Messenger is not showing Active status? 7 ways to fix this

Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular messaging apps, regardless of if you are a Facebook user or not. It offers a lot of functionality and, it went a long way from Facebook’s bad excuse to separate chat features from the main app and create a dedicated app. However, due to the large user base and frequent updates that fix something and break something else, some users are experiencing issues. It seems that, for some users, Messenger is not showing Active status. Users are never online even when they are certain that the option is enabled.

Just to be clear, this problem can rarely be pinned on users. Many users confirmed this by using other users’ accounts to sign in. And the Last Active status was showing for them without issues. This means that the problem plagues a certain Facebook profile rather than a certain device or iteration of Facebook Messenger. In regards to users who are not on your Friends list on Facebook or Instagram, you can’t see their Last Active status anymore. This feature is only available for people on your friend list.

If you are among users that have issues with this, make sure to check the steps we listed below.

Table of contents:

1. Make sure the Active Status is enabled
2. Check the network connection
3. Clear Messenger data and sign in again
4. Reinstall the app
5. Rollback the app to an older version
6. Check Facebook on other devices
7. Use Facebook Messenger Lite

Facebook Messenger is not showing the last active status on the Android

If Facebook Messenger is not showing the last active status on Android, you can usually fix it by:

• Check if there are no server-side issues with Facebook Messenger.
• Re-enabling the Active Status option.
• Clearing local data and resetting Facebook Messenger in the process.
• Reinstalling Facebook Messenger or getting an older version via an APK.
• Use alternative wrapper apps if Facebook Messenger is not working.

1. Make sure the Active Status is enabled

The first thing to do is turn the Active Status toggle on and off a couple of times. Some users pointed out that there’s a bug that causes the Active Status not to show properly which is addressed by turning Active Status off and then on again. This usually fixes the issue.

Here’s how to disable and re-enable Active Status on Facebook Messenger:

1. Open Facebook Messenger.
2. Tap on your Account icon.
3. Tap on the Active Status.
4. Enable Active status. You should see the green dot next to your profile (account) photo.

If the Messenger Last Active Status is still not working, check the network connection.

2. Check the network connection

This goes without saying and it’s obvious. You need a stable wireless or mobile data connection for Messenger to work as intended. Now, you probably don’t have system-wide connectivity issues, but it’s worth checking if Facebook Messenger is allowed to use the network.

There are per-app network options that might limit access to Wi-Fi or Mobile data and you need to check them out. Here’s what to do if you are suspecting connectivity issues on your device:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Apps & notifications (Apps).
3. Open All apps (App manager or Manage apps).
4. Open Messenger.
5. Select Mobile data & Wi-Fi (or something along those lines on other Android skins).
6. Make sure that the app is allowed to access Wi-Fi and Mobile Data. Also, allow the app to access the network in the background and disable all VPNs/Proxy tools you have.

On the other hand, if you are experiencing system-wide connection issues, fix them with ease by following the instructions we provided in this article.

3. Clear Messenger data and sign in again

The next thing to do is to try and reset the app by clearing the locally-stored data. There’s a slight possibility that cached data is corrupted which often leads to app issues. This might or might not include issues like activity, although we suspect that the issue is, more likely, on Facebook’s side.

Don’t forget to back up the media you downloaded from Messenger as this procedure will erase it. Here’s how to clear cache and data on Facebook Messenger for Android:

1. Again, open Settings > Apps & notifications > All apps > Messenger.
2. Tap on Storage.
3. Tap Clear Storage (Clear Data).
4. Confirm and reboot your device.
5. Open Facebook Messenger again, sign in, and look for improvements.

4. Reinstall the app

If the previous step failed and Messenger is still not showing Active status, make sure to reinstall the app. By doing so, you will automatically get the latest version and start from scratch. Reinstalling Messenger hardly differs from clearing data, but it’s worth a try.

Here’s how to reinstall Facebook Messenger:

1. Navigate again to the Settings app > Apps > All apps > Messenger.
2. Uninstall the app and clear cache and data when prompted.
3. Navigate to the Play Store and install the app.
4. Reboot your device.
5. Log in again.

5. Rollback the app to an older version

Now, instead of relying solely on the official source, you can get any app version via an APK. Installing apps from third-party sources can be dangerous, but there are safe websites that provide secure APKs for the majority of Play Store apps. But why would you do that? Well, if the issue is not on the server side, it might be a bug in the current version of the app. This can be addressed by simply downloading an older version of the app.

Alternatively, you can download a newer version (Alpha or Beta release), but we recommend avoiding them and sticking to a recent older version.

Here’s how to rollback Facebook Messenger via an APK:

1. Uninstall Facebook Messenger.
2. Navigate to APK Mirror or use any APK aggregator.
3. Download the APK. We recommend that the APK is not older than 3 months. You can also get a newer Beta or Alpha version. Anything but the version you are currently running (the latest stable).
4. Run the APK and allow the installation of third-party apps (unknown sources) on your device when prompted.
5. Clear cache and data and then sign in with your credentials.

6. Check Facebook on other devices

Facebook is available on most platforms, and as as convenient that is, it can also lead to issues. If you are using Facebook on your PC or other devices, make sure that Active status is enabled everywhere. Ideally, changing the Active status option in Facebook Messenger should apply to other devices and platforms, but that might not be the case here.

So, what you need to do is to navigate to Facebook for the web on your PC and all other devices where you are signed in. This applies to Messenger, too, if you have it as a standalone app on some platforms. Once there, make sure to enable the active status.

Here’s how to do it:

• Open the Facebook app on your Android. Tap on the hamburger menu and open Settings & Privacy > Settings. Select Active Status and make sure that this option is enabled.
• Open Facebook on your PC and click on the chat options in the bottom right corner. Make sure that you are Online.
• Do the same check-up on all devices you use to access Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

7. Use Facebook Messenger Lite

Finally, if Messenger is still not showing Last active, you probably should send a ticket to Facebook (report the issue) and, for the time being, switch to Facebook Messenger Lite. At least, until Facebook sorts out the problem. You can find and download Facebook Messenger Lite on the Play Store.

And, on that note, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and tell us about alternative solutions in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in February 2021. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.