How to Read Facebook Messages in Secret

Want to read a Facebook message without the sender knowing? We explain how to fool them into thinking the message is unread.

Facebook Messenger offers a number of ways to keep in touch with friends all around the world. You can call them for free using the voice or video options, group chat with people, or simply use the instant chat feature at the heart of the Messenger app.
That's all great, but what about when you're contacted and not in a position to start a conversation? Facebook has already shown them that their message has been read.
We explain a few ways to read your Facebook messages without the sender knowing.

Read Facebook messages on your phone without sender knowing

When you send a message on Facebook Messenger you’ll see a blue circle with a tick inside appear next to it. Then, if the recipient opens it, this will disappear. That’s how you know it’s been read. Facebook doesn’t have a setting that allows you turn off the read receipts the sender receives when you open up a message from them, but there are workarounds that can give you some control over this feature.



The most effective way of stopping read receipts is to prevent the app itself talking to the internet. To do this you just need to use Airplane mode. When you want to read the message but don’t want the sender to know the first thing to do is turn on the mode.
On Android this is found in the settings menu you drag down from the top of the screen, or from the Settings app itself where it might be called Flight mode.

iPhone users can swipe up from the bottom of the screen and then tap the airplane icon on the left hand side.

With Airplane mode engaged you can now open the Messenger app, read the messages, and the sender won’t know you’ve seen them. Close the app, turn Airplane mode off and you’re free to carry on as you were.

Read Facebook messages on your PC or laptop without sender knowing

Just like on the mobile side of things Facebook doesn’t provide an easy way for you to hide the fact you’ve read a message. That’s where third-party plugins for your browser come in.
If you use Chrome then there are a fair number of choices. Open up a new tab then click on the colourful square grid in the upper left hand corner marked Apps. This opens a menu of Chrome and Google related options.