How do you inbox a person on a phone?

Jason Cipriani/CNET

You know you have a hidden inbox on Facebook, right? The "other" message folder is reserved for those people who message you and aren't one of your Facebook friends.

Table of Contents Show

Things You Should Know
About This Article
Is this article up to date?
What does it mean to inbox someone?
How do I Inbox someone on Messenger?
Is Messenger and inbox the same?
How do I Inbox someone from my Facebook page?

There's a chance some messages from nonfriends will go to your main inbox (depending on your settings), but most of the time these messages make their way to your other messages, without you ever being notified of a waiting message. Unless the sender decides to pay $1 to guarantee the message ends up in your main folder.

Up until recently, the only way to access your other inbox was to log on to Facebook.com and navigate to it on the Messages screen. It appears Facebook is finally ramping up plans to bring it to your Android device, as the feature is included in the latest Facebook for Android beta build.

To be able to view your other inbox, you'll need to sign up to participate in the Facebook for Android beta, which is free and requires a Google account. Once you've signed up and downloaded the beta from the Play store, you can begin digging around and finding new features.

One of those new features, of course, is a gear icon next to Messages in the navigation window. Tapping on the icon lets you navigate to your archived messages or your other inbox. Here you'll find any missed connections, or random messages from complete strangers wanting to chat it up; if you find anything at all.

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This wikiHow teaches you how to open and view your Facebook messages inbox. You can do this in Facebook Messenger for mobile, as well as on the Facebook website on desktop.

Things You Should Know

On mobile, open the Messenger app and log in if necessary. Click Home. This will take you to your inbox.
On your computer, log into Facebook and click the Messenger icon. Select See All in Messenger—this will take you to your inbox.
In both cases, new messages will be displayed at the top of your screen.

1
Open Facebook Messenger. This app resembles a white lightning bolt on a blue background. Doing so will open your Facebook Messenger to the last tab you had open.
- If you aren't logged into Facebook messenger, enter your phone number and password to continue.
2

Tap Home. It's a house-shaped tab in the bottom-left corner of the screen. This will take you to your inbox.
- If Messenger opens to a conversation, first tap the "Back" button in the top-left corner of the screen.
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3
Review your inbox. Your newest messages will be at the top of the screen, just above the "Active Now" row of contacts. Scrolling down the Home tab's contents will show you progressively older messages.

1
Open Facebook. Go to https://www.facebook.com/ in your preferred web browser. This will open your Facebook News Feed if you're logged in.
- If you aren't logged in, enter your email address (or phone number) and password in the top-right side of the page.
2
Click the Messenger icon. It's the lightning bolt-shaped icon in the top-right side of the Facebook page. Doing so will prompt a drop-down menu with your recent messages listed.
3

Click See All in Messenger. This link is at the bottom of the drop-down menu. Clicking it takes you to your Messenger inbox.
4
Review your inbox. You can scroll through conversations in the column on the left side of the page. Recent conversations are at the top of the column, while older conversations are toward the bottom.
- You can also click the gear icon in the upper-left corner of this page and then click Archived Threads in the drop-down menu to view archived messages.

Add New Question

Question
How do I message people on Facebook?

Click the message icon or click on a person's same to get an option to send a message.
Question
How can I check my messages if I can't install the messenger app?

You could also use Facebook and Messenger in any browser.
Question
I am using a laptop PC and gmail, and I don't own an iPhone. I opened a Facebook account, how do I comment?

You'll have to click on the message symbol in the right corner of the blue bar at the top. The message symbol is the one left of the earth symbol.

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You can also open Messenger from within the Facebook app by tapping the Messenger icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

If you don't have the Facebook Messenger app on your mobile device, you can't check your messages inbox from within the Facebook app.

About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Open Facebook Messenger.
2. Tap Home.
3. Review your inbox.

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 522,958 times.

Is this article up to date?

What does it mean to inbox someone?

/ˈɪn.bɒks/ to send someone a private message on social media: If you would like more information please inbox me back.

How do I Inbox someone on Messenger?

Classic mobile browser experience.

Tap at the top of Facebook..

Tap New Message to start a new conversation..

Start typing a name into the To field. Names of friends will appear in a dropdown..

Select the person or people you want to message..

Type your message, then tap Send..

Is Messenger and inbox the same?

Just under two years ago, Facebook introduced a web interface for its private chat application, Messenger. Now, Facebook is integrating that same web app into the desktop version of Facebook, where it replaces the older messaging experience.

How do I Inbox someone from my Facebook page?

Tap at the top of Facebook and enter the name of the Page you want to message. Tap the Page in the search results to go to it. Tap Send Message or below the Page's cover photo. Enter your message and tap Send.