Facebook Messenger Symbols and Icons Explained

Strong communication between you and your customers is key, which is why it’s crucial to understand that the way customers want to communicate is changing. For example, 89% of consumers now prefer to reach businesses through messaging apps. According to Podium’s Loyalty Survey, millennials are 2x more likely to be loyal to businesses that offer social media communication. If you have a Facebook Business Page then you already have the necessary tools to start talking to customers on Facebook Messenger or in the Facebook Messenger app. Once you’ve set up Facebook Messenger for your business, some of the Facebook Messenger icons may seem foreign. This guide will help you know exactly what Facebook Messenger symbols are trying to tell you.

What do the Facebook Messenger symbols mean?

Open Blue Circle

An open blue circle means that your message is in the process of sending. If you see this symbol, you’ll want to wait until the message finishes sending before navigating away.

Open Blue Circle + Check Mark Icon

An open blue circle with a check mark shows that your message has been sent. It doesn’t necessarily indicate that the message has been received successfully but it has been delivered.

Filled Blue Circle + Check Mark

A filled blue circle with a checkmark means that your message has been successfully delivered to the other person. While you cannot ensure that the person has seen the message, you can ensure that it has made it to their device.

Red Triangle

If you see a red triangle with an exclamation point, it means that your message did not send. A message should appear alongside the red triangle that says “This message didn’t send. Check your internet connection and click to try again.”

Green Dot

If you see a green dot next to someone’s profile picture in Messenger, it means that person is currently active in Messenger. 

Lock Icon

If you see a padlock icon next to a person’s profile picture in Messenger, it means you’re looking at a secret conversation—one that is encrypted end-to-end. In other worse, no one (not even Facebook) can read your messages but you. This is a privacy feature that Facebook implemented in an effort to give users more control over their personal conversations.

Bell with a Line

No one likes a phone that’s blowing up with notifications when they’re trying to focus. Luckily, Facebook Messenger allows you to mute conversations. If you see a bell with a line through next to your Messenger conversations, it means that conversation is muted. 

How Do I Know if Someone Saw my Facebook Message?

Small Profile Photo

When the blue checkmark is replaced by a small profile photo of the person you’re messaging, that means the recipient has seen the message.

Managing your Messenger

Whether you’re a business owner or you’re using Messenger for personal conversations, here are a few helpful tips for keeping things organized.

Message Requests

Using Facebook Messenger is a great way to connect with potential customers, friends, family, etc. Generally, only people you are already friends with or have recently interacted with will be able to send you messages. If you don’t know the person who has sent you a request, it’s best to do some research before responding. Check their profile to see if they are affiliated with any business partners or contacts that you may know. Additionally, if the message is from a company, always double check the URL of their website and make sure it is legitimate before taking any further action. Once you’ve identified who sent the request, take time to consider what kind of response would be most appropriate. Remember: you don’t have to respond to requests that look spammy. If something seems off, it might be best to not respond.

Can I Hide that I Have Read a Facebook Message?

Facebook is a great platform for small business owners to reach their target audiences and engage with customers. However, there are times when you may want to hide that you have read a Facebook message. Unfortunately, this isn’t really possible – Facebook notifies the sender that you’ve seen their message as soon as you open it.

The best way to respond without alerting the sender that you’ve already seen the message is to mute notifications for the conversation and wait until a more opportune time to reply. Alternatively, you can put your phone into airplane mode and read the message. This will prevent Facebook from showing the person on the other end of the conversation a read receipt.

How to Delete Facebook Messages?

Deleting Facebook messages is relatively easy. All you need to do is open up the conversation you want to delete, then click on the three dots in the top right corner of the screen. This will open up a menu with various options, including ‘delete message.’ Once deleted, the message will be removed from both sides of the conversation. It’s important to note that this only deletes individual messages; if you want to delete an entire conversation, simply select ‘delete conversation’ instead. Keep in mind that once a message or conversation has been deleted, it cannot be recovered.

How to Archive a Facebook Message?

Archiving a Facebook message is an easy way to keep your inbox organized and decluttered. To archive a message, simply open the conversation you want to archive and click on the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the window. Then, select ‘Archive’ from the dropdown menu. This will move the conversation to your archived folder, where you can easily access it later if you ever need to review it or respond. It’s important to note that archiving a message does not delete it, it only hides it from your immediate view. You can always restore an archived conversation by going into your archive folder and selecting ‘Unarchive’ from the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the window.

How to Block Facebook Messages/Users?

Need to delete inappropriate or spammy messages or conversations? Messenger makes this easy to do. Simply open the conversation, click on the user’s name, scroll down to the ‘Privacy & support’ section, and select ‘Block.’

Convenience is King

Today, more than 50% of consumers would rather text a business for customer support than call, if given the option between the two. That would seem like a given, considering how much we all hate sitting on hold. But the demand for convenience is even stronger for certain demographics. For example, Forbes reports that millennials would overwhelmingly rather communicate via text about appointments, deliveries, and discounts.

Podium allows your customers to continue using Facebook’s Messenger to communicate with your business while combining all of your incoming messages into a single inbox. That includes messages from Webchat, Google’s click-to-message, and Facebook’s Messenger all in one place. If you’re tired of switching between platforms, see how Podium’s suite of messaging tools for local business can transform the way you communicate with your customers.

FAQs

How do you tell if you are blocked or ignored on Messenger?

You don’t get notified when someone has blocked you on Facebook Messenger. That being said, there are a few clues that might hint at it. If your messages fail to deliver or if you can no longer find the person in question, they may have blocked you.

How to know if someone saw your message on Messenger?

If a message you’ve sent on Messenger has been seen by the recipient, a small circle that contains the recipient’s profile picture will appear next to your message.

How to turn off read receipts on Messenger?

There is no way to turn off read receipts on Messenger, but there is a workaround. If you don’t want someone to know that you’ve viewed their message, go to your account settings and turn off your active status before reading the message.

Can you use Messenger without Facebook?

In order to use Messenger, you’ll need to create a Facebook account. Once you’ve created a Facebook account and started using Messenger, you can deactivate your Facebook account and continue using Messenger with your deactivated Facebook account login info.