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Meta will retire standalone Messenger desktop apps for Windows and Mac on December 15, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday.
Starting December 15, users will no longer be able to log in to apps and will be automatically redirected to the Facebook website to access Messenger.
“If you’re using the Messenger desktop apps, you’ll receive an in-app notification once the deactivation process begins,” Messenger message Read the help page. “You will have 60 days to use the Mac Messenger app before it will be completely shut down. Once the 60 days are up, you will be blocked from using the Mac Messenger app. We encourage you to delete the app as it will no longer be usable.”
Meta’s plan to shut down these desktop apps was first spotted by Apple insider.
The company is now alerting users about the upcoming change to give them time to learn about other options. For example, Windows users can use the Facebook desktop app, and Windows and Mac users can access Messenger online.
Meta encourages users to activate secure storage and set up a PIN to save chat history before moving to the web version. Once users move to Facebook.com, their chat history will be available on all platforms. Users can check that their secure storage is turned on by tapping the Settings icon at the top of their profile picture, then selecting Privacy & Security > End-to-End Encrypted Chats. From there, they need to click on Message Storage to verify that Turn on Secure Storage is turned on.
The move comes a year after Meta Replace the native Messenger app with Progressive Web Back in September 2024. Of course, Meta’s decision to discontinue desktop apps entirely will likely see some backlash from die-hard users of the apps.