It’s nice to be able to reply to messages on Facebook Messenger in your own time, but if the other person has seen that you’ve read the message, you can’t help but feel that pressure to reply right away. If you disable read receipts on Messenger, and the other person doesn’t know that you’ve read their message, you’re off the hook! Follow this tutorial to learn how to turn them off.
Good to know: learn how to easily enable dark mode on Facebook.
Before Getting Started
Before we start detailing how to read messages on Facebook Messenger on your own time, we should note that there’s no native way to disable read receipts on the app. The solutions shared here are workarounds and work quite well. The option to disable the feature (like you can do in WhatsApp, albeit with limitations) has yet to be added to Facebook.
How to Disable Read Receipts on Messenger on Android and iOS
One effective workaround to view someone’s messages without them knowing about it is to “Restrict” that person. Once that person is Restricted, the conversation with them will be removed from your Chats list in Messenger. On top of that, you won’t get notifications when they message you, and your phone won’t ring if they call you. However, you can still view their messages without them knowing.
Since Facebook does not notify users that they’ve been Restricted, this is a good solution if you’re looking to read someone’s messages on your own time. This option is only available on mobile devices.
- In the Messenger app on either Android or iOS, open the conversation with the person you want to Restrict. Tap on their tiny profile picture at the top.
- Swipe down and tap on the “Restrict” option.
- To later find their messages, open the Messenger app again, and switch to the “People” tab at the bottom.
- Tap on the icon in the upper-right corner.
- Select the person you’ve previously restricted from the list of contacts.
- You can view your entire conversation, even messages they sent after you restricted them. To unrestrict them, immediately press the button at the bottom.
Tip: ready to clean up your Facebook Friends list? Learn how to unfriend people on Facebook.
How to Bypass Read Receipts on Messenger on Android and iOS
If you don’t want someone’s messages to disappear from view, there’s a near-native method to read messages without letting the other party know you’ve seen them. View them in previews if you have notifications turned on.
Android
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Go to “Apps” (or “Apps & notifications” on some Android phones).
- Tap on “Messenger” in the “Recently open apps” area. If you can’t see it, tap on “See all [X] apps,” and locate it in the full app list.
- Press “Notifications.”
- Make sure that the main “All Messenger notifications” toggle is turned on.
- Alternatively, you can be selective, and turn on only the “Chats” option.
- To ensure that you get notifications with message previews, enable the relevant option in the Messenger app by tapping on the hamburger menu in the upper-left corner.
- Press the gear icon in the menu on the left.
- Select “Notifications & sounds” in the “Preferences” area.
- Make sure that the “Notification Previews” option is toggled on.
- Whenever anyone contacts you via Messenger, you’ll receive a notification with a message preview.
- Swipe down at the top of the screen to expand the notification and read the message. However, if the message consists of multiple lines of text, you may not be able to view it fully but will at least be able to get the gist of it. It’s enough to determine whether the message requires an instant reply.
FYI: learn all about securing your Facebook account for a worry-free social media experience.
iOS
- On iOS, navigate to “Settings -> Notifications.”
- Select the Messenger app from the list at the bottom.
- Ensure that the “Allow Notifications” and “Show Previews” options are enabled.
- To ensure that you get these notifications, tap the “Messenger Notification Settings” at the bottom to be taken to the Messenger app’s settings.
- Make sure the “Show previews” option is enabled.
- On iOS devices, notifications will pop at the bottom of the display. You can read them from there (even with the lock screen activated). Swipe up to view multiple messages.
Tip: want to link another email address to your existing Facebook account? We show you how to make the transition.
How to Disable Read Receipts on Messenger on PC
If you’re reading Messenger messages through the Facebook website, you can use Social Tools, a Chrome extension, to disable read receipts.
- Make sure you log in to your Facebook account.
- Once you’ve installed the extension, click its icon to see all the options. Under “Messenger,” enable the toggles next to “Block sending ‘Seen’ to other,” as well as “Block sending typing indicator,” if you want to be as inconspicuous as possible.
- It may also be a good idea to enable the “Block sending ‘Seen’ to other” in the Facebook section.
- Click “Profile” from the left menu to go straight to your Facebook profile.
- You can now read the messages that are waiting without worrying that the other party knows that you did.
- If the feature does not work as intended, restart Chrome, reopen the extension, and launch your profile from there.
Tip: check out how to bulk-delete messages on Facebook Messenger and clean up your inbox.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I read messages in preview on Facebook Messenger on PC too?
Yes, it’s possible, but the option is a bit limited. When you access Facebook and notice that you have a new message, click on the Messenger icon, and you can view the last message. Don’t click on the message, or the read receipt will register. Alternatively, leave Facebook open in your browser. Also, click on the conversation to have the chat box open on the right side of the display, then switch to doing something else in another browser or program. Upon returning to the Facebook tab, don’t click on the conversation box, and you’ll be able to read the latest messages that person sent without them knowing.
Can you unview a message on Messenger?
Unfortunately, it’s not possible. The best you can do is mark the message as unread, but the read receipts won’t be removed if you do that. To mark a message as unread, click on the Messenger icon on Facebook in your browser, then click the three dots next to the message, and select “Mark as unread.” A blue dot will appear next to this message, highlighting it as unread. When you open Facebook again, you’ll also see a red dot on top of the Messenger icon. On mobile, long-press on a message to go to the “Mark as unread” option.
Do read recipts also appear in secret conversations on Messenger?
Yes, they do, just as in normal conversations on Messenger. Secret Conversations provide a secure end-to-end encrypted environment for your chats. It is also possible to turn on Disappearing messages inside such conversations, which are messages that self-destruct after a set time limit, ranging from five seconds to one day. If you’re curious to know how to turn on Disappearing messages in other social apps, we have a full guide.
Image credit: Pexels. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.
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