Change your availability status in Google Chat
| Status icon | Status text | Status meaning |
| 👁 Image |
Active | Gmail or Google Chat is open. |
| 👁 Image |
Do not disturb |
Google Chat notifications are muted. For Google Workspace accounts, your status is visible at the domain level only. |
| 👁 Image |
Away |
You aren't connected to the internet. You’ve been idle for more than 10 minutes. You're in "Set as away" status. |
| 👁 Image |
Idle |
You've been inactive in Gmail or Google Chat for the last 5 minutes. This only shows on desktop. |
Tips:
- Only people you share a space with, someone you accept a chat invite from, or people who aren’t blocked have visibility of your status.
- If your status is “Do not disturb”:
- You temporarily mute notifications on all your devices from Chat or Gmail until you change your status to “Active.”
- People can tell how long you paused notifications so they don’t expect an immediate response.
Change your status
- On your computer, open Gmail.
- At the top right, next to your status indicator, click the Down arrow 👁 Image
. - Choose: Automatic, Do not disturb, or Set as away.
Set a custom status
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- From your status indicator at the top, click the Down arrow 👁 Image
. - Click Add a status.
- Follow the prompt to choose an emoji, write a status message, or end or clear a status.
- Click Done.
Delete a custom status
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- From your status indicator at the top, click the Down arrow 👁 Image
. - Click the status to delete.
- Click X.
- Click Done.
Turn off Calendar status for Workspace accounts
For Workspace accounts, your Chat status automatically updates based on your Calendar status. For example, your status updates when you're in a meeting or when you're out of office.
- When someone sends you a direct message, they’ll see your Calendar status next to your name at the top.
- Group conversations and spaces don’t show a Calendar status.
Your administrator controls:
- Status availability options in Chat, such as “Out of office” or “In focus time.”
- Whether or not Calendar status is automatically displayed in Chat.
If you don’t want to share your Calendar status, you can turn it off.
- Go to Google Calendar.
- At the top right, click the Settings menu 👁 Image
👁 and then
Settings. - On the left, under “Settings for my calendar,” select your calendar.
- Under “Access permissions for events,” check the box next to “Show calendar info in other Google apps, limited by access permissions.”
Tip: Your changes are automatically saved.
Temporarily stop notifications in Google Chat or Gmail
- On your computer, open Google Chat or Gmail.
- At the top, click your status.
- Select Do not disturb.
- To set your preferred duration, select a duration from the list or click "Until a specific time."
- Click Set.
Tip: Notifications automatically turn back on after the mute duration expires. To end mute sooner, click your status 👁 and then
Do not disturb 👁 and then
Turn off Do not disturb.
Schedule time for paused notifications in Google Chat or Gmail
- Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
- At the top, click your status.
- Select Do not disturb 👁 and then
Set a do not disturb schedule. - Under “Do not disturb schedules,” click Create new.
- Enter details of the times that you want to pause notifications, then click Save.
- Optional: To match your time zone to your do not disturb schedule:
- Open the Settings menu 👁 settings
. - Check the box and click Save.
- Open the Settings menu 👁 settings
Tip: You can create multiple schedules and notifications will be paused for each of the schedules.