Apps have become one of the most convenient ways to instantly access services and simplify everyday tasks, all while obtaining a personalized experience.
However, as efficient as they are, apps can also be costly to maintain, and their profitability doesn’t always justify ongoing support.
For this reason, Facebook has decided to discontinue one of its most popular apps after five years.
Facebook’s parent company Meta is shutting down the Messenger desktop app for Mac and Windows. Beginning December 15, users will no longer be able to log into the standalone app and will instead be redirected to the Facebook online website to continue messaging.
On the day of the official shutdown, users will receive an in-app notification. According to Facebook’s help tab, Mac users will have 60 days to continue using the Messenger desktop app before it is fully retired. After that, access will be blocked.
Those with Messenger-only accounts that don’t have a Facebook profile will be able to use Messenger.com to log in and continue chatting without creating a Facebook account.
Meta encourages users to delete the app once it becomes inactive, since it will no longer be usable.
How to preserve Messenger’s chat history
To save the Messenger’s chat history, users must enable secure storage and set up a PIN from the desktop app before transitioning to the web version.
Once this is done, all chat history will remain accessible online.
How to check whether Messenger secure storage is enabled:
- Click Settings above the profile photo.
- Click Privacy & Safety.
- Click End-to-End Encrypted Chats.
- Click Message Storage.
- Ensure Turn on Secure Storage is activated.
Meta’s Messenger desktop app: history
The Messenger desktop app version was introduced in 2020, during the height of the Covid pandemic, to give users a more convenient way to stay connected throughout the period of social distancing.
At the time, Meta reported a surge in activity, with total messaging increasing more than 50% in March 2020, while voice and video calls on Messenger and WhatsApp more than doubled, especially in countries most affected by lockdowns.
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User engagement across Meta’s platforms, including feeds and stories, also spiked as people sought to stay in touch with loved ones. However, Meta’s business faced challenges, since many of its services weren’t directly monetized by higher engagement, and ad revenue declined in regions implementing strict pandemic measures.
Meta’s new business strategy
Most recently, Meta’s second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2025 revealed that total revenue increased 22% year over year, daily active users were up 6% to nearly 3.5 billion, and ad impressions rose 9%. Yet expenses also climbed, increasing 12% to $27.1 billion.
One fast-growing area for Meta is Artificial Intelligence (AI). The company recently launched Meta Superintelligence Labs, dedicated to developing advanced models and innovative products such as Llama 4.1 and 4.2.
“Meta’s vision is to bring personal superintelligence to everyone — so that people can direct it towards what they value in their own lives. We believe this has the potential to begin an exciting new era of individual empowerment,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an earnings call.
As part of this superintelligence initiative, Meta is focusing on business messaging and AI integration, testing products in some markets that embed AI capabilities into Facebook and Instagram ads, as well as directly into e-commerce platforms.
While shutting down the Messenger desktop app may seem inconvenient, Meta’s decision could streamline the user experience. By consolidating messaging through the web version, users gain consistent access across desktop devices without needing to download or update separate apps.
Related: Apple drops a popular app at US government’s request