1<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/" 2 xmlns:its="http://www.w3.org/2005/11/its" 3 type="topic" style="question" 4 id="bluetooth-visibility"> 5 6 <info> 7 <link type="guide" xref="bluetooth" group="#last"/> 8 <link type="seealso" xref="bluetooth-device-specific-pairing" /> 9 10 <revision pkgversion="3.4" date="2012-02-19" status="outdated"/> 11 <revision pkgversion="3.10" date="2013-11-09" status="review"/> 12 <revision pkgversion="3.12" date="2014-03-04" status="candidate"/> 13 <revision pkgversion="3.14" date="2014-10-12" status="candidate"/> 14 <revision pkgversion="3.18" date="2015-09-28" status="final"/> 15 16 <credit type="author"> 17 <name>Shaun McCance</name> 18 <email>shaunm@gnome.org</email> 19 </credit> 20 <credit type="editor"> 21 <name>Michael Hill</name> 22 <email>mdhillca@gmail.com</email> 23 <years>2014</years> 24 </credit> 25 <credit type="editor"> 26 <name>Ekaterina Gerasimova</name> 27 <email>kittykat3756@gmail.com</email> 28 <years>2014</years> 29 </credit> 30 <credit type="editor"> 31 <name>David King</name> 32 <email>amigadave@amigadave.com</email> 33 <years>2015</years> 34 </credit> 35 36 <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/> 37 38 <desc>Whether other devices can discover your computer.</desc> 39 </info> 40 41 <title>What is Bluetooth visibility?</title> 42 43 <p>Bluetooth visibility refers to whether other devices can discover 44 your computer when searching for Bluetooth devices. When Bluetooth is turned 45 on and the <gui>Bluetooth</gui> panel is open, your computer will advertise 46 itself to all other devices within range, allowing them to attempt to connect 47 to your computer.</p> 48 49 <note style="tip"> 50 <p>You can <link xref="sharing-displayname">change</link> the name your 51 computer displays to other devices.</p> 52 </note> 53 54 <p>After you have 55 <link xref="bluetooth-connect-device">connected to a device</link>, 56 neither your computer nor the device needs to be visible to communicate with 57 each other.</p> 58 59 <p>Devices without a display usually have a pairing mode that can be entered 60 by pressing a button, or a combination of buttons for a while, whether when 61 they’ve already been turned on, or as they are being turned on.</p> 62 63 <p>The best way to find out how to enter that mode is to refer to the device’s 64 manual. For some devices, the procedure might be 65 <link xref="bluetooth-device-specific-pairing">slightly different from usual</link>. 66 </p> 67 68</page> 69