In the Steam desktop client, select Friends & Chat, open the drop-down beside your avatar and profile name, then choose Invisible. Friends will see you as offline, but you can still use the Friends list and messages. The Offline status disconnects Steam Community features; it is different from Steam > Go Offline, which starts the client's separate Offline Mode.
Launch Steam, select Friends & Chat in the lower-right corner, then open the drop-down beside your avatar and profile name.
2
Do not choose Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb may also appear in this menu, but Valve says it only suppresses chat notifications. It does not make you appear offline.
3
Choose Invisible
Select Invisible. Steam says other players will see you as offline while you can still view friends and send or receive messages.
4
Confirm Invisible is selected
Reopen the presence drop-down and confirm Invisible remains selected. Ask a trusted friend to confirm that Steam shows you offline.
5
Use Offline only for Community disconnection
Choose the Friends-status Offline only when you want to disconnect Steam Community communication and online-dependent Friends features. Do not confuse it with Steam > Go Offline, which starts the client's separate Offline Mode.
6
Verify and reverse the change
Return to Online from the same menu when finished. Invisible does not change profile privacy or a game's separate friend, party, or activity system.
If it does not work
If the client panel does not open, sign in to Steam Community in a browser and open Friends & Chat there; Valve documents the same presence menu in the browser view.
If a friend still sees activity inside a game, check that game's own presence or party controls; Steam's Invisible status does not document control over third-party in-game systems.
If you chose Offline accidentally, reopen the same presence drop-down and select Online to reconnect to Steam Friends.
ⓘ Sources and verification
Checked against official documentation on . Scope: Windows PC.
Valve documents the Friends & Chat location, presence drop-down, and the functional difference between Invisible and Offline.
