How to Disable Your Activity Status on Facebook, Including Profile Visibility
In today’s digital environment, many users prefer to control their online presence and maintain privacy on social media platforms like Facebook. While disabling your activity status in Messenger is straightforward, managing your activity visibility directly on your Facebook profile can sometimes be confusing—especially with frequent platform updates. This guide provides clear, step-by-step instructions on how to turn off your activity status on both the Facebook app and desktop site, ensuring your online activity remains private.
Understanding Facebook’s Activity Status
Facebook allows users to see when their friends are active or recently active, which can enhance real-time communication. However, users seeking greater privacy may prefer to hide their activity status. The process involves adjusting settings so that your friends cannot see when you’re online, both in Messenger and on your profile.
Disabling Activity Status in Facebook Messenger
Disabling activity status in Messenger is a simple process:
- Open the Messenger app on your device.
- Tap your profile picture in the top left corner.
- Select Active Status.
- Toggle Show when you’re active off.
Once completed, your friends will no longer see when you are active in Messenger. However, this setting does not automatically disable activity visibility on your main Facebook profile.
Managing Activity Status on Your Facebook Profile
To fully control your online visibility, you need to adjust your activity status settings directly within Facebook. The procedure differs slightly between the mobile app and the desktop site.
On the Facebook Mobile App:
- Open the Facebook app on your smartphone.
- Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) usually located at the bottom right.
- Scroll down and select Settings & Privacy, then tap Settings.
- Under the Privacy section, choose Active Status.
- Toggle off Show when you’re active.
This will hide your activity status from your friends and followers, preventing them from seeing when you’re online.
On the Facebook Desktop Site:
- Log in to your Facebook account via a web browser.
- Click on your profile picture or the downward arrow in the top right corner.
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- From the left sidebar, click on Privacy.
- Scroll down to the Active Status section.
- Click Edit.
- Uncheck Show when you’re active.
- Click Close to save
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