How to turn off active status on Facebook and Messenger

(Pocket-lint) – Facebook is fun sometimes. If you use it, however, your friends will know you’re active on the platform even if you’re not interacting with their posts or sharing anything yourself. Yeah, that’s not so fun.

Thankfully, there is a way to disable that functionality. It’s called turning off your “Active Status”, and here’s how to do it step by step on Facebook and Facebook Messenger so you can continue using them in stealth mode.

What does ‘Active Status’ mean and do?

Active Status shows your friends and connections when you’re active across the Facebook and Facebook Messenger platforms. If you were recently looking at a post on Facebook or a chat on Messenger, for instance, they will see a green dot next to your profile picture to show you’re online or a timestamp that says when you were last online.

How to turn off your Active Status on Facebook

Open the Facebook mobile app on your iPhone or Android phone, log in to your Facebook account, and then follow these steps:

  1. On the Menu tab, scroll down and select Settings.
  2. Select Profile settings.
  3. Scroll down and select Active Status.
  4. Toggle off the option for Show when you’re active.

If you wish to turn your Active Status back on, follow steps 1 through 3 above and then toggle on Show when you’re active.

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How to turn off your Active Status on Facebook Messenger

Open the Facebook Messenger mobile app on your iPhone or Android phone, log in to your Facebook Messenger account, and then follow these steps:

  1. On the Chat tab, go to your profile picture in the corner.
  2. Scroll down to and select Account settings.
  3. Select Turn off Active Status.

If you wish to turn your Active Status back on, follow steps 1 through 2 above and then select Turn on Active Status.

Want to know more?

Check out Facebook’s support page for more details about Active Status.  If you’d like to know more about Facebook and Facebook Messenger, including how they work and top tips and tricks, see Pocket-lint’s guides:

Facebook

Facebook Messenger

We also have this guide on the Facebook Metaverse you might be interested in learning more about: What is Facebook Metaverse?

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Writing by Maggie Tillman.