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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Change your PlayStation availability from your profile or status menu: choose Online, Busy, or Appear Offline where available. To control who can see your online status and current game, adjust the separate privacy setting for that information. Appear Offline reduces visible presence, but it does not make you invisible everywhere.
Change your online status
Your status controls how your availability is displayed. Sony says Online is the default while you are signed in unless you change it. Busy is intended for when you want to focus or step away; Sony says Busy cannot be selected on PS4.
On PS5
- From the home screen, select your profile, then choose Online Status.
- Select Online, Busy, or Appear Offline. You can also open the Control Center, select your profile, then choose Online Status. Sony also documents changing status from the user-selection screen with the Options button.
On PS4
- From the home screen, go to Profile > Set Online Status, then choose a status.
- Alternatively, press the PS button to open Quick Menu and select Online Status.
In the PlayStation App
- On the play screen, tap Profile.
- Select Online Status and choose the status you want.
Sony says a status change on a PS5 or PS4 carries across the other covered consoles, and the status is retained the next time you sign in. Its guidance specifically says that changing status on one PS5, or between a PS5 and PS4, changes it on those devices. PlayStation: How to change your online status
Control who can see your status and current game
Availability and privacy are separate controls. Appear Offline changes the availability shown to others; the privacy setting determines who can see online status and what you are currently playing.
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- PS5: Open Settings > Users and Accounts > Privacy > View and Customise Your Privacy Settings. Review the activity controls, including Who can see your online status and what you’re currently playing.
- PS4: Open Settings > Account Management > Privacy Settings, then choose the relevant feature.
- Online: Open Account Management, go to Privacy settings, and edit the relevant feature.
Sony says account privacy settings apply across devices. For the status and privacy controls, see PlayStation: Privacy settings.
What Appear Offline does—and does not do
Appear Offline is a way to reduce visible presence to friends and other players, not a guarantee that nobody can tell you are playing. Sony lists several exceptions:
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- Other players might see you as online from within a game.
- If you sign in on PS3, PS Vita, or PlayStation TV, you appear online.
- Players can still send voice-chat and online-game invitations while your status is Busy or Appear Offline.
Busy likewise does not block invitations. Sony’s status guidance describes these limits in its online-status instructions.
Hiding a game is different from appearing offline
Hiding a game affects activity information for that game; it does not simply change your availability. The result also differs by console:
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- PS5: Games on your hidden-games list do not display your activity in that game to other players.
- PS4: Hiding a game removes information from activities, your profile, or trophy list, but other PS4 players can still see the game in Now Playing. Sony suggests setting your status to Appear Offline through Profile > Set Online Status if you want to prevent that display.
See PlayStation: How to hide games for the console-specific behavior.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Child account privacy
A family manager, parent, or guardian may manage a child’s privacy settings and decide which settings the child can change. Those adults may also see the child’s activity through the PlayStation Family app. Sony explains the controls in its privacy-settings guidance and account and family guidance.
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