How to turn off active Status in Facebook app

Just because you’re browsing your News Feed on Facebook or rereading some conversations in Messenger, it doesn’t mean you want everyone to know you’re available. You can change your status to inactive whenever you please. This way, you can use Facebook and Messenger without others knowing you’re online.

This tutorial will walk you through how to turn off your Active Status on Facebook and Messenger.

Note: Before we begin, it’s important to know that you must disable your Active Status setting wherever you use Facebook and Messenger for this to work. Also, after you turn off your Active Status, you too can’t see which of your friends and contacts are online.

Turn off your Active Status in the Facebook app

Pop open Facebook on your iPhone and iPad, and follow these steps to disable your Active Status:

1) Tap the Menu (three-line icon) button on the bottom right corner.

2) Scroll to the bottom of the Menu screen and tap to expand Settings & Privacy.

3) Tap Settings.

4) Scroll down and tap Active Status.

5) Turn off the switch for Show when you’re active.

6) Confirm this action by tapping Turn Off.

Turn off your Active Status in the Messenger app

Open your Messenger app on iPhone and iPad. Then, do the following to turn off your Active Status:

1) Tap your profile picture in the top left corner.

2) In the Profile section, tap Active status.

3) Turn off the toggle for Show when you’re active and confirm by tapping Turn Off.

Turn off your Active Status on the Facebook website

Head to the Facebook website, log in if necessary, then follow these steps to disable your Active Status:

1) On the far bottom-right corner of the screen, click the three dots icon next to the word “Contacts.”

2) Click Turn Off Active Status.

3) Select Turn off active status for all contacts and click Okay.

4) If you select Turn off active status for all contacts except or Turn off active status for only some contacts, type the initials of a friend’s name and select them from suggestions. Finally, click Okay to confirm.

Turn off your Active Status on the Messenger website

Now over to the Messenger website, log in if you need to, and then do the following to turn off your Active Status:

1) From the top left corner of the screen, click the three dots icon.

2) Click Preferences.

3) Click Turn off Active Status.

4) From here, choose to turn off your active Messenger status for all contacts, certain contacts, or all contacts with exceptions. If you go with certain contacts or some exceptions, type their name(s) and select them from the suggestions. Click Okay to confirm.

Turn off your Active Status on the Messenger app on Mac or PC

If you use the Facebook Messenger desktop app on your computer, here’s how to turn off your online status for it:

1) Open the Messenger app and click your profile picture from the top left.

2) Click Preferences.

3) Select Active Status from the left sidebar.

4) Turn off the toggle for Show Active Status.

If you do a lot of chatting on Facebook and Messenger, whether in the apps or online, being able to disable the Active Status feature is something you may want to do at some point. Let yourself browse and peruse for as long as you like without being bothered by just changing your status.

When you feel it’s time to go online again, follow the same steps and enable the Active Status button.

Have you ever wondered how some people know you're online even though you swear you set the Messenger app to hide your active status? No, you're not crazy — it's an issue with two conflicting settings, and there's an easy fix.

Many don't realize this, but you have two different online status settings to deal with if you want to appear offline at all times. Not only is there the "Active Status" option in the Facebook Messenger app, but you also have a similar setting in the actual Facebook app itself. It's tucked away under the settings sub-menu, which means the average user of the app can easily miss it.

Step 1: Disable Active Status in the Facebook App

Open the Facebook app and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) on the right to access a giant list of options. Scroll down and tap "Settings & Privacy" to expand a new set of options. Tap "Settings," then scroll down to the "Privacy" section. Locate "Active Status" and select it to open a new screen, then flip the "Show when you're active" switch to the off position.

You can also use the search bar at the top and type in "active status" to locate the setting even faster if you prefer to do it that way.

Now, whenever you're browsing your news feed from the Facebook app, you will no longer appear as active. This means your profile will show up as offline to everyone in your friend list, which allows you to browse in peace. If you want to maximize your offline status even further, follow the next step to disable the other option from the Facebook Messenger app.

Step 2: Disable Active Status on the Messenger App

Open the Facebook Messenger app to the main screen, then tap your profile icon in the upper-left to bring up the app settings. Locate the "Active Status" option then tap it to bring up a new screen. Now you just need to flip the "Show when you're active" switch to the off position. Easy! Even if you thought it was off the first time around, now was a good time to double-check for good measure.

From this point, you will be completely hidden when it comes to your Facebook online status in both apps. Sometimes you just need to unwind and chill without everyone knowing when you're available at all times. You now have the option to browse your news feed privately as you see fit. At the same time, you can also message others without your entire friend list seeing your online status as well.

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