How to appear offline on Xbox Series X or S: Hide the fact you're gaming from everyone!


The Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S are starting to arrive in people's homes, so you might be wondering how to appear offline on these new consoles.

After all, with many of us working from home at the moment, there's never been a better time for sneakily playing some games during work time and hoping that your boss doesn't notice.

READ MORE:Check out our Xbox Series X console review!

Keep on reading, then, and you'll find out how to appear online on your Xbox Series S or X console...

How to appear offline on Xbox Series X or S

If you want to appear offline so your friends can't see that you're around, this is what you need to do on your Xbox Series X or S:

  • Tap the Xbox button in the middle of your controller (this should bring up a little menu)
  • Press right on the D-pad until you're hovering over your own profile picture (this will bring up the 'Profile & System' area underneath)
  • From this little menu, select 'Settings'
  • From the Settings menu, select 'General'
  • From the General menu, select 'Online safety & family'
  • From the next list, select 'Privacy & online safety'
  • From the next list, select 'Xbox Live privacy'
  • Then select 'View details and customise'
  • Then select 'Online status & history'
  • In the column titled 'Others can see if you are online', use the dropdown menu below to select which option you want ('Block' is the one that will stop anybody from knowing you're online)
  • Press B to back out of these menus, and your custom settings will have been saved

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How to actually go offline on Xbox Series X or S

If you actually want to disconnect your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S from the internet and become truly offline, this is what you need to do...

  • Tap the Xbox button in the middle of your controller (this should bring up a little menu)
  • Press right on the D-pad until you're hovering over your own profile picture (this will bring up the 'Profile & System' area underneath)
  • From this little menu, select 'Settings'
  • From the Settings menu, select 'General'
  • From the General menu, select 'Network settings'
  • From the Network settings menu, select 'Go offline'

And there you have it - how to go offline or pretend to go offline on your Xbox Series S or X! Enjoy your sneaky session...

READ MORE:Here's the latest Xbox Series X news!

For more articles like this, take a look at our How To, Next-Gen, and Xbox pages.