How to Check if Someone Is Active on Facebook (2024)

If you use Facebook often, you might’ve wondered if there’s a way to see if someone is online. Perhaps you want to catch up with a family member, a friend, a coworker, or you could just be curious.

Fortunately, Facebook has made this an easy process. In this article, you’ll learn how to check if someone is active on both PCs and mobile devices.

The Best Way to See if Someone Is Active on Facebook Using a PC

Follow the steps below to find out if someone is active on Facebook using a web browser:

1. Go to the “homepage” by clicking the Facebook logo icon or the “Home” button.
   
2. On the right, you will see the “Contacts” tab which contains a list of your friends. If the “Contacts” tab doesn’t appear automatically, you need to click the “Contacts” icon.
   
3. To be able to see the activity status of your Facebook friends, make sure your “Active Status” option is turned on. Click on the “Options” button located within the “Contacts” card and select the “Turn on Active Status” option.
   
4. Look for the green dot between the profile picture and your friend’s name. If you see it, it means that they are currently active on Facebook or Messenger app.
   

Note that the green dot next to the user’s name can have two meanings. The person uses either Facebook or Messenger since Messenger was recently removed from Facebook and is now a distinct application. If you see the green dot, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re using Messenger itself.

As a result, you may message someone on Facebook Messenger after seeing the green dot, but you may not receive a response. The user may be merely browsing the Facebook application and not using Messenger right now. Based on that, you should not immediately think that a person is deliberately ignoring you.

Another simple way is to click on the Messenger icon next to your name. A list of your friends will open, with a green dot next to active users. Those without a dot will have a last active time status instead.

If you don’t see any activity status indicator, it may be for the following reasons:

• The person has not used Facebook for more than 24 hours
• The person has disabled the “Active Status” option
• The person has blocked you on the messenger

How to Check if Someone Is Active on Facebook Messenger

As in the previous example, it should be noted that Facebook and Messenger are currently two separate applications. The green dot indicating that the person is active will remain green as long as you’re engaged on Facebook or Messenger. A green dot will become grey once you’ve signed out of Facebook and ensured that both programs are not functioning in the background.

When you open the Facebook Messenger application, a horizontal bar with currently active users will be displayed at the top of the screen.

Another way to do so is by selecting the “People” icon at the bottom of the screen. Once you do that, a list of users currently using Messenger or Facebook will be displayed.

To see active users in this way, the “Active Status” option must be enabled on your account. If this option isn’t turned on automatically, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Facebook Messenger application.
   
2. Select account settings by clicking on the user’s profile picture in the upper left corner of the screen.
   
3. Within the “Profile” settings, select the “Active Status” option.
   
4. Check the “Show when you’re active” option. This way, you can see the users with the Active Status option enabled.
   

Another way to see if someone is active on Facebook Messenger is by searching their profile.

1. Click on the search bar in Messenger and enter the user’s name.
   
2. The requested person will be displayed. If there is a green dot next to their profile picture, the user is active either on Messenger or Facebook.
   

Two green dots may appear when you click on someone’s name in Messenger. The first appears next to their profile photo, while the second appears next to the video icon. When you see a green dot next to the video icon on Messenger, it implies the person is reachable via video chat.

You can also use a web browser to access Messenger itself and check if someone is currently active.

1. Log in and access your account at the Messenger webpage.
   
2. Select the “Settings” option (illustrated with three dots) on the left side of the screen.
   
3. A drop-down menu will open where you need to select the Active Contacts option.
   
4. On the left, under the name “Contacts”, a list of those currently active will be displayed.
   

If the list is empty, the Active Status option may be turned off. You can turn it on by selecting the settings option, then preferences, where you need to select and enable the “Turn On Active Status” option.

Can You Check if Someone Is Active on Facebook Without Being Friends?

Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t allow us to check the activity status of people not on our friend list. However, there is one exception.

You can check if someone is active on Facebook while not being a friend if you’ve previously exchanged messages with them. If they are active, ’you’ll see the green indicator. If not, you’ll see the last time they were active.

To check the activity status in this way, the requested person must have the “Active Status” option enabled, same as you. If you aren’t sure how to enable this option, we covered it earlier in the article.

You could also send a message to the individual whose online presence you wish to discover through Messenger. If the reader sees the message you sent, it will display a “Seen” notification underneath the user’s name, indicating that they have seen your message.

Keep in mind that a person can see your message even without feedback in the form of “Seen” status.

Covering the Essentials

As you can see, checking the activity status of Facebook users is pretty simple. Just make sure you have the “Activity Status” option enabled. As long as that’s the case, you’ll have an insight into active users through visual indicators.

It’s that simple, just look for the green dot next to the user’s name.

Do you often check to see if someone is active on Facebook? Have you tried any of the above-mentioned suggestions? Let us know in the comments section below.