Facebook is quite open about its goals: the company dreams of a world in which anybody is connected at all times. Perhaps that'south why it'due south and so difficult to appear offline on Facebook. The very idea of "offline" or "invisible" is the antonym of everything the social network believes in.

Still, being "invisible" isn't for everyone. Thankfully, information technology'south possible to maintain a veil of privacy while still letting your closest friends and family know that you lot're available to talk.

Hither'south how to decide which Facebook friends run into you online and which don't...

How Do People Run into Who'southward Online on Facebook?

facebook online dot active status

When it comes to showing your online condition on Facebook and Messenger, the visitor uses something called Active Condition.

Active Status appears as a green dot next to your profile flick on Facebook and Messenger when you lot're online or take been recently active.

The information Meta gives on Agile Status is a chip unclear, differing according to the device you use Facebook on.

On its help article for Active Status on reckoner, the company notes:

The settings you choose will be updated everywhere you use Meta products, including where yous oasis't all the same changed your Agile Condition.

But for the aforementioned assist commodity, switched to the Android app help, the visitor notes:

When you turn Active Condition off, y'all'll still appear active or recently agile from any other places where y'all're using Facebook or Messenger, unless you turn off Active Status in those places, too.

We assume that Agile Status audition settings on computer apply to all computer sessions. However, your online status settings need to exist changed individually for every device on the mobile app.

Active Condition also has different settings on the desktop browser version of Facebook and the Facebook app. On the browser version, you can edit your Active Status settings to allow only specific people to see you online.

All the same, on the mobile app, yous tin can just plow Agile Status on or off—with no selection to select specific people or lists.

Here'southward how to arrange your Active Condition settings so that simply sure people can encounter you online...

How to Change Who Tin can Run across Yous Online on Facebook

To modify the specific people who tin can see yous online on Facebook, you should adjust your Active Status settings on the browser version of the platform.

Even so, information technology'due south unclear whether these settings volition utilize if yous use the Facebook app to log into the social media site. Then if you actually don't want certain people to see yous online, we recommend switching off your Active Status on the app (which we will show you later in this tutorial).

So how do you edit your active list?

To change your Active Status settings on Facebook, follow these steps...

  1. On the bar to the correct, where your Contacts are shown, select the button with 3 horizontal dots for Options.
  2. In the dropdown menu, select Turn off Active Status.
    facebook browser turn off active status
  3. This will bring upwards a popup where you lot can select your options: Turn off Active Status for all contacts, Plough off agile status for all contacts except, or Plow off Active Status for only some contacts.
    active status settings facebook
  4. Select whichever setting you adopt, enter names or lists into the text box, and select OK to salve the settings.

If y'all choose to Plow off active status for all contacts except, select the specific people or lists you want to see you online.

If you choose to Plough off Active Status for simply some contacts, select the people or lists you don't want to see yous online. For case, y'all may want to add your restricted list here, as well as lists such as business contacts or people you have on your friends list simply considering you didn't want to offend them past rejecting their friend asking.

How to Switch Off Facebook Online Condition Completely

So what if you don't want anyone to see you online on Facebook? Y'all can announced offline or invisible on Facebook at all times if you want to.

You tin can switch off your Active Status completely on the browser version of Facebook past selecting Plow off Agile Status for all contacts.

When information technology comes to the mobile app, you simply have the option to plow your Active Status on or off—there are no edited or custom options available.

To change your active condition on the Facebook mobile app, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Messenger icon to the top right of your screen.
  2. Select your profile picture show in the Chats menu.
  3. Tap on the Active Status tab.
  4. Toggle the options for Show when you're active and Prove when you're active together to off.
  5. When Facebook asks yous to confirm, select Plow Off.

Switching off your Active Status also prevents yous from seeing when other people are online.

In our test, switching off Agile Status on the mobile app did not carry over to the desktop browser version of Facebook.

You tin can as well switch off your online status on the Windows Store app.

How to Terminate Someone Seeing Someone Seeing You Online on Facebook

If y'all're worried about Facebook not turning off Active Condition for all your sessions and really don't want someone specific to run across you online, a surefire way to forestall this is to block them from messaging y'all.

This is different to a full Facebook block.

As Facebook notes:

Blocking messages from someone is different from blocking them on Facebook. If you cake messages from someone, but yous don't cake them on Facebook, you'll yet be able to see their Facebook profile.

If you cake messages from someone on Facebook, they also can't meet when you lot're online.

To block messages from a contact, and therefore preclude them from seeing whether you're online, follow these steps:

  1. Open a conversation with the contact.
  2. Select their name to bring up a card of settings.
  3. Select Block.
    facebook menu block messages
  4. Choose the choice for Cake letters and calls.
    block messages facebook

This will forbid the person from seeing your online status. It volition also forestall them from messaging you and calling you lot on Facebook.

Control Who Sees Yous Online on Facebook

Online privacy and Facebook are far from synonymous. But there are ways you can gain more control over who can encounter you online on the platform—and whether you appear online at all.

Employ the settings in this article to regain some privacy when it comes to whether or not your contact list can see if you lot're online.

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About The Author

Megan Ellis (124 Articles Published)

Megan is a Junior Editor at MUO. In 2016, she decided to unite her qualification in New Media and lifetime of geekiness to pursue a career in tech and gaming journalism. You lot tin usually find her writing most a variety of topics and drooling over new gadgets. She has a BA Honours in Linguistics and Applied Linguistic communication Studies in addition to her Available of Journalism.

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