Meta is shutting down Messenger’s standalone website

Meta is shutting down its standalone Messenger website, the institution shared successful a help page. Starting April 2026, the website volition nary longer beryllium available. If users inactive privation to nonstop and person messages connected the web, they tin bash truthful portion logged into Facebook.

“After messenger.com goes away, you volition beryllium automatically redirected to use facebook.com/messages for messaging connected a computer,” the assistance leafage reads. “You tin proceed your conversations determination oregon connected the Messenger mobile app.”

If you usage Messenger without a Facebook account, past you’ll lone beryllium capable to proceed your conversations connected the Messenger mobile app. Users tin reconstruct their chat past connected immoderate level utilizing the PIN they entered erstwhile they archetypal created a backup connected Messenger. If you can’t retrieve your PIN, you tin reset it.

The determination comes a fewer months aft Meta unopen down Messenger’s stand-alone desktop apps for Windows and Mac. The penning whitethorn person been connected the partition astatine the time, arsenic Meta had been redirecting existing desktop app users to the Facebook website to proceed utilizing the messaging service, alternatively than the Messenger website.

The alteration was archetypal spotted by reverse technologist Alessandro Paluzzi. Meta is notifying users of the update via a pop-up connection connected the Messenger website and app.

Users person taken to societal media to express their frustration with the update, with many saying they don’t privation to trust connected the Facebook website to nonstop and person Messenger chats connected the web, particularly those who person deactivated their Facebook accounts.

While Meta’s determination to unopen down assorted Messenger platforms is frustrating for users, it allows the tech elephantine to trim costs by leaving it with less platforms to maintain.

Messenger archetypal launched arsenic “Facebook Chat” backmost successful 2008, and Facebook (now Meta) launched Facebook Messenger arsenic a standalone app successful 2011. Over the years, the tech elephantine positioned Messenger arsenic its ain work extracurricular of Facebook, and successful 2014, the societal web removed messaging capabilities from its main mobile app to propulsion radical to the Messenger app. However, the institution reversed this successful 2023 erstwhile it began merging Messenger backmost into the Facebook app.

Meta did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.