{"id":204,"date":"2026-05-06T13:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/?p=204"},"modified":"2026-07-26T02:00:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T01:00:51","slug":"activate-dating-icon-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/activate-dating-icon-on-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn On the Facebook Dating Icon (Fix It If It&#8217;s Missing)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What to Know<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Facebook Dating lives inside the main Facebook app on Android and iPhone. Tap <strong>Menu \u2630<\/strong>, then <strong>Dating<\/strong> (the heart icon). It is not on desktop, Messenger, or Facebook Lite.<\/li>\n<li>You must be <strong>18 or older<\/strong> and in a supported country. Dating runs in about 50 countries, including the US, UK, and Canada. Nigeria is not on the list as of July 2026.<\/li>\n<li>No Dating option? Update the app, confirm your age and country, then wait a day or two, Facebook turns it on gradually.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Facebook Dating icon is a heart tucked inside the app&#8217;s main menu, not a separate app you download. If you can&#8217;t see it, the fix is almost always your app version, your age setting, or your country. This guide covers Facebook&#8217;s documented flow to turn it on, and what to do when it won&#8217;t appear. Instructions apply to the Facebook mobile app as of July 2026.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Turn On the Dating Icon<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Update the Facebook app.<\/strong> Open the <strong>Google Play Store<\/strong> (Android) or <strong>App Store<\/strong> (iPhone), search <em>Facebook<\/em>, and tap <strong>Update<\/strong> if it shows. An old version often hides Dating.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Open the menu.<\/strong> On Android, tap <strong>Menu \u2630<\/strong> in the top right. On iPhone, tap <strong>Menu \u2630<\/strong> in the bottom right.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tap Dating.<\/strong> Scroll the menu until you see <strong>Dating<\/strong> with a heart icon, then tap it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Set up your profile.<\/strong> Follow the prompts to add photos, a short bio, and your match preferences. Your Dating profile is separate from your main profile, and friends are not shown to you unless they also use Dating.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Can&#8217;t See the Dating Icon? Fixes That Work<\/h2>\n<p>Work through these in order. Most missing-icon cases are one of the first three.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Check your country.<\/strong> Dating runs in about 50 countries. If you are outside them, the icon will not appear, and a VPN does not reliably add it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check your age.<\/strong> Go to <strong>Menu \u2630 &gt; Settings &amp; privacy &gt; Settings &gt; Personal details<\/strong> and confirm your birthday shows you as 18 or older.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use the main app, not Lite or desktop.<\/strong> Dating is missing by design on Facebook Lite, the desktop site, Messenger, and Instagram.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clear the app cache (Android).<\/strong> Go to your phone&#8217;s <strong>Settings &gt; Apps &gt; Facebook &gt; Storage &gt; Clear cache<\/strong>, then reopen Facebook.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wait it out.<\/strong> Even when you qualify, the rollout can take a few days to reach your account.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>A Quick Safety Note<\/h2>\n<p>Keep chats inside Facebook Dating until you trust the person. Don&#8217;t send money, share your home address, or move to a private app early. Meet first in a public place and tell a friend where you&#8217;ll be. You can block or report anyone from their Dating profile.<\/p>\n<h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Why is the Dating icon missing even though I&#8217;m 18 and in the US?<\/strong><br \/>\nUpdate the app first, then clear the cache and wait a day. If it still won&#8217;t show, log out and back in. See our guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/why-is-facebook-dating-not-showing-up-how-to-fix-facebook-dating-not-working\/\">fixing Facebook Dating when it won&#8217;t show up<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can I use Facebook Dating on a computer?<\/strong><br \/>\nNo. Dating works only in the Facebook app on Android or iPhone, not on the desktop or mobile website.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is Facebook Dating free?<\/strong><br \/>\nYes. There is no charge to turn it on or use it. For a fuller walkthrough, see <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/facebook-dating\/\">how Facebook Dating works<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will my friends know I&#8217;m using it?<\/strong><br \/>\nNo. Your Dating profile is separate, and your activity does not appear on your timeline or news feed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to Know Facebook Dating lives inside the main Facebook app on Android and iPhone. Tap Menu \u2630,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"How to Turn On the Facebook Dating Icon","_seopress_titles_desc":"Facebook Dating lives in the app menu, not on desktop. Here's how to turn on the Dating icon, plus fixes if it's missing on Android or iPhone.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/activate-dating-icon.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8efv-3i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions\/255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}