Meta to Shut Down Messenger Website in April 2026

Meta to Shut Down Messenger Website in April 2026
—————————
Meta Platforms Inc. has announced that it will officially discontinue the standalone Messenger website, with the service set to be shut down in April 2026, according to a help page update from the company.

As a result of the change, the web-based Messenger site will no longer be available, and users who access Messenger without a Meta Platforms Facebook account will only be able to continue their conversations via the Messenger mobile app, TechCrunch reported.

Users will still be able to restore their chat history on any platform by using the personal PIN they entered when first creating a backup in Messenger. If a user does not remember their PIN, they can reset it before the shutdown takes effect.

The decision follows Meta’s recent closures of standalone Messenger desktop apps for Windows and macOS. In recent years, Meta had increasingly directed users of the current desktop app to access messaging through the main Facebook website instead of the Messenger site, signaling a shift toward consolidation.

While Meta’s move to reduce the number of Messenger platforms has disappointed some users, it is expected to help the company cut costs by simplifying maintenance across its services.

Messenger was first launched in 2008 as Facebook Chat and was introduced as a standalone app by Facebook (now Meta) in 2011. Over the years, it became established as a separate service. In 2014, Facebook removed messaging from its main mobile app to encourage use of the Messenger app, a decision the company partially reversed in 2023 by reintegrating Messenger features into the Facebook app.