Whether or not other devices can discover your computer.
Shaun McCance
shaunm@gnome.org
Michael Hill
mdhillca@gmail.com 2014
Daniel Nylander
po@danielnylander.se 2012

# What is Bluetooth visibility?

Bluetooth visibility simply refers to whether other devices can discover your computer when searching for Bluetooth devices. When Bluetooth is turned on and the Bluetooth panel is open, your computer will advertise itself to all other devices within range, allowing them to attempt to connect to you.

To indicate that your computer is visible while the Bluetooth panel is open, the visible name is displayed. The name appears in the label above the device list, Visible as "Jo's Desktop", for example, and can be changed from the Sharing panel.

Your computer does not need to be visible to search for other devices, but those devices need to be visible for your computer to discover them.

After you have connected to a device, neither your computer nor the device needs to be visible to communicate with each other.