RIP to the Facebook Messenger desktop app. The native apps for Mac and Windows will no longer be available to users starting today, December 15, 2025, and existing users will be directed to the Facebook website to continue using the popular messaging service.
Messenger’s desktop app originally launched at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it couldn’t handle as many video call participants as business-focused rivals like Zoom, nor did it offer screen sharing or easy-to-share URLs.
Even before the company announced its closure plans in October, the writing was on the wall about the app’s declining importance to Meta.
In 2023, Facebook began integrating Messenger into the Facebook app.
Most recently, the company transitioned the technology behind the desktop version of its app. According to Meta’s help documentation, Messenger for Mac is built using Catalyst, which allows developers to bring iPad apps to the Mac. This technology has received criticism from both developers and users. Developers noted the extra work required, while users found the app lacked a native feel.
According to a former meta software engineer, before the Catalyst version came out, Mac apps were Electron apps, which were later migrated to React Native Desktop apps.
On Windows, apps moved to progressive web apps last year.
The downgrade likely affected user demand for standalone Mac apps, while the strategy to bring Messenger back to Facebook suggests Meta is looking to shore up declining usage of its aging flagship social network.
The company warned users this fall that Messenger’s desktop app would be phased out by the end of the year, and recommended they set up a PIN and save their chat history before moving to the web.
Users using Messenger without a Facebook account will be redirected to Messenger.com after the shutdown and will be able to log in without creating a Facebook account.
More information for users about the transition is available in Facebook’s Help Center, with separate sections for Mac and Windows users.
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