RIP to Facebook Messenger’s desktop app. The native app for Mac and Windows is no longer available to users as of today, December 15, 2025, and existing users are being directed to the Facebook website to continue using the popular messaging service.
Though originally launched at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Messenger’s desktop app couldn’t handle as many video call participants as business-focused rivals like Zoom, and didn’t offer screensharing or easy-to-share URLs.
The writing was on the wall for the app’s declining importance to Meta, even before the company announced its shutdown plans this October.
In 2023, Facebook began merging Messenger back into the Facebook app.
More recently, the company shifted the technology underpinning the app’s desktop version. According to Meta’s help documentation, Messenger for Mac was built with Catalyst, which lets developers bring iPad apps to the Mac. That technology has received criticism for both developers and users — developers cited the extra work required, while users noticed apps’ lack of a native feel.
Before its Catalyst version, the Mac app was an Electron app that later migrated to a React Native Desktop app, according to a former Meta software engineer.
On Windows, the app transitioned to a progressive web app last year.
The downgrades likely impacted user demand for a standalone Mac app, while the strategy of moving Messenger back to Facebook suggested Meta was attempting to shore up declining usage of its aging flagship social network.
This fall, the company warned users that Messenger’s desktop app would be deprecated by year end, and encouraged users to set up a PIN to save their chat history before moving to the web.
People who use Messenger without a Facebook account are being redirected to Messenger.com after the shutdown, where they’ll be able to log in without creating a Facebook account.
More information for users about the transition is available on Facebook’s help center, with separate sections for Mac users and Windows users.
