A stealth setting of online or offline can be activated for a single contact, multiple contacts or for an entire group. Here’s how to be a little stealthy:

Right-click on the contact or group name, move your pointer over Stealth Settings and select one of the following:

Appear Online to (contact name). This is only available if you've signed in as Invisible or previously chosen one of the Appear Offline commands.

Appear Offline to (contact name).

Appear Permanently Offline to (contact name). (With this one, you appear offline to this group or individual every time you sign in to Yahoo! Messenger)

If you signed in to Messenger with the invisible option, you might select the Appear Online option to appear online to just the few people you really want to talk to.

If you’re currently available, you might select “Appear Offline” to temporarily hide from someone (Clarence) while remaining visible online to everyone else.

Note that the first two options are temporary. If you sign out and then sign back in, you’ll appear online to everyone (or invisible to everyone, if you clicked the “Sign in as invisible to everyone” option). If you really want to hide from someone, select Appear Permanently Offline. You’ll appear offline to that person until change the setting, regardless of how you appear to everyone else.

If a contact in your Messenger List appears in italics, you appear offline to that contact.

Note: If you sign in as Invisible, your former stealth settings are erased.