Playing Valorant with friends is fun, but sometimes you are just in the mood for the solo-queue night. To avoid pings and messages from their friends, players usually use the “invisible” feature in apps and games. This guide will tell you how to appear offline in Valorant because Riot doesn’t make it easy for their players.
Unlike many apps and games, we as gamers use (Discord, Steam, etc.), Valorant doesn’t have a built-in “invisible” feature. As a matter of fact, none of their games do. Luckily, a handy few community members have developed a third-party software called Deceive.
Even though Riot Games are firmly against third-party applications, Deceive is one of the exceptions. Since Deceive doesn’t interfere with the Valorant’s anti-cheat Vanguard and doesn’t pull any personal data you can be sure you will not get banned when using it.
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How to Appear Offline on Valorant (“Deceive” Software”)
You need to download the software first from its official GitHub page. On the page scroll down and below the general description of the program you will find the “Assets” tab. Choose to download “Deceive.exe”. Source files are only made for someone to develop or modify the app further.
After downloading Deceive, appearing offline in Valorant is fairly easy:
- Launch the Deceive.exe file (no installation required)
- Choose the game you need. In this case Valorant
- It will immediately launch the chosen game with Deceive active
To use Deceive you always have to launch Valorant through the software. Launching it the standard way will not initiate the app and you will be visible to everyone on your friend’s list.
Am I Offline Now?
When the game launches, Deceive will go to your system tray and show and notification is active. In Valorant you will see a new profile in your friend’s list named “Deceive Active!” with a purple indicator. That means that everything successfully worked.
If it doesn’t work and there’s no such thing on your friend’s list, try relaunching the game. And make sure that your Riot Launcher is closed. Having it open will also interfere with the software.
You can manage the Deceive app by either going to your system tray or messaging commands to your new friend. Send messages like “online”, “offline”, “mobile”, or message “help” to get a full list of commands.
As we mentioned before, using this app will not give you any warnings or bans in Valorant or any other game you use it in, since following the same steps you can appear offline in League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra. If you do get one though, get in touch with Riot Support to raise awareness of the issue.
Now that you made sure you are clear for an all-nighter of solo gaming, you need to make sure you are on the top of your game. You might need to carry others after all. Here are a few of our Valorant guides to help you out:
The Best Aimlab Scenarios for Valorant | Valorant Crosshair Settings: Best Crosshairs in the Game | Best Settings for Valorant: A Guide To Increase Valorant FPS
