If you use Facebook Messenger for any reason, all of your friends who also use the service can tell when you’re active. This makes it kind of hard to ignore people you don’t really want to talk to. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to hide your active status.

Disable Active Status on Mobile

If — like most users — you use Messenger on mobile, finding where to disable your Active Status can be a little confusing because it’s tucked away a bit.

Note: You can find this setting in the same place on both iPhone and Android, though the menus look slightly different. We’re using Android for the following instructions, but you should be able to follow along on an iPhone without issues.

Fire up the Messenger app, and then tap your profile picture — it’s in the top left.

Next, tap the “Active Status” tab near the top.

Tap the toggle to the right to disable your active status. Just note that doing so also disables your ability to see the active status of other people. It seems Facebook wants this to be a two-way street. If you’re cool with that, you’re done here.

Disable Active Status on Messenger.com

You can also disable your status on the Messenger web front end. Head to Messenger.com, and then click the three small dots in the upper left corner.

Click “Turn Off Active Status” once you’re in the Preferences menu.

The next menu allows you to control who can see you active — if you want to be totally invisible, select “Turn Off Active Status For All Contacts.” The other two options let you be a bit more specific. The second from the top allows you to hide your status from everyone barring a few chosen exceptions. The third option is the exact opposite — it lets you change your activity status so specific people cannot see that you’re online.

Pick whichever option you prefer, and then click “Okay.”

Again, note that turning off your active status also means you won’t be able to see other people’s active status.

Enjoy living the free life.