How to Hide Your Online Status on the Nintendo Switch


Ever felt like you just want to play your favorite Nintendo Switch game quietly and alone, or practice your FIFA penalty-taking skills away from the prying eyes of your Switch gaming buddies?

With a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, this may not be possible because every time you start gaming your Switch Online friends will be notified. 

From their friends’ list, they can also see when you’re online and can join you in the game.

This makes secretly playing your Switch difficult unless you hide your Nintendo Switch Online status.

How to hide your online status on the Nintendo Switch. For your friends not to be alerted or see when you’re online, you need to go to Friend settings on your Nintendo Switch and choose “No One” in the “Display online status to” option. If you would like only a few close friends to know when you’re online then you can select the “Best Friends” your online status.

Now that you have the quick answer on how to appear offline on Nintendo Switch, read on for a more detailed guide on how to hide your Switch Online status.

How to set up your Nintendo Switch so you can appear offline

If you quickly want your Nintendo Switch to appear offline you can disconnect it from your internet connection.

This, however, will mean you cannot play games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons that have online functionality.

You also won’t be able to get game and software updates that are necessary for the best Nintendo Switch gaming experience.

To avoid all this inconvenience you’re better off following the steps below to hide your Nintendo Switch Online status. 

1: On your Nintendo Switch Home Screen, click on your User Profile Icon located at the top left of your screen.

2: You’ll be taken to your profile page, which is the same page where you can see how many of your Nintendo Switch friends are online. On the side, menu scroll down and select User Settings.

3: Again scroll down the page to the Friend Settings section and click on Friend Settings.

4: On the Friend Settings page, click on the Who do you want to see your online status: option.

5: The Who do you want to see your online status menu gives you three options, be visible to All Friends, Best Friends, and No One. Select No One.

6: Once the change is registered your Nintendo Switch friends will not be able to see when you’re online or be alerted when you launch a game.

What happens when you hide your Nintendo Switch Online status?

As a single player game player, I, as a rule, always set myself to offline.

Hiding your Nintendo Switch Online status lets other gamers see you’re offline all the time even when you’re not.

It also stops you from playing games with your Switch friends since they have to see you online if you want to play a game with them, otherwise, they will not have the option to join in on a game. 

So, you have to set your Nintendo Switch profile back to visible if you wish to play multiplayer games.

To make your Nintendo Switch Online status visible follow the steps given above for how to hide your Switch Online status, and when you get to the “Display online status to” menu select All Friends, or Best Friends if you want just a few people to see your online status, then click OK.

Note, appearing offline on your Switch doesn’t block you from enjoying other Nintendo Switch Online services like buying games from the Nintendo eShop, playing NES and SNES games, downloading game updates, etc.

An offline status, however, doesn’t hide your recent play activity, so your friends can still see which games you’re playing without them on your profile page.

How to hide Nintendo Switch play activity from your friends

If you’re taking time offline to feed your secret Nintendo Switch Game Just Dance addiction, you can ensure your friends don’t know about it by hiding your play activity.

Here is how to do that:

1: On the Switch Home Screen click on your User Profile Icon at the top left of your screen.

2: On your profile page scroll down and select User Settings.

3: Click on Play Activity Settings.

4: A “Display play activity to” menu will appear. There are four options on who can see your play activity All Users, Friends, Best Friends, and No One. Select No One.

Now the next time your friends look at your Nintendo Switch Online profile they’ll not be able to tell whether you’re online or see how much time you have spent on your Switch recently.

Note your friends will still be able to see the current games you’re playing, but not how much time you’re spending playing them.

So you can keep the ridiculously long hours you spend jamming to Just Dance tunes under wraps.

Conclusion

Playing Nintendo Switch games with family and friends is fun.

At times though I know you may want privacy to enjoy gaming in peace without any interruption from the outside world.

To do this you can temporarily hide your Nintendo Switch Online status by changing the “Display online status to” option found in Friends Settings to No One.

If you really want to keep your Switch activity private, you should also hide your play activity.

This way other Nintendo Switch users will not be able to see the amount of time spent playing a given game while you’re offline.

Remember, you’ll have to make your Nintendo Switch profile visible when you’re ready to stop hiding your status to be able to play multiplayer games online.

FAQs

How long will the Nintendo Switch be around? At least until 2026. But newer Switch will inevitably come out, so you’ll be able to invest in new consoles. Want to know more about this topic, read more about it here.

How can I add credit to my Nintendo account? Basically, you need to go to the eStore and then go to your account. From here you can add credit by adding your account details. Check out this article that’ll explain all of this in more detail for you. 

How do I know what Switch I’ve bought? There are a few things you can check to see what Switch you’ve bought. These include the box, the model number, serial numbers, product description, and price. Still not sure what to look out for? Check out this article here.

Nick Sinclair

Nick Sinclair, a gaming aficionado since the Commodore 64 era, studied Creative Computer Games Design in university before founding his own gaming company. Discovering a passion for content creation, Nick now helps gamers squeeze every drop of fun out of their favorite gaming hardware

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