5 Hidden Facebook Tricks You Should Know

Thought you knew everything there is to facebook? Not huh! More than 1 billion people regularly use Facebook, but that doesn’t mean they’re all well-acquainted with the social media site. It’s constantly being refreshed, and between profile redesigns, new apps and privacy changes , it’s hard to keep up.

Here are five tricks to make sure you’re on top of your Facebook game:

1. Read the first Facebook message you ever sent to a friend

Get ready for a trip down memory lane (and for a great #tbt) without endlessly scrolling through conversations. The easiest (but slowest) way to see the first Facebook messages you sent to a friend is to download all your Facebook data, which you can do by going to General Settings and following the bottommost link. This can take hours or days because the function compiles every single message you’ve ever sent, among other data.

2. Disable read receipts

Trying to ignore someone? Then you’re probably not a fan of read receipts — that note that says “Seen ” followed by the time or date you opened the message.

There’s no way to disable read receipts within Facebook, so you’ll have to turn to third-party applications. These only work for desktop browsers. For Chrome users, there’s the Facebook Unseen App. There’s also Crossrider’s Chat Undetected, which works for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

3. Remove “Last active” time on Facebook Messenger

Here’s another common grievance for those concerned about their activity privacy — that line that says something like “Active 1m ago” on Facebook’s mobile Messenger app.

Unfortunately, there’s no dependable in-Facebook solution or third-party app that can get rid of this feature. The only surefire method is to delete Facebook Messenger from your phone, and use Facebook only on desktop, or through your mobile browser.

4. Maximize photo privacy

First thing’s first — what can people see on your Facebook profile? To find out, go to your profile, and select View As… from the menu button on the bottom right corner of your cover photo. Now you’ll be able to see what your profile looks like to the public as well as to specific friends.

5. Check hidden Inbox messages

Here’s a quick and easy trick if you didn’t know about it. Messages you receive from people who aren’t your Facebook friends don’t show up in your Inbox. They’re in a different folder that most people think is reserved for annoying Event messages. So go to Messages and click on Other (99+). Chances are you’ll find a few messages you missed.