How to Turn Off Read Receipts for Facebook Messages

Hey there! So, you want to know how to avoid letting people know that you’ve seen their Facebook messages? I hear ya! Well, using Facebook Messenger is a super easy way to reach out to anyone who has a Facebook page. Whether you use it as your main messaging app or just to connect with friends and family, you might be frustrated by the limited privacy settings.

See, Facebook Messenger has a bunch of cool features, but one thing you can’t do is turn off those pesky read receipts. And that can be a bit of a bummer for many users. I mean, sometimes you just don’t have the time or don’t feel like responding to a message, right?

Let’s Talk About Facebook Read Receipts

Here’s the deal: whenever you open a new message on Facebook Messenger, the person who sent it knows that you’ve seen it. How? Well, the little icon on your end changes. Unread messages have a gray circle with a check mark, while read messages show the sender’s profile picture.

Now, you might be wondering why Facebook doesn’t give us an option to turn off these read receipts. It’s pretty simple: they want to make sure you feel obligated to respond. Sneaky, huh?

But don’t worry! Even though you can’t turn off those read receipts, there are workarounds you can try. These tricks allow you to check out the message without letting the sender know that you’ve seen it. That way, you can respond later when you have more time or simply choose not to respond at all.

Clever Tricks to Hide Read Receipts

Okay, so if you’re determined to keep your message-reading habits a secret, here are a few nifty workarounds that tech-savvy folks have figured out. Sure, they might require a little more time and effort, but hey, if you really want to control how your apps work, these options will do the trick:

Airplane Mode

Let’s start with the simplest and most user-friendly trick: using Airplane Mode. This nifty option can be found in the quick settings menu of your phone, laptop, or tablet.

When you activate Airplane Mode, it cuts off your device’s connection to the network. So, if someone sends you a message and you want to read it without the sender knowing, here’s what you need to do:

1. Hey, don’t open the message. Instead, put your device in Airplane Mode.
2. Now that your device is in Airplane Mode (you’ll see the icon at the top or bottom), go ahead and open the message to read it.
3. After you’ve read the message, close the application or exit out of the web browsing tab that the Facebook message is in.
4. You can turn off Airplane Mode now.

This method is tried and true when it comes to reading Facebook messages without triggering the read receipt. It may involve an extra step, but it’s definitely worth it if you don’t want to feel obligated to respond.

Pull Down Notifications Bar

Here’s a common-sense tip: pull down your notifications bar to read a preview of the message. However, this method might not be very effective if the message is more than just a single sentence. The good news is that reading the message through your notification bar won’t send the read receipt.

But be careful! If you actually open the message, the sender will be alerted, and you might feel obligated to reply.

Chrome Extensions

Chrome Extensions can help you bypass those developer barriers on your desktop. If you add the “Unseen” extension to your Chrome browser, you can remove those pesky read receipts.

Now, if you were to turn off read receipts, it wouldn’t stop others from receiving notifications about their messages or keeping their own read receipts on. Turning off read receipts would only prevent you from getting notifications about other people’s messages. Honestly, even Facebook doesn’t let you do that much.

1. Go to the Chrome Web Store to download the extension.
2. Click Login.
3. Click Continue As (Your Name).
4. Check your messages.

Unfortunately, this extension only works as long as you’re using it. It won’t be effective on the Facebook Messenger app on your mobile device.

Mobile Applications

If you have an Apple or Android smartphone, you can download the “Unseen – No Last Seen” application to hide your read receipts on Facebook Messenger.

Head over to the App Store or Google Play Store to start the download. Once the application is downloaded and launched, just follow the setup process.

The Unseen application will store all of your messaging app data in one place. When you receive a message, it will be forwarded to the Unseen app, allowing you to read your messages without being detected.

This application supports the following messaging apps:

• Facebook Messenger
• WhatsApp
• Instagram
• Viber
• Telegram
• Line
• KakaoTalk
• Imo

In order to use Unseen, you’ll need to grant the application access to your information and messages within the listed apps above. Once you’re all set up, you can read all of your messages inside the Unseen app, ensuring that you won’t be sending any read receipts through Facebook Messenger.

Last Option – Disable Facebook Messenger

Although it’s not the best option, some users have chosen to stop using Facebook Messenger altogether because they can’t control read receipts.

Unfortunately, you can’t deactivate just your Facebook Messenger without deactivating your entire Facebook account. However, if you want to delete your Facebook account, we have an article that can help you with that. But for most of you, there are other options to keep your Facebook page up without having to use Messenger.

Option 1:

The first option is to simply delete the Messenger app from your phone. This way, friends and family can still send you messages, but you won’t be bothered by them.

Option 2:

In Messenger settings, turn off the “Show Active” option. This will discourage people from messaging you on Facebook.

If you’re looking for ways to bypass developers’ inability to hide read receipts on Facebook Messenger, there are a few ways to do it. Unfortunately, like with most workarounds, you’ll need to put in a little extra effort to make it happen.