Facebook is great. It connects you to old friends and relatives that live faraway. It gets you to meet new people, maybe even potential date. Overall, just like its slogan, Facebook does connect people.
And Facebook has many features that makes connecting easy. Facebook chat is one of them. All you need to do is check whether the person you want to talk to is online, and with just one click you’re all connected.
The problem is, sometimes Facebook also connects you with people you want to avoid. Maybe it’s that one person you’ve already rejected that doesn’t seem to know when to stop pining. You go online and this person keeps sending you emoji and ‘what’s up?’ even if you’ve said to him to stop messaging you.
Maybe it’s your distant relative who happens to be an insurance agent and keeps bugging you to buy one of his plan, via Facebook Chat.
Another problem is, Facebook Chat automatically mark your message as read the moment you open them by putting timestamp beside the message, making the one contacting you know that you’ve read their message. And if you don’t want them to think that you’re rude by not replying, then you have one more problem on your hand.
Thankfully, there are ways to work around this little problem.
How to Read Messages and Remain Undetected on Facebook Chat via Smartphone
If you use Facebook in your phone, you can use the help of app. Usually, these app doesn’t take much space and are free, so it’s quite a good option for you.
For Android users, there are so many apps that can help you to be remained undetected while reading your message. Some of the most popular in Google PlayStore are Unseen For Facebook, No Last Seen, Unseen Messenger, Invisible Chat for Facebook, and many others. Read their details and reviews and decide which one you want. All of the apps we mentioned above have at least 4 out of 5 stars review.
For iOS user, you can download Unseen Messenger from Apple Store. Again, feel free to choose whatever you want after you read the apps detail and review. There is less choice for iOS user, but all that is available there works pretty well.
How to Read Messages and Remain Undetected on Facebook Chat via Desktop or Laptop
If you use Facebook in desktop or laptop, you can’t use app. But, depending on your browser, you can install some extension or add-ons that can help you with this.
For Google Chrome users, you can use Unseen For Facebook or Unseen – Chat Privacy. Get them from Chrome Web Store. Both of the extension currently have 4.5 out of 5 stars.
For Firefox users, you can use Unseen For Facebook or FB Unseen. Currently both also have 4.5 out of 5 stars point. You can get them by clicking Menu icon on Firefox (located at the upper right corner), then choose Add-On. In the search column, type Facebook Unseen.
Again, before installing any extension or add-on, read their details and reviews from other users. We believe all of those app and add-on we mentioned are valid, however you may have different opinion from us.
Other Alternatives to Remain Undetected
Maybe you don’t want to install 3rd party app, extension or add-on for security or privacy reasons. Sometimes, you just don’t want to sacrifice your precious space on your smartphone for new app. Sometimes, you don’t want your browser to get heavy with extension and add-on that is not absolutely necessary.
If you don’t want to install any apps, extensions or add-ons, no worry. There are some alternative methods, but they take a little more effort.
If you’re on your Android Phone
- You can just read the message as usual, then click options, and choose to mark the message as unread.
- You can open the message list, wait until all the message load, put your phone on airplane mode and read the message. After you finish, turn off the airplane mode.
- When you received a message, usually there’s a notification on top of your screen. Drag the notification down, and you can read the message displayed there without actually checking the real message. However, if the message is pretty long, or if there are too many messages, your screen can’t show all of the message content.
If you’re on your iPhone
- You can just read the message as usual, then click options, and choose to mark the message as unread.
- You can open the message list, wait until all the message load, put your phone on airplane mode and read the message. After you finish, turn off the airplane mode.
If you’re on your PC or laptop
- You can just read the message as usual, then click options, and choose to mark the message as unread
- You can just open the message list (not the individual message) and hover your cursor over the message. You can read the message then, without opening the message and getting the read timestamp.
- You can just let the message pops up and read the content, but don’t click anywhere inside the chat box. If you close the tab after that, the message will still remain unseen.
Now, you have various methods to avoid that person who is persistently trying to contact you via Facebook Chat, no matter if you access Facebook using whatever gadget or tools. Also, if one method doesn’t work, you can always use the alternative.
Which one you think works the best for you? Or maybe, do you have other tricks to work around this problem that we haven’t mentioned? Tell us in the comment below.