Idle may refer to any of the following:

  1. Idle describes when something is operating but is not being used. For example, it is idle when your computer is on, but you are not doing anything with it. Today, when a computer or electronic device is idle for too long, it may go into an energy-conserving mode or standby to save power.

  2. An idle process is any running process or program that uses computer resources but is not actively being utilized.

  • Is it better to leave the computer on or turn it off?
  • Why is my Windows System Idle Process so high?
  1. When referring to chat, an idle user (idler) refers to someone logged in but hasn’t been actively chatting for several minutes. Often these are users who are away from their keyboard but want to view the conversations that took place while they were gone. In chat services like IRC that do not keep logs of everything being said, someone may remain idle 24/7 in IRC so they can see everything said.

AFK, Chat terms, Computer slang, Idle time, Lurking