How to be “invisible” on Steam
I know Steam likes to market itself as a social media network, and we’ve all got online friends who we like to chat to, but there are plenty of times that I really wish Steam had an invisible setting.
Steam does not have a traditional “hidden” option, where you can still receive chats but nobody knows if you’re at the computer. You’re either various time-sensitive flavors of online, in-game, or offline where you’re prevented from chatting with your friends. You can set yourself to “Away”, but if you do start up a game, there’s no way to keep that fact hidden since it overrides your status, letting everyone know you’re at your keyboard.
Unless… If you’d like to permanently hide your status, Click “Add a non-Steam game to my library” (under the games tab) and pick something that is always running like, for example, Skype. When you want to go “invisible”, quit Skype and launch it from Steam.
Not as good as a traditional invisible setting, I admit, but it lets you play games while keeping your actual status a secret.
