What does a check mark mean on Facebook Messenger?

Those check mark icons that you see after you’ve sent a message on Messenger aren’t just random symbols. They are icons that are part of a larger series of message indicators that Messenger uses to tell you what the current status of your sent message is. These statuses could be one of the following:

• Your message is still sending.
• Your message has successfully sent.
• The message has been successfully delivered to your intended recipient.
• The message has been viewed by your intended recipient.

But not all of these statuses are denoted by check mark icons in Facebook Messenger. Only two of them are. In the next section, we’ll go over all of the icons used to indicate the above statuses, including the check mark icons.

Note: The colors of each icon listed below may vary beyond blue and white. You may also see purple and white. Or even gray and white. We mentioned the color blue below because that is what’s currently listed on Facebook’s own Help Center guide on the matter.

If you see an empty blue circle …

Your message is still processing. It’s still sending. This means Messenger hasn’t received your message yet.

If you see a blue circle with a white middle and a blue check mark …

The message is officially considered “sent” but not delivered. And there is a difference between the two. For Messenger, “sent” just means Messenger has gotten your message and will deliver it to your friend. And “delivered” means that your friend has received the message, but hasn’t viewed it yet.

If you see a blue circle with a blue middle and white check mark …

This is the icon that means your message has been successfully delivered to your friend. Your message is now sitting in your friend’s Messenger inbox waiting to be read.

If you see your friend’s tiny profile picture …

Then that means your friend has viewed your message. Congrats! Your Facebook Messenger message was sent, delivered, and viewed successfully!