Meta shuts down Messenger website, refers to Facebook and mobile app
After the apps for Windows and Mac, Meta is also phasing out messenger.com as a platform for its messenger. Users are referred to Facebook and the mobile app.
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Meta Platforms will soon be closing another platform for its Messenger service. After its own Messenger apps for Windows and Mac have been unusable since mid-December 2025, messenger.com will also be discontinued in April 2026. The data group alternatively refers to Facebook or the apps for mobile devices, which will remain. However, on PCs, Meta's Messenger service will no longer be usable without a Facebook account, which is still possible via messenger.com.
The standalone website messenger.com already displays a warning above the various chats that users will soon be automatically redirected to facebook.com/messages. "Messenger.com will no longer be available after April 15, 2026, but you can continue your conversations in the mobile app and on Facebook," Meta Platforms further writes on messenger.com.
Another Messenger platform removed
However, if users want to use Messenger without a Facebook account, they will only have the Messenger apps for mobile devices left. For computers, there will be no more options from mid-April. Because at the end of 2025, Meta already discontinued the Facebook Messenger for Windows and Mac. The standalone apps for these two PC operating systems have not been usable since mid-December, as it has not been possible to log in via the apps since then. You will then be automatically redirected to Facebook, so Meta recommends deleting these apps.
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In the social networks, some users are expressing frustration in light of these plans. Some prefer messenger.com and do not want to open Facebook on their PC. However, there are hardly any differences between messenger.com and facebook.com/messages. The websites look practically the same, apart from a menu on the left side on Facebook. Only Messenger users without a Facebook account are left behind here.
PIN recommended for restoring chats
Users of messenger.com should set up a PIN so they can restore their messages on other platforms later, Meta Platforms writes on a help page (so far only available in English). If users have forgotten the PIN, it can be reset. However, Facebook also offers one-time PINs for restoring chat histories, which are sent via the mobile app.
With 942 million monthly active users, Meta Platforms' Messenger is one of the most widely used messaging services in the world, according to Statista. Only WhatsApp and WeChat, with 3 billion and 1.41 billion users respectively, have a significantly larger reach, while Telegram has 58 million more users with exactly one billion.
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