Stealth settings let you to appear online to some people and offline to others. The offline setting is called Invisible, and contacts will see the little face next to your name as grey. Even though you will appear offline, you can still send and receive messages as normal.

This is useful if you just want to get alerts but not use instant messaging. You can also appear as Invisible to specific contacts or groups of contacts – for example, you may want to appear offline to friends while you're at work, but show that you're online to co-workers.

To always show your status as Invisible:

1. Go to the Yahoo! Messenger menu and select Profiles.
2. Select Privacy Options.
3. Select Always sign in as Invisible.
4. Close the window.

If you are already signed in and want to switch to Invisible mode for this session:

1. Click on your status message, which is below your Yahoo! ID/name at the top of the contact list.
2. Choose Invisible to Everyone.

Note: When you are Invisible to everyone, your Messenger List will appear in italics.

You can appear as Invisible to only specific people:

1. Click the contact's name while pressing the Control (Ctrl) key to highlight the contact. This automatically opens a pop-up menu.
2. Select Stealth Settings.
3. Click Permanently Offline. This person will never see you as online unless you change this setting. The contact will now appear in italics on your Messenger List.

You can appear as Invisible to only a specific group of contacts:

1. Click the group name while pressing the Control (Ctrl) key to highlight the group.
2. Select Stealth Settings.
3. Click Permanently Offline. This group will never see you as online unless you change this setting. The names in the group will now appear in italics on your Messenger List.