How to Go Hidden on Facebook IM

Hide your online status on Facebook's chat application.

Whenever you log in to Facebook, your online status appears next to your name in the website's built-in instant messenger application. This IM feature allows you to stay in touch with friends, but it does come with drawbacks. For instance, the green dot that appears next to your name, indicating your availability to chat, gives you little privacy when browsing Facebook: one of your friends can interrupt you at any time. Go hidden to prevent getting stuck in a chat.

Instructions

1. Log in to Facebook. The chat application appears on the right-hand side.

2. Click the gear-shaped drop-down field at the bottom of the chat column.

3. Click "Available to Chat." The check mark next to "Available to Chat" disappears, indicating you have gone hidden.

Tips & Warnings

• To hide from specific friends, open your "Friends" list and click the "Create a List" button at the top right. Click on each friend from whom you wish to hide, then click "Create List." Click the gear-shaped IM icon, choose "Limit Availability" and click the friends list you created.

References

• Facebook: Privacy for Chat
• Facebook: Facebook FAQs