# Using your widget's online/offline status Section: Get Started Description: How agents' online and offline statuses change your widget, your notifications, Operating Hours, Flows and Lyro - and how to switch them. Verified against Tidio panel 12.304.0 Last updated: 2026-11-06 Source: https://help.tidio.com/articles/online-offline-status/ With your widget's **online** and **offline** statuses, you can control how your visitors interact with you through Tidio. Being online can serve as an invitation to start a chat, and affects how different aspects of Tidio work for your business - including how you're notified about messages. When you're offline, on the other hand, you can focus more on responding via email or automating certain things. On top of that, you get the option to use the **Operating Hours** schedule - which lets you change your status automatically. **In this article, you'll learn:** - [How to change your status]() - [The differences between the online and offline widget]() - [How notifications work]() - [How the Operating Hours schedule works]() - [How Flows and Lyro can behave based on widget status]() [Video]() Silent walkthrough. Go offline from your avatar menu, set another agent offline in Settings \> Team, check their operating hours, set Lyro to answer only when agents are offline and open the Handoff rules. ## Changing your status Each **agent** in a Tidio project controls their own status, individually. When all agents are **offline**, your Tidio widget's status becomes offline as well; and if at least one agent goes **online**, the widget goes online, too. An agent can only control their own status, and they can only do that when they're logged into Tidio. If an agent is **logged out **of Tidio, their status goes offline. You can change your own status in the bottom-left corner of your Tidio panel. Click on your avatar there, and you will see the **Show online** switch: ![The agent profile menu with "Show online" switched on and two online agents listed.]() If there are any other agents currently online in your project, you will see them listed under **Online agents** below: ![The profile menu with "Online agents" expanded to show two agents and a "View all agents" link.]() Clicking on **View all agents** takes you to the **Settings \> Team** section, where you can see all your agents (including the offline ones) along with their current status, roles, and other details: ![The Team "Agents" tab listing agents with online or offline indicators, roles, two-factor authentication, and operating hours settings.]() 💡 **Note:** If you're the project Owner - or your **Team** permission is set to **Able to edit** - you can **change other agents' statuses** (as long as they are logged into Tidio). To manage your team's individual statuses, click on the three-dots menu on the far right of a listed agent (you won't see it next to your own name or the Owner's): ![The Team agent list with an arrow pointing to an agent’s three-dot menu, where "Change status to offline" is highlighted.]() Choose **Change status to offline** (or **Change status to online**). An agent can be switched online only while they're logged into the Tidio panel: ![An agent’s three-dot menu with "Change status to online", "Deactivate", and "Delete" options.]() When you switch your own status to **offline**, you will also see a bit of information about your current widget status: ![The profile menu with "Show online" off and a notice that the chat widget remains visible but the agent will not receive notifications.]() This information can differ, based on your Tidio settings. For example, if you've configured Tidio to **disappear** whenever offline (we will cover these settings further in the article), the information will reflect that: ![The offline profile menu displaying a notice that the chat widget is hidden on the website.]() To change your status in the** mobile app**, go to **Settings** section and use the **Offline** toggle: ![The mobile app Settings screen with the "Current status: Offline" switch outlined.]() ## Online and offline - the basic differences Being online or offline affects what your Tidio widget looks like on your website. However, it also affects how the widget behaves when a visitor decides to message you, which - in turn - affects how (and when) you're notified. **Flows** can also work differently depending on your status, and so can **Lyro** (the AI agent). Let's go over these main differences below: - [Widget appearance (status text)]() - [The Pre-Chat Survey, Offline Message, and ticket submission]() - [Widget visibility options]() Please note that one of the key differences is how **notifications** work when you're online or offline; we cover this [in a separate section of the article](). ### Widget appearance (status text) Most aspects of your widget appearance can be managed via **Settings \> Live Chat \> Appearance**. Inside, you will find the **Content** section: ![The Live Chat "Appearance" settings with an arrow pointing to the "Content" section.]() In the **Content** section, there are several tabs with different settings. To change the texts of your **online status** and **offline status**, go to the **Home** tab and scroll down: ![The "Online status" and "Offline status" text fields outlined, with an arrow linking them to the status line in the widget preview.]() This status text appears in your widget's **Home** screen and changes based on your current widget status. Feel free to use the **Preview** options on the right to see what the widget looks like in different situations. ![The widget Home preview showing "Chat with us" and the offline status text "We typically reply within a few minutes.".]() Please note: if you want to change any of the other texts that are visible, scroll back up in the **Home** tab and see the **Header** and **Message** fields available to modify: ![The Content "Home" tab with "Header" and "Message" fields outlined and an arrow pointing to their matching widget preview text.]() Furthermore, if you're looking for the "**Chat with us**" text, it's available in a different place - namely the **Settings \> Live Chat \> Translations** section: ![The Settings sidebar with "Translations" selected under "Live Chat".]() Inside the language pack you're using (e.g. English), search for the **Status** field, and modify it any way you like: ![The translation editor’s "Status" field containing "Chat with us".]() Please note that these other texts **do not change** when your status changes; the only texts affected by your status are the **Online status** and **Offline status** texts, mentioned earlier. ### The Pre-Chat Survey, Offline Message, and ticket submission A crucial part of your visitors' experience is what happens when they actually try to message you through the widget - and this experience differs depending on your status. #### The Pre-Chat Survey The **Pre-Chat Survey**, if enabled in the **Content \> Pre-chat survey** tab, is a form that pops up for any visitor who tries to message you for the first time. It is **mandatory** to complete, and it appears **regardless of your status**. ![The enabled "Pre-chat survey" settings with name and email fields and a matching mandatory survey preview beside them.]() #### The Offline Message form However, when you're offline, there's an additional form that pops up: the **Offline Message** form. This cannot be disabled, and it always asks the visitor for their email address, so that you have a way to reach out to them later. If the **Pre-Chat Survey** is enabled, it is going to appear first, followed by the **Offline Message**. Of course, if the Pre-Chat Survey has been set up to ask for an email address, the Offline Message simply takes that information right away and doesn't ask again. You can modify the **Offline Message** text itself inside the **Content \> Chat** tab: ![The Content "Chat" tab with an editable "Offline message" and a preview asking the visitor for an email address.]() Once the visitor provides all the required information, their message is sent through the chat widget, and the appropriate notifications can be triggered. When an agent is online, they will normally receive a live sound/popup notification from Tidio immediately, allowing them to react; if the widget is offline, only delayed email notifications are possible (we cover the different **notification** options [later in the article]()). #### Submitting a ticket One more relevant option is allowing your visitors to just submit a ticket directly through the chat widget, which is **only possible if you're offline**. You can see the option labelled **Let visitors create ticket when offline** in the **Content \> Chat** tab: ![The "Let visitors create ticket when offline" switch enabled and outlined, with an arrow pointing to the added message field in the widget preview.]() With this enabled, the **Pre-Chat Survey** and **Offline Message** form do not apply the same way. Instead of being able to keep using the chat widget and leave more chat messages, the visitor will only be able to submit their email address and one message through the ticket submission form, and your agents will receive it as a ticket in Tidio. This can be a practical solution if you wish to limit the amount of chat messages you receive while offline, and if you prefer to respond to tickets inside Tidio. Please see [this extensive guide on ticketing in Tidio]() to learn more. ### Widget visibility options Apart from the different interactions your online/offline widget allows, you also get the option to entirely **hide** **the widget** whenever it goes offline. This is useful when you prefer to avoid any incoming chat communication when you're not available. Find this option in the **Advanced** section of your **Appearance** settings: ![The Live Chat "Appearance" settings with an arrow pointing to "Advanced".]() Inside, you can see the setting labelled **Display widget when agents are offline** - which is enabled by default. That means your Tidio widget will normally remain **visible** when all your agents are offline. If you prefer to hide Tidio during your offline times, disable that option: ![The "Advanced" settings with "Display widget when agents are offline" outlined and enabled.]() ## Receiving notifications Depending what your status in Tidio is, you are able to receive different kinds of notifications in general. When you're online in your Tidio project, you can receive **live sound (and popup) notifications**, immediately when a new message arrives. If you're offline, you won't get these notifications any longer. However, if all the agents are offline (which means your Tidio widget is offline as well), then it's possible to receive **email notifications** - as the **Email** column's tooltip puts it, **You will receive email notifications only when your whole team is offline.** Each agent needs to manage their own notifications in **Settings \> Notifications**: ![The Notifications settings page showing email and web alert controls, sounds, and email forwarding settings.]() Inside, you will find all the available notification types, along with a selection of different sounds for each. The **Web notification** column allows you to enable or disable live notifications (which work when you're online), while the **Email** column allows you to enable or disable email notifications (which work when you're offline): ![The notification table with separate "Email" and "Web notification" checkboxes and sound menus for each event type.]() If your Tidio widget is **offline**, you can only receive **email** notifications. The email notification will be sent to your mailbox **five minutes** after the message is received in Tidio, provided that your widget has remained offline and that nobody has taken over the incoming chat. The notification email includes basic visitor data and their chat message to you; you can reply by simply responding to that email notification or logging into your Tidio project and answering from there. The mailbox used for this notification is the agent's registered Tidio email (which the agent uses as their login). However, if you prefer to send all your email notifications to a different mailbox (or several mailboxes), you can do that by enabling the **Forward email notifications** option at the bottom of your **Notifications** settings: ![The enabled "Forward email notifications" settings with two recipient email fields and an "Add a new email" link.]() This way, any incoming offline email notifications will be sent to those mailboxes. If an agent doesn't want to receive these notifications in their individual mailbox (their Tidio login address), they should disable the corresponding **Email** option in their **Notifications** settings. You can learn more about how notifications work [in this dedicated guide](). We also have a separate guide specifically about [offline email notifications](). ## The Operating Hours schedule While each agent normally manages their status manually, it is possible to use the **Operating Hours** schedule - which changes an agent's status **automatically**, based on the days and hours they set up for themselves. 💡 **Please note:** Operating Hours are available on the **Starter** plan and above. You can adjust your schedule by going to **Settings \> Operating hours**: ![The enabled "Operating hours" schedule set to 7:30 AM–5:15 PM on weekdays and offline on weekends.]() The Operating Hours schedule works based on each agent's current** selected location**. Please ensure that each team member has set up the correct **time zone** at the bottom: ![The bottom of Operating hours showing "Europe/Warsaw", a "change time zone" link, and the "Save" button.]() To set up the hours when you wish to be **online**, move the white circles - selecting a span of online time for each day individually: ![The operating hours sliders with Friday’s end-time handle circled at 2:30 PM.]() You can **delete** an entire period of time and set up your account to be displayed as **offline** for the whole day - hover the mouse over the blue line and click on the trash icon: ![An operating hours period with its trash button circled and the tooltip "Delete this time period".]() You can add a new timeframe again by clicking the **plus** (**+**) button: ![An empty operating hours row with its plus button circled and the tooltip "Add new time period".]() You can also create **multiple** spans of online time for each day, e.g. to accommodate lunch breaks or other regular away times: ![The operating hours schedule with two separate Friday periods, 6:30 AM–12:30 PM and 7:00 PM–9:00 PM.]() In addition to managing your own schedule, it is also possible to** manage other agents' schedules** (as long as you're the project **Owner**, or your **Team** permission is set to **Able to edit**). This is useful when you need to ensure specific operating times for the entire team, or if you want to check if an agent's settings are correct. To check (and modify) the Operating Hours for another agent, select their name from the **Edit for** dropdown menu on the right: ![The "Edit for" dropdown open in Operating hours, listing the current agent and two teammates.]() **Please note:** your individual Operating Hours schedule can only work if you are **logged into Tidio**. If you're entirely logged out, your status cannot be forced to become online\! ## Flow and Lyro behavior dependent on widget status The status of your widget doesn't only affect how chatting and notifications work - you can also configure **Flows** and your **Lyro** AI agent to behave differently, based on your widget status. ### Flows - the 'Chat Status' condition In your **Flow** setup, you have the option to use various conditions, and one of them is the **Chat Status** condition. Adding that into your flow allows you to create different flow behaviors based on your current widget status. ![A flow branching on "Chat status" after "Visitor Clicks on Chat Icon", sending a message online and asking a question offline.]() See[ this guide]() for more details on this condition. ### Lyro - response and handoff settings If you're using Lyro, you can decide whether Lyro responds at all times - or only when you're offline. Head over to **Lyro AI Agent \> Channels**, open the **Live conversations** tab, and under **Lyro responds** choose **Always** or **Only when human agents are offline**: ![Lyro AI Agent \> Channels with the Live conversations tab open, and the Lyro responds setting showing the Always and Only when human agents are offline options, the second one selected]() In addition to that, Lyro can take different actions during handoff situations. You can decide if Lyro should transfer a live chat to agents, keep the chat, or create a ticket; and these different settings are available for online and offline statuses separately. You can manage that in **Lyro AI Agent \> Behavior \> Handoff**, under **Handoff behavior**: ![Lyro AI Agent \> Behavior \> Handoff with the Default rules section and the Handoff behavior bar summarizing what Lyro does for online agents and for offline agents (e.g. Transfer conversation to agent, Create a ticket)]() To learn more about all the possible Lyro settings and details, see [this extensive guide](). ## Further reading - [Tidio notifications]() - [Offline email notifications]() - [Allow notifications in your browser]() - [Email (Ticketing)]()