Zoho Cliq Idle Status: What It Means and When It Shows

Idle in Zoho Cliq means you are signed in and set to Available, but you have not used Cliq for 10 minutes. Cliq switches you to Idle by itself; nobody chose it for you. Zoho's help center gives the same 10 minutes for the web, desktop and mobile apps, and says an idle user still receives notifications and calls. As soon as you use Cliq again, you are back to Available.

We took these rules from Zoho's help articles "The different statuses in Cliq" and "How can a user make last seen visible to contacts?", and the status codes from the Cliq REST API docs, all read on 28 September.

The same idea exists in every work chat app, with different timers. In Slack, the dot goes grey after 10 minutes without input in the Slack window. We build Slack Green, which keeps a Slack dot green from our servers during the hours you set. It does not work with Cliq.

What idle means in Zoho Cliq

• • It is automatic, and it starts from Available. Zoho's help describes the switch to Idle only for the Available status.
• • The timer is 10 minutes. Zoho's note says the change from Available to Idle takes 10 minutes of inactivity on web, desktop and mobile.
• • You still get everything. Messages, notifications and calls keep arriving while you are idle.
• • Coworkers can see it if you are one of their contacts. Zoho says you can only see the status of a user who is a contact.
• • It ends by itself the next time you use Cliq.

Idle does not mean you are not working. It means Cliq has not seen you for 10 minutes. You may be in another app, on a call, or reading a document.

Idle vs Away vs Invisible and other Cliq statuses



Status	Who sets it	What you receive
Available	You	All notifications and calls
Idle	Cliq, after 10 minutes inactive	All notifications and calls
Away	You, for a break or a meal	All notifications and calls
Busy	You	Messages, but no notification sounds
Invisible	You; others see you as Offline	All notifications and calls
Do not disturb	You	No notifications or calls

Cliq also sets a status from other Zoho apps: "On a Cliq call" during a Cliq audio or video call, "In a meeting" during a Zoho Meeting conference or a scheduled Calendar event, and "In a remote session" in Zoho Assist. With the Remote Work view, the header offers five more: Available for Collaboration, Engaged at work, Meal break, Short Break and Do not disturb.

Engaged at work turns off desktop notification sounds and pop-ups so you can focus, and you still receive messages silently.

Can you change the idle timer or turn it off?

Not from the user settings that Zoho documents. The help center lists no option to change the 10 minutes. On Zoho's community forum, a request for "a setting to change the timeout or even disable the automatic Idle mode" is filed as an idea under review. The poster says their team treats Idle and Available as the same thing.

What you can do:

• Pick a status yourself. Zoho describes the Idle switch only for Available, so Away, Busy or Do not disturb tell coworkers what you chose instead.

• Use Invisible if you do not want coworkers to see your presence at all. You appear Offline but still get notifications and calls.

• Ask your admin. Cliq admins can set each status to "Always allow", "Only when checked in/out" or "Never allow", so some statuses may be locked in your company.

• Tell the team what Idle means, so nobody reads it as "not working".

The "auto lock" timeout in Cliq's settings is a different feature: it locks the app after a period without use, like a screen lock. It does not change your status timer.

Last seen in Zoho Cliq

When you are idle, your contacts can also see when you were last active, if Last seen is turned on. Zoho's help says contacts can view your last seen from one minute of inactivity. To change it:

Open Profile & Settings and select Privacy.

Click the Last Seen tab.

Turn the toggle on or off.

If you turn it off, your contacts cannot see your last seen, and you cannot see theirs.

Zoho Cliq custom status

Next to the status itself, you can type a custom status text:

Click your contact image in the top right corner.

Choose a status from the status icon or the status text menu.

Type your own text in the status text box.

Developers can set the same thing with the Cliq REST API. This call adds an Away status with a message; it needs an OAuth token with the ZohoCliq.Profile.CREATE scope:

curl -X POST "https://cliq.zoho.com/api/v2/statuses" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLIQ_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"code": "away", "message": "Stepped out, back in 15 minutes."}'

The API accepts available, busy, invisible, away and dnd as the code, and has separate endpoints to read your current status (GET /statuses/current) and to switch to a saved one (PUT /statuses/{STATUS_ID}/set). There is no idle code, because Cliq sets idle itself. Accounts outside the US data center use their own domain, such as cliq.zoho.eu or cliq.zoho.in. We did not run this call; it follows Zoho's API reference. For status wording ideas that work in any app, try our free status generator.

Idle timers in other work chat apps

How Slack decides is in how does Slack decide when you're away, and the Teams timer is in how long before Teams shows away. Discord has its own idle moon; see what does idle mean on Discord.

FAQ

What does idle mean in Zoho Cliq?

You are set to Available but have not used Cliq for 10 minutes. Cliq sets it for you.

How long before Zoho Cliq shows idle?

10 minutes of inactivity, on web, desktop and mobile.

Do I get notifications when I am idle in Cliq?

Yes. Idle users still receive notifications and calls.

How do I stop Zoho Cliq from showing idle?

There is no documented setting to change the timer. Set Away, Busy or Do not disturb yourself, or Invisible to hide your presence.

What is the difference between idle and away in Cliq?

Cliq sets Idle after 10 minutes of inactivity. You set Away yourself, for a break or a meal.

Can my boss see when I am idle in Cliq?

Contacts can see your status, and your last seen if it is on. Admins can also restrict which statuses you may use.