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RIP to the Facebook Messenger desktop app. Original app for Mac and Windows It is no longer available to users as of today, December 15, 2025, and existing users are being directed to Facebook’s website to continue using the popular messaging service.
Although it was originally released in The beginning of the Covid-19 pandemicThe Messenger desktop app couldn’t handle as many video call participants as business-focused competitors like Zoom, and it didn’t offer screen sharing or easy-to-share URLs.
The writing was on the wall that the app was declining in importance for Meta, even before the company announced it Plans to close next October.
In 2023, Facebook started Integrate Messenger again In the Facebook application.
More recently, the company has transformed the technology underpinning the desktop version of the app. According to Meta Help DocumentsMessenger for Mac is built with Catalyst, which lets developers bring iPad apps to the Mac. The technology has received criticism from both developers and users, with developers citing the additional work required, while users noted the apps’ lack of a native appearance.
Before the release of Catalyst, the Mac app was an Electron app which was later migrated to a React Native Desktop app, According to For a former Meta Software Engineer.
On Windows, the app Transfer done To Progressive Web App last year.
The cuts are likely to impact user demand for a standalone Mac app, while the strategy of moving Messenger back to Facebook suggests that Meta was trying to support declining usage of its legacy flagship social network.
This fall, the company Warn users that Messenger desktop The app will be retired by the end of the year, and users are encouraged to set up a PIN to save their chat history before moving to the web.
People who use Messenger without a Facebook account will be redirected to Messenger.com after the shutdown, where they will be able to sign in without creating a Facebook account.
More information is available to users about the transfer process in Facebook’s Help Center, with separate sections for Mac users and Windows users.