Look to this article to explain the many icons and symbols appearing in Facebook Messenger chats when messages are sent and received.
Hello everyone, it is Frankie here again. I want to provide yet another explanation so that you better understand Facebook Messenger.
Just as it occurred with WhatsApp a while back, Facebook Messenger similarly introduced a system of icons and ticks within a chat to allow users to monitor the conversations and determine the status of the messages they’ve sent to their intended recipient.
So, the system that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in WhatsApp with double tick, changes slightly with Facebook Messenger. While icons are similar in style and meaning, the system itself is more elaborate to better manage all aspects of the conversation you are having.
So, we need to take a look at the various icons and symbols that represent different things in Facebook Messenger. I will explain their meaning, and in some cases, how to resolve issues such as a message that is has not been sent.
Here is what you need to know.
Fully Understanding Facebook Messenger Icons
There is a color-coded system to Facebook Messenger and its icons that allow you to know when messages were sent, delivered, and ultimately read. These appear to the right side of the message within the thread.
Regardless if you use an iPhone or Android device, these icons and symbols will appear the same.
Let’s take a look at what they mean.
Blue Circle
If you see this symbol, this is an indicator that your message is currently sending.
A Blue CircleWhen you see this icon, the Facebook servers have yet to receive the message, so it has not been delivered to the intended recipient yet.
Blue Circle With a Check Mark
This symbol will show your message has been sent.
Blue Circle With A Check MarkTo put it plainly, it means that the message has received Facebook servers. If your recipient is not connected to the internet, your message may stay in this limbo until the message gets officially sent to the intended party.
Tip: You might have this message stay with this icon even if the recipient is connected to the internet if they are not in your friends list. It will reach their profile and be in a “message requests” queue until they open it there.
Filled-in Blue Circle with a Check
This will indicate that your message has been delivered.
Solid Blue Circle With Check MarkIt also means that the intended party has not read the message as long as you see the icon this way. They have not opened or read your message.
A recipient that is not in your friends list might continue to give you this icon (or the previous one) because their message is in the earlier named queue waiting for them to read it.
Friends might also have this icon last even when you are sure they saw the message, because their phone allowed them to read it from their notifications on the phone rather than to open the Facebook app and alert you the message was read.
Want to learn more? Take a look at my guide on how to become invisible on Facebook Messenger.
Small Contact’s Photo
This means that the recipient read your message.
A small version of your friend’s photoIn Summation:
- A blue circle means your message is being sent
- A blue circle with a check mark means that your message has been sent.
- A solid blue circle with a check indicates your message was delivered.
- Seeing a contact’s photo beside the message shows that they received and read the transmission.
Can You Hide a Read Icon on Facebook?
A while back Facebook added a feature allowing you to mark messages as “Unread“.
In fact, it has actually been confusing for some users because they believe they can read a message without the sender knowing that it has been read.
Unfortunately, the Unread feature is just a tool allowing you distort incoming messages and will not delete the icon appearing on their chat feed showing that you have opened and received their message.
Basically, if someone sends you an important message, you can use this feature of Facebook Messenger to mark it as unread so the notification reappears on your phone as a reminder to do something about this text.
It is possible to hide that you’ve read Facebook messages, and in fact, I wrote an entire guide about it. Give it a read when you have a minute.
Is There a Difference Between Sent and Delivered Messages?
Yes, there is a very clear difference between sent and received.
‘Sent’ messages are ready to be delivered to the recipient, but the party is not connected to the respective network to receive it yet.
‘Delivered’ messages have passed this stage and have been accepted by the receiving party but have yet to be read by that individual.
Conclusion
Hopefully what I’ve shared here today has helped to clear up any confusion you might have had about symbols and icons used in Facebook Messenger to indicate message status.
If you have any questions or concerns about symbols used in Facebook, or need to make better sense of an icon used in a message you are sending, feel free to use the comment box below to reach out to me and I can help.
For further tips on Facebook Messenger and other apps, you can follow my YouTube channel or sign up for my newsletter.
A hug,
Frankie
PS – New to Facebook Messenger? Take a minute and read my guide on how Messenger works ad some of the tips and tricks to make the most out of this service every time you use it.
What does the mailbox reaction mean?
Hey Frankie what does it mean in dark mode when you put it on system.
Hi Ron, just change the colors.
what does a share sign next to Messenger message mean?
Texting someone on messenger and a purple chat bubble is next to their icon after sending my text to them,whats the meaning ?
What do tiny blue circles with the check mean? in a conversation that shows a avatar on both parties what does it mean when a date and time, solid blue checkmark and absolutely nothing where a message should be at mean? Where did the message go? Was is erased or secret or on vanish mode? How could I get those bk?
What does it mean when you send a message and get a red circle with a check mark in it? I’ve never seen that before and am so confused.
Hi Frankie,
I am going crazy trying to figure this out by looking through google, but I just can’t seem to have a 100% truthful answer so I was hoping you could help.
So, I was dating this guy and things were going amazing and we were planning for me to move to his country and to have a future together.
However, due to this Covid situation things started to go south because I couldn’t promise him when I could come and one thing led to another he blocked me on Facebook and Facebook messenger.
So, because he had blocked me on Facebook messenger I couldn’t even send messages at first because it said this person isn’t available right now.
I realise this is a little crazy, But I realised why he got angry at me, so I apologised to him through Instagram because even if we don’t get together like we planned once this Covid situation enables me to go to his country and we could potentially continue our plan – I simply wanted to apologise for the things that I did wrong and end it in a positive way for the possibility of us getting together in the future or simply to end it in a nice way.
I then noticed one day that I was still blocked on Facebook, but that He had unblocked me on messenger.
I don’t know what got into me, because I was feeling much better and hadn’t contacted him in two months but I saw this super cute video which I thought would make his day feel warmer so I decided to send it because I just wanted to share it with the people I love.
I now regret it, because it said the message can’t get send and now I am feeling soo anxious like I felt two months ago.
Can you please tell me what it means.
Why was it not letting me type before and said the person isn’t available, and why did it suddenly change and now let’s me type but shows it can’t send.
I feel pissed off with Facebook messenger, because if he never unblocked me then why did it change?
Off course then I will think he unblocked me.
I just can’t comprehend.
Or maybe he unblocked me but it means something else?
I don’t get it.
Let me know if you get it
Thank you
Hi Lucie, Frankie here. I can help you better if you send me a screenshot of the “error message”. You can send it to my Instagram account @carusino
Hi Frankie – thank you for your help
I am not a listed as a friend on the message I sent.
I send messages and the blue circle with a check appear after it is sent.
I think this means that the message has been sent but not delivered.
Question: Can the recipient of my message still read my messages without it indicating it was delivered or read ?
I read that my message will sit in the recipients “message request” and they can read the message and if they do not reply the circle with the check will still remain. Can they still read the message even if not indicated it was delivered ?
Thank you again
I have a red circle with black exclamation beside my name and red line around my comment on Facebook. What does this mean
Hi Christy, it means a problem with internet connection.
What does a blue circle around the avatar mean and a blue circle with a green dot around the avatar mean?
Hi Rocco and welcome, I’m Frankie.
Blue circle around the avatar means that the contact has posted stories. If there is also a green dot it means that the contact is online.
A hug,
Frankie
While on a video chat with others the other persons profile icon will pop up in the upper left corner of the screen and the word viewing.
I meant to say. Grey bubble with white check mark. Now the bubble shows white with grey check mark. Not sure what it means.
What about the video chat icon? It changes for no apparent reason. Wondering if it means someone is chatting or what?
Hi! Have you ever heard the avatar icon appearing, indicating ‘read’ and then seconds later it turns into blue circle with check??
Thanks!
Usually means its been read and then put on unread. I believe
What does a Bell with line through it mean
Hi Randy. It means: mute, without sound
That means you have their notifications turned off for that particular person. So their messages will be shown as sent with a white bubble and blue check mark. It will not be solid blue until you open their message.
How can you tell if you message to someone is seen in a group