Change your availability status in Google Chat

To let others know when you're available, you can change your Google Chat status.

Status icon	Status text	Status meaning
	Active	Gmail or Google Chat is open.
	Do not disturb	Google Chat notifications are muted. For Google Workspace accounts, your status is visible at the domain level only.
	Away	You aren't connected to the internet. You’ve been idle for more than 10 minutes. You're in "Set as away" status.
	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

1. On your computer, open Gmail.
2. At the top right, next to your status indicator, click the Down arrow .
3. Choose: Automatic, Do not disturb, or Set as away.

Set a custom status

1. Go to Chat or Gmail.
2. From your status indicator at the top, click the Down arrow .
3. Click Add a status.
4. Follow the prompt to choose an emoji, write a status message, or end or clear a status.
5. Click Done.

Delete a custom status

1. Go to Chat or Gmail.
2. From your status indicator at the top, click the Down arrow .
3. Click the status to delete.
4. Click X.
5. 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.

1. Go to Google Calendar.
2. At the top right, click the Settings menu Settings.
3. On the left, under “Settings for my calendar,” select your calendar.
4. 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

1. Go to Chat or Gmail.
2. At the top, click your status.
3. Select Do not disturb.  
4. To set your preferred duration, select a duration from the list or click "Until a specific time."  
5. Click Set.

Tip: Notifications automatically turn back on after the mute duration expires. To end mute sooner, click your status  Do not disturb  Turn off Do not disturb.

Schedule time for paused notifications in Google Chat or Gmail

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. At the top, click your status.
3. Select Do not disturb Set a do not disturb schedule.
4. Under “Do not disturb schedules,” click Create new.
5. Enter details of the times that you want to pause notifications, then click Save.
6. Optional: To match your time zone to your do not disturb schedule:
   1. Open the Settings menu .
   2. Check the box and click Save.

Tip: You can create multiple schedules and notifications will be paused for each of the schedules.

Related resources

• Turn Google Chat notifications on or off
• Mute conversations in Google Chat