When using Facebook Messenger to communicate with friends, family, coworkers, and others, you may have noticed that when you send a message, it displays one of two statuses: “Sent” or “Delivered.” But what exactly is the difference between these two statuses and what do they mean?
In short, a “Sent” message request means that your message has left your device and is in transit to the recipient’s device. A “Delivered” request means that your message has reached the recipient’s device. The time between when a message is sent and delivered depends on network conditions. Let’s explore this difference in more detail.
What Does “Sent” Mean?
When you send a new message in Facebook Messenger, you’ll immediately see the text “Sent” display under your message. This indicates that your message has successfully left your device and is now being transmitted over the internet to Facebook’s servers.
At this stage, your message has not yet reached the recipient’s device. It is still making its way through the various networks and servers between you and the recipient. Seeing the “Sent” status means your message is no longer on your device and is out of your control.
Some key things to know about the “Sent” status:
- It appears immediately after you hit send on a new message.
- It means your message has left your device and is in transit.
- Your message has not yet reached the recipient at this stage.
- You cannot delete or recall a message once it shows as “Sent.”
The amount of time a message shows as “Sent” can vary greatly depending on the quality of the network connection between you and the recipient. Under good network conditions, a “Sent” message may only display as such for a few seconds before changing to “Delivered.”
However, if there are delays or disruptions in the connection, a “Sent” message may remain in that state for much longer before finally being delivered. As long as you see “Sent,” you can rest assured your message is queued up and should get delivered as soon as technical conditions allow.
What Does “Delivered” Mean?
Once your Facebook message makes it through the various networks and servers involved in transmission, it will eventually reach the recipient’s device. At this point, the status will change from “Sent” to “Delivered.”
The “Delivered” status indicates that your message has successfully reached the recipient’s device. More specifically, it means that your message has been received by the Facebook app on the recipient’s phone or computer.
Some key things to know about the “Delivered” status:
- It appears after “Sent” once the message reaches the recipient’s device.
- It confirms your message has been received by the recipient’s Facebook app.
- The recipient may not have seen or read the message yet.
- You still cannot recall or delete the message at this stage.
So while “Delivered” confirms your message has reached its destination app, it does not necessarily mean the recipient has actively opened or read it yet. It may take a few more seconds or minutes before the recipient actually sees your message.
The Facebook app has background processes that receive new messages even if the user is not actively opened to that conversation. So “Delivered” really means the message is now available for the recipient to view when they open that message thread.
Why Message Status Can Get Stuck on “Sent”
Ideally, all Facebook messages would quickly progress from “Sent” to “Delivered” status. However, sometimes a message can remain stuck with a “Sent” status and is never delivered. There are a few potential reasons this can happen:
- Poor network connection – Weak, unstable, or intermittent networks can prevent successful message delivery.
- Recipient has no internet access – If they are offline or have no connectivity, delivery cannot occur.
- Recipient’s account is deactivated – Trying to message a deactivated account will fail to deliver.
- You’ve been blocked – A recipient can block you which prevents message delivery.
- Facebook server issues – Server problems at Facebook can temporarily disrupt delivery.
In most cases, a message stuck on “Sent” for an extended time is due to recipient device issues or networks problems outside of your control. But if a message remains stuck on “Sent” for several hours or longer, it likely failed to deliver and won’t ever change from that status.
Does “Delivered” Mean the Recipient Has Read Your Message?
A common misconception is that “Delivered” status means the recipient has actively read your message. But as mentioned earlier, it only indicates successful delivery to the recipient’s Facebook app. The user may not have actually opened the conversation yet.
Facebook Messenger does not have read receipts like other messaging apps. So you cannot definitively tell if and when someone reads your messages within a normal chat.
The only way to confirm if a Facebook message has been read is to use the following special messaging formats that include read statuses:
- Group chats – You can see when participants read messages.
- Business messages – Pages get read receipts for conversations with users.
- Email messages – When messaging someone’s Facebook email address.
Outside of these scenarios, there is no way to determine if a standard one-on-one Facebook message has been opened and viewed. So “Delivered” only indicates delivery to the person’s device, not confirmation they have actively read it.
Typical Message Lifecycle and Statuses
To summarize the typical lifecycle:
- You send a new message and it shows “Sent” status.
- It gets transmitted over the internet to Facebook’s servers.
- Facebook delivers it to the recipient’s app where it displays “Delivered.”
- The recipient opens the message at some point and actually views it.
Again, only those last special scenarios will tell you when step 4 happens. Otherwise, you can only see the “Sent” to “Delivered” progression.
Delivery Delays and Troubleshooting
In most cases, messages will quickly progress from “Sent” to “Delivered” in a matter of seconds or minutes. But sometimes message delivery can take much longer, get stuck, or fail altogether.
Here are some tips for troubleshooting Facebook message delivery issues:
- Check for an active internet connection on both ends.
- Restart the Facebook app and retry sending the message.
- Verify the recipient’s account is still active and not deactivated.
- Try sending from a different device on a different network.
- Make sure you have not been blocked by the recipient.
If a message remains stuck on “Sent” for an extended period of time, it likely failed to deliver properly. But you can also follow up with the recipient to check if they received it on their end.
Summary and Conclusion
- “Sent” status means your message has left your device and is in transit to the recipient.
- “Delivered” status indicates your message has reached the recipient’s Facebook app.
- Delivered does not confirm the recipient has read your message.
- Only certain message types will show if/when the recipient actively views the message.
- Troubleshoot delivery issues by checking connections, resending, and following up with the recipient.
Understanding the difference between “Sent” and “Delivered” status helps set proper expectations around Facebook messaging. While “Delivered” provides some confirmation, you cannot definitively know if and when someone has read your standard chat messages. Outside of certain scenarios, the best indication you have is the “Delivered” status.