How to turn on Active status on Messenger for one person

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To hide your active status on Messenger on an iPhone or Android, open Messenger and tap your profile picture. Go to "Active Status" and tp "Show When You're Active" toggle. On a desktop, go to Messenger.com, open Preferences, and click "Turn off Active Status."

Table of Contents Show

Disable Active Status on Mobile
Disable Active Status on Messenger.com
Here is the step-by-step guide to turning your active status on/off in Messenger.
Here is how to turn active status on or off in Messenger: Android
Here is how to turn active status on or off in Messenger: iOS
Here is how to turn active status on or off in Messenger: PC
Can you control who sees you active on Messenger?
Why can't I see when my friend is active on Messenger?
Can you appear offline to certain friends on Messenger?

If you use Facebook Messenger for any reason, all of your friends who also use the service can tell when you’re active. This makes it kind of hard to ignore people you don’t really want to talk to. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to hide your active status.

Disable Active Status on Mobile

If — like most users — you use Messenger on mobile, finding where to disable your Active Status can be a little confusing because it’s tucked away a bit.

Note: You can find this setting in the same place on both iPhone and Android, though the menus look slightly different. We’re using Android for the following instructions, but you should be able to follow along on an iPhone without issues.

Fire up the Messenger app, and then tap your profile picture — it’s in the top left.

Next, tap the “Active Status” tab near the top.

Tap the toggle to the right to disable your active status. Just note that doing so also disables your ability to see the active status of other people. It seems Facebook wants this to be a two-way street. If you’re cool with that, you’re done here.

Disable Active Status on Messenger.com

You can also disable your status on the Messenger web front end. Head to Messenger.com, and then click the three small dots in the upper left corner.

Click “Turn Off Active Status” once you’re in the Preferences menu.

The next menu allows you to control who can see you active — if you want to be totally invisible, select “Turn Off Active Status For All Contacts.” The other two options let you be a bit more specific. The second from the top allows you to hide your status from everyone barring a few chosen exceptions. The third option is the exact opposite — it lets you change your activity status so specific people cannot see that you’re online.

Pick whichever option you prefer, and then click “Okay.”

Again, note that turning off your active status also means you won’t be able to see other people’s active status.

Enjoy living the free life.

Here is the step-by-step guide to turning your active status on/off in Messenger.

How to turn active status on/off in Messenger

By India Today Web Desk: When using the Facebook Messenger chat, you can turn your active status 'on' or 'off'. Many of us who do not want the public to know our active status 'on' or whether we are online, can turn it off manually.

You can show when you're active or recently active by turning on your Active Status. When you turn Active Status off, you'll still appear active or recently active from any other places where you're using Facebook or Messenger unless you turn off Active Status in those places, too.

Here is how to turn active status on or off in Messenger: Android

Open the Messenger app on your phone.
Tap on your profile picture in the top left.
Now tap on Active Status.
Then use the toggle at the top of the screen to turn your Active Status on or off.
Tap Turn Off to confirm turning your active status off.

Here is how to turn active status on or off in Messenger: iOS

Open the Messenger app on your phone
Tap on your profile picture in the top left.
Now tap on Active Status.
Then tap next to Show when you're active to turn on or off.
Tap Turn On or Turn Off to confirm your choice.

Here is how to turn active status on or off in Messenger: PC

Open Messenger in the browser.
Now click on setting in the top left.
Then click next to Show when you're active to turn your Active Status on or off.

If you don't want to be disturbed with chat requests while you're on Facebook, you can set your active status to unavailable and appear offline.

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Published On:

Jul 13, 2020

Can you control who sees you active on Messenger?

Disable Active Status in Facebook Messenger Launch the Facebook Messenger app and tap your circular profile picture in the top-left corner of the screen. Tap Active Status. Toggle off the switch next to Show when you're active.

Why can't I see when my friend is active on Messenger?

If you don't see next to a person's name, it means they have turned off their Active Status feature in their settings. When your Active Status is turned on, you'll appear active or recently active time on this profile. Learn how to turn off your Active Status.

Can you appear offline to certain friends on Messenger?

For mobile, setting your Active status to "Off" in Facebook Messenger causes you to appear offline to everyone, so to appear offline to specific people it's recommended to temporarily block specific friends that you want to appear offline to.