Steam has multiple settings for how you appear to other players, including a setting to appear offline even when you’re not.
These settings can help you communicate to your Steam friends or Steam Family when you are online and ready to play a game, or if you’ve stepped away from the computer.
Steam offers a few ways to change this status, both while in a game and just looking at the main page. Whether you don’t want to be disturbed, or just don’t want your friends to know you’re still playing in 2025, there are plenty of reasons to appear offline on Steam.
There are a few ways to access this setting, though it might not be readily apparent. Luckily, the actual process is pretty straightforward and will carry over from session to session, so once it’s done, you won’t have to constantly fiddle with it.
There are several situations when you might want to appear offline on Steam. For instance, if you want to just enjoy a solo gaming session, you can switch yourself to appear offline so you don’t have to worry about declining invites to play with friends.