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How to Tell if Your Facebook Messages Have Been Read

by Elizabeth Harper on April 30, 2024

Updated on 4/30/2024 with new instructions for revealing read receipts for the Facebook Messenger app.

Read receipts aren't everyone's favorite thing – after all, they can let friends know we've read a message when we would rather pretend we hadn't – but they're handy for keeping up with online conversations. And Facebook Messenger has read receipts if you know where to look.

Woman holding iPhone showing a conversation on the Facebook Messenger app

Read receipts on the Facebook Messenger app

When you open a chat with a friend, it's easy to see if they have read your message because you'll see a miniature version of their profile picture under your message. If they haven't, you'll see "Sent" with the time elapsed since you sent the message.

Facebook Messenger app showing a message was Seen.

Read receipts on the Facebook website

To tell whether a message has been read, log into Facebook with a web browser (or access the Facebook Messenger website by going to messenger.com instead of facebook.com). Clicking on the Messenger icon reveals a list of the people you've communicated with. Selecting a person pops up a small window over your Facebook Feed.

If a friend has read your message, you'll see a miniature version of their profile picture. If you mouse over the picture, a popup will show the date and time it was seen. If they haven't read your message, you'll see "Sent" under your message with the time that has elapsed.

Facebook Messages read notification showing it was seen by Josh Kirschner

Read more: Tired of Junk Facebook Posts? This Setting Might Make a Difference

You won't always be able to see if a message has been read

A message that shows as being unread doesn't necessarily mean the recipient hasn't read it. Message notifications let friends read your messages without triggering a read receipt. You'll only get a read receipt when your friend opens the Messenger app to read your message or views messages through Facebook.

Read more: Facebook Messenger is Now Encrypted: Key Things You Need to Know

[Image credit: Facebook Messenger app on iPhone via Techlicious/Canva screenshots via Techlicious and Facebook]

Elizabeth Harper is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering consumer technology and entertainment. In addition to writing for Techlicious, she's Editorial Director of Blizzard Watch and is published on sites all over the web including Time, CBS, Engadget, The Daily Dot and DealNews.


Topics

Facebook, Computers and Software, Software & Games, Phones and Mobile, Mobile Apps, Tips & How-Tos


Discussion loading

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From Brenda Oldham on September 01, 2020 :: 8:18 am


Is there a way to make sure anyone who sends me a message doesn’t know whether I’ve read their message or not?  I was wondering if we can choose whether or not the message senders know if we have or haven’t.  Also, if I send a message to someone who is NOT my fb friend, will my message show up in the same place as the ones from his fb friends?  Didn’t know whether or not there’s more than one file or whatever they’re called.  Thank you!!!

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From Mel on December 05, 2020 :: 5:51 pm


My husband was out shopping and sent me a photo on messenger. I was already on messenger at the time. As the photo came through, another woman’s name popped up to the side of the screen. Grey little bar. Then it disappeared immediately. Naturally I checked his Facebook friends and she is on there. He denies sending the photo to both of us. Did he send it to both of us? Did she send it to him then he sent it to me? Or was she checking out my profile while my husband and I were chatting? He has android and I have iPhone

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From Chantry Wilson on December 25, 2020 :: 4:54 am


The Messenger app on my new iPhone does not give me read receipts when I look at my list of Chats. It is only if I open a message that I can then see the read receipts in that message. When I open Messenger on my desktop there is a read receipt for each of my messages in my list of Chats. Is there any way to add read receipts to my list of Chats on my iPhone?

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From justme? on November 11, 2021 :: 12:16 pm


Whats the point in this? facebook, instagram and whatsapp all have the option to hide when you are online and the option to hide if you read something.
If you dislike someone enough you want to make active efforts to hide for them, you can always simply block or ignore them, why has it become normal for technology to encourage people to be two-faced and fickle

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From Donna F BARRAH on April 13, 2022 :: 5:51 pm


Is there any issue to be resolved with our accounts? To our knowledge there shouldn’t be a reason for any wait to allow us on Facebook. They say there is a problem to resolve and we would like to know what it is. Thank you. Donna F Barrah, email for me is [redacted]

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From Lisa Innocenzi on April 23, 2022 :: 1:55 pm


I’ve seen this happen when the person I’m messaging has me open on messenger. If you had been messaging that person before you slept and put your phone down without closing the conversation, when when that person writes, it will show read immediately.

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From Alez on August 23, 2022 :: 5:49 pm


Is it possible to read a messenger message and it only say delivered

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From Caleb Chambers on September 09, 2022 :: 6:10 pm


LOL

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From Wendy Driskill on February 16, 2023 :: 5:33 am


Is the party that sent a message ever in any way notified that you read the message when you read it? I hadn’t clicked on a message in months and when I finally did, the person then immediately reacted to my newly posted photo. They never react or comment on anything I post. I thought coincidence but my husband is so skeptical and thought there had to be a way that they were actually notified the minute I viewed the messages.

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From T on April 12, 2023 :: 1:11 pm


Good afternoon,


I’d like to know whether or not you’ll see an opened message after you’ve seen a message delivered icon when messaging a person who you’re not friends with on Facebook?

Thank you!

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