Avid Facebook users will already know that Facebook and Messenger are accessed via two separate apps.
While intricately connected in terms of friends and contacts, with your Facebook account informing the people you can connect with on Messenger, one question that users often have is about their active status and that green dot that lets others know when you are active and online.
So, does being active on the Facebook app transfer over onto the Messenger app?
Active Status on Facebook
The Facebook app has its own active status icon, in the form of a green dot that appears next to each users’ profile picture to show that they are online.
On the main Facebook app, this active status icon lets you know when a user is online at that time – with an option available in your Settings to switch this off and hide your active status from other users.
We’ll go through where this setting is in a moment; however, the first thing to note is that turning off your active status on the main Facebook app does not affect your active status over on Messenger. Rather, there is a separate setting in your Messenger app that you can switch on and off in relation to this app.
3 Steps to Turn off Active Status on Facebook
- Click on the menu button in the bottom right hand corner and navigate to your ‘Settings and Privacy’ then ‘Settings’ menu
- At the bottom of the list titled ‘Audience and Visibility’, select ‘Active Status’
- Turn the toggle on to make your active status visible via the green dot on your profile picture, or turn the toggle off to hide this insight from other users
How to Change Active Status on Messenger
As mentioned above, adjusting and changing your active status on Facebook Messenger has to be done via a separate app.
To change your active status to either show or hide when you are online, open the Messenger app and click on the menu icon in the top left hand corner, indicated by the three horizontal lines.
Select the cog button at the top of the pop up menu, then choose ‘Active Status’ from the list. Turn the toggle on to show users when you are active and online on Messenger and switch the toggle off if you want to hide your activity. #
It really is as simple as that! Happy browsing…
