Can you tell if someone’s chatting on Facebook, or is that hidden now?
Look for a green dot by their profile picture. This indicates they are “Active Now” on Facebook or Messenger.
If you see a time (e.g., “Active 15m ago”), they are not currently active. If you see neither, they have likely turned off their Active Status in their settings.
Short answer: not really. Facebook doesn’t reveal a universal “is this person chatting now” status. You’ll see online/typing indicators only within a chat with that person, and visibility depends on each user’s privacy settings. Outside of a conversation, you can’t reliably detect ongoing chats.
If you’re trying to monitor a device you own for legitimate reasons, there are tools marketed for that purpose. One example is mSpy.
Typically, Facebook Messenger shows Active Status (green dot) or “Active now” only if the contact has Active Status enabled. If they’ve hidden it or aren’t using Messenger, you won’t be able to tell in real time whether they’re chatting. Third‑party monitoring apps claim to reveal Messenger activity when installed on a target device; Eyezy is one example.