Meta to shut down Messenger’s standalone website

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, has announced plans to shut down its standalone Messenger website, a move that will take effect from April 2026, as part of efforts to streamline its messaging platforms.

In a notice published on its help page, the company said users would no longer be able to access messenger.com for web-based chats and would instead be redirected to facebook.com/messages to continue messaging.

“Starting April 2026, messenger.com will no longer be available for messaging,” Meta said, adding that users would be “automatically redirected to use facebook.com/messages for messaging on a computer.” 

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Meta explained that users could continue their conversations either through the Facebook web platform or on the Messenger mobile app. Those who use Messenger without a Facebook account will only be able to access their chats via the mobile app, while chat histories can be restored using a personal identification number (PIN) created during backup setup.

The decision follows Meta’s earlier move to discontinue Messenger’s standalone desktop apps for Windows and Mac, which were shut down in late 2025, redirecting users to Facebook’s website for messaging services. 

The company said it is notifying users of the update through in-app messages and pop-up alerts on the website, giving them time to prepare for the transition.

Meanwhile, Messenger was first launched as Facebook Chat in 2008 and later introduced as a standalone service in 2011. Over the years, Meta has revised its approach, gradually reintegrating Messenger into the main Facebook platform.