How to Check If Your Facebook Message Has Been Read
By Contributor
Updated May 08, 2020
Facebook lets you see whether someone has read your sent private message on the Facebook website or inside any Facebook mobile application. It works for single recipients as well as multiple recipients. In the latter case, Facebook shows you which of your recipients has seen the message so you can verify whether a particular friend is in the loop. This feature is integrated into all Facebook accounts, so there is nothing additional to set up to make it function.
Log in to Facebook and select the "Messages" icon in the menu bar. This displays your most recent conversations in a drop-down list.

Click on the gear icon next to where it says "Chats" and select "Unread Chats." This will filter a list of your most recent unread chats in reverse chronological order.

You can also tell that your message was read or at least seen if a tiny circular version of your recipient's profile picture appears to the right of the message.
Warnings
If the "Seen" message does not appear, there is a chance your recipient saw a copy of the message via his email account. At the time of this writing, there is no way to verify whether this is the case for any particular message.
References
- Facebook Help Center: How Do I Know If a Friend Has Seen a Message I Sent?
- BostInno: “Seen By:” The Facebook Feature That Tells the World If You’ve Read a Post
- Tested: Facebook Adds a Way to See If Your Correspondent Has Seen Your Message
- WebProNews: Facebook’s “Message Seen” Feature Is Your Obsessive Girlfriend’s Dream Come True
Warnings
- If the "Seen" message does not appear, there is a chance your recipient saw a copy of the message via his email account. At the time of this writing, there is no way to verify whether this is the case for any particular message.
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