Messenger App for Windows and Mac Shut Down by Meta

Key Points

• Announcement: Meta is shutting down the Messenger app for Windows and Mac PCs to streamline support.
• Timeline: Users will receive notifications and have 60 days to use the app before it is removed.
• Chat History: Users can save their chat history if secure storage is enabled with a PIN.
• Usage Impact: The desktop app’s removal won’t prevent users from accessing Messenger through the Facebook website.

In news that likely won’t have a huge impact, Meta has announced that it’s shutting down its separate Messenger app for both Windows and Mac PCs, in order to streamline support for its various tools and applications.

As reported by Appleinsider, on Meta’s Help page for its Messenger desktop apps, there’s now an explainer outlining the retirement of the apps, and your alternatives.

As per Meta:

“The Messenger app for Mac is being deprecated. After deprecation, you won’t be able to log into this app and will be automatically redirected to use the Facebook website for messaging.

Meta says that users of its desktop apps will soon receive an in-app notification about the deprecation process, from which they’ll have 60 days to use the app before it’s removed.

“Once the 60 days are over, you’ll be blocked from using the Mac Messenger app. We encourage you to delete the app since it will no longer be usable.”

(Note: You can read the same for the Windows version here.)

Meta says that your chat history will be saved if you’ve turned on secure storage and set up a PIN from your desktop app. Though most of your chats will be available in the app version either way, it might still be worth updating your storage options if you’ve been a regular user of the desktop variations.

Meta originally launched the desktop versions of Messenger back in 2020, with the main focus at the time being to facilitate connection during COVID-19, particularly via video chats.

Indeed, at the time of launch, Facebook noted that video calling on both Messenger and WhatsApp had more than doubled, while Zoom was seeing a massive spike in interest, as people sought alternative ways to stay connected amid the lockdowns.

But since then, video chat tools have declined in popularity, and clearly, Meta’s desktop messaging apps haven’t seen significant usage as a result.

To be clear, once these apps are gone, you will still be able to use Meta’s messaging tools via your desktop PC; you just won’t have a dedicated app for such. But log into Facebook and you’ll still be able to connect to your chats and send messages from your PC.

So functionally, it’s not a major change, but it will impact some people who’ve gotten used to logging in via these desktop applications.