How to Appear Offline While Using Your Xbox One

You don't always have to be visible on Xbox Live. If you want to dodge your friends to log some time in your favorite single-player RPG, you can set your Xbox to appear offline. It's as easy as changing a setting in the privacy menu.

How to Appear Offline on Xbox One

Follow these instructions to hide your appearance on Xbox Live.

1. Open the Xbox Guide by pressing the Guide button on your controller.

2. With the Guide open, navigate to System (indicated by the gear icon) and then select Settings.

   

3. With the Settings menu open, navigate to Account > Privacy & online safety.

   

4. Select Xbox Live privacy.

   If you want to control the information that Xbox apps are allowed to share, select App privacy. Here you can control which apps have access to your location and other data.

   

5. Select View details & customize.

   

6. Select Online status & history.

   

7. Locate the Others can see if you're online section.

   

8. Select Block.

   

   With this option set, you will appear offline to everyone, including your friends. Choose Friends instead of Block if you want people on your friends list to be able to see your online status. To completely undo this process, simply select Everybody instead of Block.

How to Appear Offline on Xbox 360

You can also set yourself to appear offline on Xbox 360, although the process is slightly different.

1. Open the Xbox Guide by pressing the Guide button on your controller.

2. Navigate to Settings > Preferences.

   

3. With the Preferences menu open, select Online Status.

   

4. With the Online Status menu open, select Appear Offline.