You can finally disable read receipts on Facebook Messenger.
WhatsApp has the double blue check mark . Messenger has read receipts , a miniature photo of the other person next to the last message in the conversation they have read. For all these years, Messenger has allowed us to hide that we are online, but not read receipts. Until very recently.
Yes, you can turn off read receipts in Messenger , so the other person won’t be able to tell if or when you read the message. In return, you won’t be able to see read receipts either, just like when you turn them off in WhatsApp .
Read without leaving a trace on Messenger
Messenger read receipts are a bit different from WhatsApp’s, as they don’t include a token with each message read, but instead use a unique token to show how far they’ve read . The token is none other than the profile picture of the message recipient.
Also, this read receipt is quite accurate , so if someone has a string of pending messages and only reads a few of them, those will be the ones marked as read. That is, only the messages that are displayed on the screen are marked as read. WhatsApp, on the other hand, marks all messages in a conversation as read when we open the chat.
For years, Facebook Messenger has been working hand in hand with its read receipts, without it being possible to disable them, something that most messaging apps allow. A little late, but the joy is good: it is now possible to disable the “double check” in Messenger .
To do this, all you have to do is open the app and go to the options section. To do this, tap the menu button ☰ and, in the side panel that opens, press the gear icon .
Once in the settings, go to the Privacy and security section , where in the most recent versions of the application you will find a setting that was not there before: Read receipts .
All you need to do is turn off the switch and you’ll be free to read Messenger messages non-stop without anyone knowing that you’ve read them. In exchange, you won’t be able to know if they’ve read the messages you’ve sent or not.
In the case of Messenger, disabling read receipts is largely unnoticeable , as messages are still marked as delivered, but the icon with the other person’s profile picture is never displayed.
If you want to be a real ninja when it comes to reading messages, don’t forget to also deactivate your online status , in the same privacy menu, under Active Status .