you as offline to friends, and you won’t be able to chat or receive messages.
To appear fully offline:
- On Desktop:
- Click on your username
- Select “Offline”
- On Mobile:
- The Steam Chat app does not have an Offline option
The main difference between Invisible and Offline is that Offline completely logs you out from Steam social, while Invisible simply hides your online status.
Adjust Privacy Settings
In addition to setting your online status, you can also change privacy settings to hide certain game details from your profile.
Hide Currently Played Game
By default, Steam shows your friends the game you are currently playing when online. To disable this:
- Go to your profile
- Click “Edit Profile”
- Go to “Privacy Settings”
- Set “Game Details” to “Private”
This will stop Steam from displaying the game you are playing to friends while appearing online.
Hide Game Library and Details
You can completely hide games from your Steam profile:
- Right-click on a game in your Library
- Click “Manage” > “Hide this Game”
The game will no longer show up in your Steam library. However, hiding games will not remove achievements or playtime tracked against them.
Appear Offline on Third-Party Sites
Some third-party sites display your Steam online status publicly. To hide your status on these sites:
- Go to Steam Community Privacy Settings
- Set “Game Details” to “Private”
This will prevent sites like SteamDB from showing your online status and game details.
Conclusion
- Use “Invisible” status to appear offline while retaining chat functions
- “Offline” status completely logs you out of Steam social features
- Adjust Privacy Settings to hide currently played games and library
- Third-party sites can also show your status – set Community profile to “Private”
Hiding your online status on Steam is useful for avoiding distractions or unwanted messages. Match your preferred privacy level by combining status settings and profile adjustments.
