Facebook Messenger Icons and Symbols: What Do They Mean? 2023

Here’s what each Facebook icon means and how you can use different icons on the platform.

Many of the symbols and symbols used on Facebook Messenger can be quite confusing. So what do they all mean?

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We researched the most popular icons and symbols on Facebook Messenger to find out their purpose. Here’s everything you need to know.

1. Open the blue circle

The open blue circular Facebook Messenger icon means your message is currently being sent.

If you navigate away from the message or lose your network connection when the blue circle opens, Facebook will still send the message after the connection is restored.

2. Open the blue circle + Check mark

An open blue circle with a check mark means your message has been sent.

At this point, the recipient will see your message as soon as they open the Messenger application. But if they’re not online, they may not be able to see it yet.

3. Filled blue circle + Check

A dark blue circle with a check mark means your message has been sent.

Even though the person may not have seen your message yet, you can be confident that it will be available to them whenever they next check their phone, tablet, or computer.

4. Red triangle + Exclamation mark

A red triangle with an exclamation mark will only appear if your message was not delivered due to lost Internet connection. It is arguably the least popular Messenger icon.

A message will appear next to a red triangle that reads: “This message was not sent. Please check your Internet connection and click to try again.” Avoid navigating away from the site until you fix your unstable Internet connection or save a copy of your messages offline to ensure your information is not lost.

5. Green dot

The green dot in the bottom right corner of your contacts’ photos at the top indicates they’re online and ready to chat.

If you send a message to someone with a green dot next to their display photo, they’re more likely to receive, read, and reply to your chat.

However, you can also change which Facebook friends can see you online, which will hide the green activity status dot from certain users.

6. Green dot

A blue dot to the right of a conversation indicates there are unread messages. The sender will not receive a read confirmation of the message until you click on the conversation.

Opening a conversation with a blue dot will remove the dot and show the sender that you’ve opened and read their message. This feature is also handy for quickly sorting and identifying messages you don’t want to read.

7. Gray crossed out bell

The gray diagonal bell to the right of the chat indicates you’ve muted the chat. The muted person can send you messages, but you won’t be notified that they sent you a message.

You can mute a conversation in the Messenger app for as long as you like, or use one of the default time intervals to unmute the conversation when the selected time is up.

8. Padlock icon

The lock icon next to a chat means the chat is confidential and end-to-end encrypted. Only you and the recipient can read your messages unless any of you decide to share them with someone else.

How to know if someone has viewed your Facebook messages

If someone has viewed your Facebook messages on the Messenger app, a circular, thumbnail version of their profile picture will appear below the last message they read.

You’ll also see the word “Seen” appear below messages that have been read, along with a timestamp to let you know when the recipient opened the message.

Facebook Messenger alternatives

Although many users are unhappy with Messenger’s permission requirements, it is still one of the most used messaging apps. At last count, it had more than 1.3 billion active users, with 20 billion messages sent monthly. That means you can almost always reach the person you want to connect with.

Other popular alternatives to Messenger include WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram. If you live in Asia, check out WeChat and Line. And remember, Messenger also works with Facebook’s other big service, Instagram.

Categories: Tips & Tricks
Source: Tekmonk Bio