Messenger on Mac after the desktop app and messenger.com shut down

As of October 2026, the only official way to use Messenger on a Mac is facebook.com/messages in a web browser. Meta shut down the Messenger desktop app for Mac and Windows on 15 December 2025, then retired messenger.com for messaging in April 2026. The Messenger iPhone app isn’t offered for Macs either, and if you use Messenger without a Facebook account, messaging from a computer’s browser is no longer an option.

This page sets out the dated timeline, every way you can still use Messenger on a Mac, how to keep your chat history, and what to do if you want Messenger in one inbox with your other chats. One thing up front: Tera Chat, our Mac app, doesn’t support Messenger, so this guide recommends other tools where Messenger matters.

What happened to Messenger on desktop: the timeline

When	What changed	Source
October 2025	Meta announces the end of its Messenger desktop apps for Mac and Windows; Mac users are told they have 60 days left to use the app	TechCrunch, 16 Oct 2025
15 December 2025	The desktop apps stop working; logging in redirects to Facebook’s website	TechCrunch
February 2026	Meta says messenger.com will close in April 2026	TechCrunch, 19 Feb 2026
April 2026	messenger.com stops working for messaging (reported as 16 April) and sends people to facebook.com/messages	IBTimes
October 2026	Meta’s help center: “The Messenger desktop app for Mac and Windows is no longer available”; it tells computer users to visit facebook.com/messages	Meta Help Center

Reports differ by a day or two on the exact April date; Meta’s own pages give the month, not the day. Depending on where you load it from, that help page sometimes still says messenger.com; Meta’s own messenger.com shutdown notice, quoted by TechCrunch, says you’ll be redirected to facebook.com/messages.

How to use Messenger on a Mac now

Your choice comes down to whether you have a Facebook account.

Option	Needs	Good for	Limits
facebook.com/messages in a browser	A Facebook account	Everyday messaging on a Mac	One more browser tab
Safari or Chrome web app	A Facebook account; macOS Sonoma or later for Safari	A Messenger window with its own Dock icon	Still the website underneath
iPhone Mirroring	An iPhone on iOS 18+, a Mac on macOS Sequoia 15+ with Apple silicon or a T2 chip	Messenger-only accounts, and app-only features	Not available in the EU; the iPhone must be locked and nearby
A unified inbox that supports Messenger (Beeper)	A Facebook account	Messenger in one list with WhatsApp, Telegram and others	Third-party; Messenger-only accounts don’t work

Option 1: facebook.com/messages in your browser

1. Go to facebook.com/messages in Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge.
2. Log in with your Facebook account. Your Messenger chats appear in the list.
3. If you have end-to-end encrypted chats, enter your Messenger PIN when asked so your history can be restored.

Option 2: Give Messenger its own Dock icon

In Safari on macOS Sonoma or later, open facebook.com/messages and choose File > Add to Dock. Apple says the web app “shares no browsing history, cookies, website data, or settings with Safari” (Apple), so you log in once inside it, and allowing notifications inside the web app gives you Dock badges. In Chrome, use the More menu > Cast, save, and share > Install page as app (Google).

Option 3: Use the iPhone app through iPhone Mirroring

The Messenger iPhone app lists iPhone, iPad and iPod touch compatibility only, so the Mac App Store doesn’t offer it. iPhone Mirroring gets around that by showing your iPhone’s screen in a window on your Mac, so you can use the real Messenger app with your keyboard and trackpad. Apple’s requirements: a Mac with Apple silicon or a T2 chip on macOS Sequoia 15 or later, an iPhone on iOS 18 or later with a passcode, the same Apple Account with two-factor authentication on both, and the iPhone locked and nearby. Apple says it’s “currently unavailable in the European Union.”

If you have a Messenger-only account (one without Facebook), this is the only way we found to use it from a Mac.

Option 4: Messenger in a unified inbox

If you want Messenger chats in the same list as WhatsApp, Telegram or Instagram, Beeper supports it. Its help center says you connect it by choosing Facebook under Settings > Accounts > Add an Account, that it needs a personal Facebook account (Messenger-only accounts and business Pages aren’t supported), and that Facebook audio and video calls, Stories and Reels aren’t supported. Like any third-party client, it’s unofficial; we cover what that means in are all-in-one messaging apps safe?

Keep your Messenger chat history when you switch

Messenger’s end-to-end encrypted chats only follow you to a new device if they’re backed up. When Meta closed the desktop apps it advised turning on secure storage and setting a PIN first. As TechCrunch described Meta’s steps: open settings, go to Privacy & safety > End-to-end encrypted chats > Message storage, and make sure Turn on secure storage is on. Later, on facebook.com/messages, entering that PIN restores your history. If you’ve forgotten the PIN, Meta lets you reset it.

If you don’t have a Facebook account

Since messenger.com closed, people who used Messenger without a Facebook account can only keep chatting in the mobile app, according to TechCrunch. On a Mac, your options are iPhone Mirroring (option 3), or creating a Facebook account so you can use facebook.com/messages.

Does Tera Chat support Messenger?

No. Tera Chat doesn’t support Facebook Messenger. It connects iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Tinder, and runs only on Macs with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later.

If Messenger is one of several chat apps you use, here’s an honest way to split it:

• Messenger is your main app: use facebook.com/messages as a Dock web app, or Beeper if you want a unified inbox that includes it.
• Messenger is a minor app and the rest is iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram: a Mac inbox like Tera Chat can hold those four. Messenger isn’t one of them, so keep it in its own Dock window. Our guide to combining WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram and Instagram in one Mac app explains how each connects.

If it’s Instagram DMs you were really after, those still work in a Mac browser: see how to read and reply to Instagram DMs on a Mac. For every network’s Mac options side by side, see the best messaging apps for Mac.

The short version

• The Messenger Mac app ended on 15 December 2025, and messenger.com closed for messaging in April 2026.
• On a Mac, use facebook.com/messages, ideally as a Dock web app.
• No Facebook account? Use iPhone Mirroring or your phone.
• Turn on secure storage and set a PIN so your chat history comes with you.
• Want Messenger in a unified inbox? Beeper supports it; Tera Chat doesn’t.