Meta is shutting down its standalone Messenger website. According to a company help page, the website will no longer be available starting April 2026. Users who want to send and receive messages on the web will need to do so while logged into Facebook.
After messenger.com goes away, users will be automatically redirected to facebook.com for messaging on a computer. Conversations can continue there or on the Messenger mobile app.
Users who operate Messenger without a Facebook account will only be able to continue their conversations on the Messenger mobile app. Chat history can be restored on any platform using the PIN entered when first creating a backup on Messenger. If the PIN is forgotten, it can be reset.
This move follows Meta’s shutdown of Messenger’s standalone desktop apps for Windows and Mac a few months prior. At that time, Meta had already been redirecting existing desktop app users to the Facebook website to continue messaging, rather than to the Messenger website.
The change was first spotted by a reverse engineer. Meta is notifying users of the update via a pop-up message on the Messenger website and app.
Users have expressed frustration on social media regarding the update. Many say they do not want to rely on the Facebook website to send and receive Messenger chats on the web, especially those who have deactivated their Facebook accounts.
While Meta’s decision to shut down various Messenger platforms is frustrating for users, it allows the company to reduce costs by maintaining fewer platforms.
Messenger first launched as “Facebook Chat” in 2008. Facebook, now Meta, launched Facebook Messenger as a standalone app in 2011. Over the years, the company positioned Messenger as its own service outside of Facebook. In 2014, the social network removed messaging capabilities from its main mobile app to push people to the Messenger app. However, the company reversed this in 2023 when it began merging Messenger back into the Facebook app.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.