End of an Era: Meta Announces Messenger Desktop App Shutdown for Windows and Mac on December 15th

Meta is officially retiring its standalone Messenger desktop applications for both Windows and macOS, marking a significant shift in how users access the popular messaging service on their computers. The Meta Messenger Desktop App Shutdown is scheduled for December 15, 2025, and users are being advised to transition to web-based alternatives immediately.

What the Shutdown Means for Users
After the December 15th deadline, users will no longer be able to log in or use the dedicated Messenger apps. Meta is beginning a deprecation process now, and users will receive in-app notifications—specifically, Mac users will have a 60-day grace period from when they receive the alert before the app becomes completely unusable.

Meta is directing all desktop users to utilize the following alternatives to continue their conversations:

Directly via the Facebook Website: Both Windows and Mac users can access Messenger through the web version of Facebook.

Facebook Desktop App (Windows Only): Windows users have the option to continue messaging through the full Facebook desktop application.

This move follows Meta’s earlier effort in September 2024 to replace the original Messenger apps with a Progressive Web App (PWA), making the transition to a browser-based experience complete.

How to Ensure Your Chat History is Safe
To avoid any loss of conversations during this transition, Meta strongly recommends that users turn on Secure Storage and set up a PIN. This step ensures that all chat history is preserved and automatically synced across all supported platforms once a user switches to the web version.

To check Secure Storage status:

Open Messenger and click the Settings icon.

Go to Privacy & safety.

Under End-to-end encrypted chats, select Message storage.

Confirm that “Turn on secure storage” is enabled.

For those using Messenger with a dedicated Messenger-only account (without a full Facebook profile), Meta has clarified that they will still be able to log in via the Messenger online client.

The Meta Messenger Desktop App Shutdown highlights a growing trend among tech companies to consolidate services and prioritize web-based and mobile platforms, pushing users towards more streamlined, cross-platform solutions.