Messenger desktop app after Meta shut it down
Meta ended the standalone Messenger apps for Mac and Windows, and its help center now sends computer users to the web. Pake can wrap that web client in a window of its own, with its own icon and desktop alerts. Build it on https://www.facebook.com/messages, the address a February 2026 Meta notice, as reported, names as the destination, then sign in and test notifications and calls before you rely on it. What the web version lacks is lacking here too.
What Meta says as of November 2026
Meta's help article on downloading Messenger says: "The Messenger desktop app for Mac and Windows is no longer available. To use Messenger on a computer, visit messenger.com on a web browser." TechCrunch reported that logins to the apps stopped on December 15, 2025, with Mac users getting 60 days before the app was fully deprecated.
The web address has also moved. In February 2026 Meta told users, in a notice quoted by Social Media Today, that "starting April 2026, messenger.com will no longer be available for messaging" and that people would be "automatically redirected to use facebook.com/messages for messaging on a computer". The same notice says people who use Messenger without a Facebook account can continue their conversations in the mobile app. Meta's own help center does not carry that notice; its page on using Messenger without Facebook says you need a Facebook account to use Messenger.
On 4 November 2026 the two addresses still behaved differently when signed out: messenger.com showed its own Messenger log-in page, and facebook.com/messages sent the visitor to the Facebook log-in page with /messages as the return address. Meta's help pages still label their steps "Desktop web (messenger.com)".
Pick the address first
A Pake app's native features, including desktop notifications, apply only to the exact origin you package: scheme, host and port. The address you build on has to be the one Messenger settles on after sign-in.
https://www.facebook.com/messages is the safer choice. If Meta redirects messenger.com there, you have packaged the final address. If messenger.com keeps working, facebook.com/messages still loads the same conversations. It needs a Facebook account, which Meta's help center says Messenger requires anyway.
To confirm on a Mac, sign in once in the new app and press Cmd L, which runs Copy URL from the Edit menu, then paste the address somewhere. Windows and Linux builds have no Copy URL shortcut, so sign in at the same address in a browser and read the address bar. If it ends up on https://www.messenger.com, rebuild with that address.
Build it with the CLI
After the CLI setup (Node.js 20.9 or later and Rust 1.85 or later):
npm install -g pake-cli
pake https://www.facebook.com/messages --name Messenger --width 1100 --height 760 --hide-on-close --show-system-tray --camera --microphone--hide-on-close hides the window instead of quitting, which is already the default on Mac and off on Windows and Linux. --show-system-tray adds a tray icon. --camera and --microphone add the macOS entitlements and are ignored on Windows and Linux. On Linux, pass --targets with deb, rpm, appimage or zst for one package format; the CLI options list them all, and on a Mac --install puts the app straight into Applications.
Think twice before copying the CLI reference's /messages-only --internal-url-regex example. The regex replaces the default same-site rule, so a clicked link to any other facebook.com page, such as a profile or a shared post, opens in your browser instead of the window.
Or use the Pake desktop app
On Mac (macOS 14 or later), Windows (x64 and ARM64) and Linux (Arch and Omarchy, x86_64), the Pake desktop app builds the same thing without a terminal. On the Create tab paste https://www.facebook.com/messages, set the name to Messenger, and turn on Hide on close; on Windows that also turns on the tray icon. Click Create App. Its manual lists no camera or microphone setting, so on a Mac test a call in the app you made before relying on it.
On Ubuntu, Fedora and other non-Arch distributions, use the CLI.
Sign in
Open the app and sign in with your Facebook account. Leave --incognito (Incognito in the desktop app) off, because it keeps no sign-ins, cookies or site data. Quit and reopen once to confirm you are not asked again.
Sign-in pop-ups stay in the current window on Mac and Linux and open as pop-ups on Windows. If a log-in step opens in your browser instead, turn on Open new windows in the app (--new-window on the CLI). On a Mac, passkeys and Touch ID sign-in are not available in Pake apps, so use a password and a two-factor code. Some providers block embedded browsers, and Google is the documented case; Meta's position on embedded windows is not documented, so the first sign-in is the test; the sign-in guide covers failures.
Restore encrypted chat history
Meta's help page on restoring chats with a PIN says your end-to-end encrypted chat history is stored in your backup on Messenger, and that "when you log in to Messenger on a new device, you'll be asked to enter your PIN". It is the PIN you chose when you created the backup. Messenger cannot reset the PIN or restore the backup for you.
If you forgot it, reset it on a device where you created it or entered it before. In the Messenger phone app that is Menu, Settings, Privacy & safety, End-to-end encrypted chats, Message storage, then Reset PIN. The same page says a mobile device that has used Messenger can also restore chats with a one-time code, and it links further options such as a 40-character code.
TechCrunch reported that Meta recommended turning on secure storage and a PIN before the desktop apps ended, and that history would be available on all platforms once people moved to Facebook. Check Message storage in the phone app before you rely on the window.
How alerts reach you
Pake replaces the page's Notification API with its own and reports permission as already granted, so Messenger never shows a browser-style prompt. Alerts go to the operating system, and the notifications guide explains the path. Only the exact packaged origin gets this bridge, which is why the address matters.
Test it by having someone message you while the window is in the background. Web push alerts for a closed page are not handled, so keep the app running with Hide on close and the tray icon. On Windows and Linux, clicking an alert may not open the right conversation, because Pake guesses the click from window focus. Messenger's own Do not disturb toggle under Preferences, or a system Focus mode, also silences alerts.
Calls: what to test
Meta's call help describes the web steps: pick a conversation below Chats, then choose Audio call or Video call at the top right. In a Pake window the call runs in the system WebView, WKWebView on Mac, WebView2 on Windows and WebKitGTK on Linux. Pake adds no calling feature.
Test in this order: an audio call you place, an audio call you receive, a video call both ways, and whether the other person hears and sees you. On a Mac, build with --camera --microphone; macOS asks for permission on first use, and without the flags a Pake app does not request camera or microphone access. Windows and Linux have no documented flag, so what matters is the result on your own system.
If a call fails, use the phone app or a regular browser; Pake cannot override what the web client or the engine allows.
Two accounts
For a personal and a work Facebook account, build two apps with different names so each keeps its own sign-in:
pake https://www.facebook.com/messages --name Messenger-Work --camera --microphoneThe identifier comes from the address and the name, so the second app installs separately and starts signed out. The two accounts guide covers the pattern, including Add Another Account in the desktop app.
The same approach works for Instagram and WhatsApp on Linux. The page updates on each load, the Pake runtime does not, so update pake-cli and rebuild with the same address and name when you want a newer one.
FAQ
Is there still an official Messenger app for Mac or Windows?
No. Meta's help page says it is no longer available. Use the web client, a window of your own, or the phone app.
Do I need a Facebook account?
Yes. Meta's help center says you need a Facebook account to use Messenger, and the reported February notice points people without one to the mobile app.
Will my old encrypted chats show up?
They depend on your backup. Enter your PIN when Messenger asks, and use the phone app to reset it or restore with a one-time code.
Can I make video calls?
Messenger offers them on the web, but the system engine decides what works, so run the call test above.