What read receipts are and why you might want to disable them
Read receipts are notifications that tell the other person when you have opened and read their message. On Messenger, a read receipt appears as a small circle with a checkmark or your profile picture under the message — it shows the sender that you saw what they wrote and when.
Turning off read receipts means the other person will no longer see that you have read their message. They will still know the message was delivered, but they won't know whether you have actually opened it. This is useful if you want to read messages without feeling pressured to respond when ready, or if you prefer to keep your availability private.
Key Takeaways
- Read receipts on Messenger show the sender when you have opened and read their message, usually as a small circle with a checkmark or your profile picture.
- You can turn off read receipts in Messenger settings on both phone and desktop, but the setting applies to all your conversations at once.
- Turning off read receipts means others cannot see when you read their messages, but they can still see that messages were delivered to you.
- If you turn off read receipts, you will also stop seeing read receipts from other people in your conversations.
How to disable read receipts on iPhone or Android
Open the Messenger app and tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner. Scroll down and tap Privacy. Look for the option labeled Read Receipts and toggle it off. The toggle will turn gray when it is disabled.
Once you turn off read receipts, your contacts will no longer see when you have read their messages. The change takes effect when ready across all your conversations. If you change your mind later, you can turn read receipts back on by returning to the same menu and toggling it on again.
How to disable read receipts on desktop or web
Go to Messenger.com or open Messenger on your computer. Click the profile icon in the top left corner, then select Settings & Privacy. Click Settings. In the left sidebar, find and click Privacy. Scroll down until you see Read Receipts and toggle it off.
The desktop version works the same way as the mobile app — disabling read receipts stops others from seeing when you have read their messages. The setting syncs across all your devices, so if you turn it off on your phone, it will also be off on your computer.
What happens when you turn off read receipts
When read receipts are disabled, people you message will see a single checkmark next to their message (meaning it was delivered) but will not see the circle with a checkmark or your profile picture that normally appears when you have read it. They will have no way to know whether you have opened the message or not.
The trade-off is that you will also stop seeing read receipts from other people. If someone sends you a message, you will see it was delivered, but you won't know if they have actually read what you wrote. This applies to all your conversations — you cannot turn off read receipts for just one person or one chat.
If you want to hide read receipts from specific people only
Messenger does not have a built-in way to turn off read receipts for just one person or one conversation. The setting is all-or-nothing — it either applies to everyone or no one. If you want to hide your read status from a specific contact, your only option is to turn off read receipts entirely for all conversations.
Some people work around this by muting notifications from certain contacts or using a separate messaging app for those conversations, but Messenger itself does not offer per-conversation control. If you need more granular privacy controls, you may want to explore other messaging platforms that offer that feature.
Why senders care about read receipts
Read receipts exist because people want to know whether their message was actually seen. Without them, a sender cannot tell the difference between a message that was delivered but not opened, and one that was opened but ignored. For some conversations — like work messages or time-sensitive plans — knowing whether someone has read your message matters.
The downside is that read receipts create an expectation of when ready response. If someone sees you have read their message, they may feel hurt or annoyed if you do not reply right away. This is why some people prefer to turn them off — it gives them space to respond on their own timeline without feeling watched.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I turn off read receipts, will people know I did it?
No. People will straightforward stop seeing the read receipt indicator on your messages. They will not receive a notification that you have disabled read receipts, and there is no way for them to tell whether you turned it off or if you just have not opened the message yet.
Can I turn off read receipts for group chats but keep them on for one-on-one messages?
No. The read receipts setting applies to all conversations at once. You cannot customize it by chat type or by individual person. If you turn off read receipts, they are off everywhere in Messenger.
If someone has read receipts turned off, can I still see when they read my messages?
No. If another person has disabled read receipts, you will only see a single checkmark (delivered) on your messages to them, not the read receipt indicator. You will have no way to know whether they have actually opened your message.
Will turning off read receipts affect my message delivery?
No. Messages will still be delivered normally. The only thing that changes is the notification the other person sees. They will still get your message and know it arrived — they just will not see when you read it.
Can I turn off read receipts temporarily and then turn them back on?
Yes. You can toggle read receipts on and off as many times as you want by going back to the Privacy settings in Messenger. The change takes effect when ready, and there is no limit to how often you can change this setting.