How To Deactivate Or Delete Facebook Messenger

August 30, 2024 By Johan Curtis No Comments 6 minutes

With cyber threats being the hot-button issue of tech advancements, not all messaging apps, such as Facebook Messenger, ensure the highest data security standards. That’s where you may want to find out how to deactivate Facebook Messenger easily. This article covers brief tutorials on how to delete a Messenger account on different devices and alternative platforms.

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Despite 1 billion Messenger users, poor data security is still a cause of concern for many. As a result, various people now search for “how to deactivate Messenger.”

But let’s not blame data security for all the uninstallations. It can be a social detox or saving up on extra storage; this article covers various ways of deleting Facebook Messenger on different devices. Also, find out about the best Facebook messenger alternatives, where we wrap up with the frequently asked questions and a brief conclusion.

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How to Deactivate Messenger

Unlike past, deactivating your Facebook Messenger account is complex and time-consuming. To make things easier, here’s a quick way for how to deactivate Messenger:

Launch Messenger on your smartphone.
Navigate the 3 horizontal lines from the top corner-left of the screen. Select it.
Tap on the gear icon. This will open Account Settings.
Select Account Center>Personal details>Account Ownership and Control.
Tap on Deactivation or Deletion.
Select Deactivate Account and tap on Continue.

Deactivate Messenger on Android and iOS

Follow these steps, and you will have your Meta Facebook Messenger app deactivated on your smartphone in no time:

Open the Facebook Messenger app on your phone.
Click on the Three lines (menu) icon
Now, click on the Gear icon for Settings.
Proceed to See more in Accounts Center > Click on Personal Details
Navigate Account Ownership and Control > Click on Deactivation and Deletion.
Choose Deactivate Account and confirm by clicking on the box next to it.
Return to the Deactivating or deleting your Messenger account window> Deactivate account
Click Continue > Deactivate my account.

How to Deactivate Messenger on Laptop

Note: Deactivating Messenger will automatically deactivate your Facebook account, but it will not deactivate Messenger.

Facebook Messenger’s interface differs depending on the device you’re using. You must first deactivate your Facebook account and then deactivate Messenger for a laptop. In this section, we’ll cover 2 tutorials, i.e., how to deactivate Messenger on your computer (ultimately deactivating your Facebook account) and how you can deactivate Facebook (it will not deactivate your Messenger account).

Here are both briefly mentioned:

Deactivate Messenger on Laptop

Here’s how to deactivate Messenger on the laptop. This will also deactivate your Facebook account:

Launch the Messenger app.
Navigate to Settings and Privacy > Settings
Scroll to the bottom. Navigate to the Accounts Center and click on See more.
Select Personal Details.
Click on Account ownership and control > Deactivation or deletion.
Click on Continue to Facebook account deactivation and deletion.
Type your Facebook account password and click on Continue.

Deactivate Facebook on Laptop

This tutorial will only deactivate Facebook, but not Messenger. Here’s how to deactivate your Facebook account on your laptop:

Launch Facebook in a web browser and sign in.
Click on your profile icon located at the top-right corner of the screen. You’ll now see an expanded Menu.
Select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
Go to Accounts Centre in the screen’s top-left.
Click Personal Details > Account Ownership And Control.
Finally, click on Deactivation and Deletion.
Now, click on any one of the options that you want to proceed with.

How to Deactivate Messenger Without Deactivating Facebook

You can’t deactivate Messenger without deactivating your Facebook account. Due to the recent updates, you can’t use Messenger alone, i.e., without it being tied to Facebook. You might have noticed that Messenger appears when you swipe left. You don’t need the separate app anymore. To deactivate Messenger or Facebook, you must deactivate your overall account.

How Do I Permanently Delete Messenger?

You can permanently delete Messenger only by deactivating your Facebook account. If your Facebook account is active, your Messenger account will also be active. If you plan on finding how to deactivate Facebook Messenger to delete Messenger permanently, here’s how to do so. However, you must remember that activating your Facebook account will also activate Messenger.

Launch Facebook Messenger on your smartphone or use the browser version on your computer.
Click on the three lines on the top left of your screen.
Now, tap on the Gear icon.
Click on Account Center > Personal Details > Account ownership and control
Choose Deactivations and Deletion>Delete Account.
Tap on Continue.
Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm the action.

This process will deactivate your account for 30 days. If you log back into your Facebook account now, your account won’t be deleted.

Why Must You Deactivate Messenger?

With Hootsuite reporting that Facebook Messenger will have 980 million in 2023, it is a popular choice for many. However, various reasons now contribute to people wanting to deactivate Messenger; here are 3 reasons why you may want to know how to delete Messenger account:

1. Data Privacy Concerns

People mostly decide to learn how to deactivate Facebook Messenger for data privacy reasons. While most of us know of Facebook’s robust data collection policies, the tech giant shares these user behaviors. Meanwhile, Facebook has notoriously been involved in past data breaches, making Messenger an unsafe option for many.

2. Closed Source Code

Messenger features closed-source code, which is unavailable for independent review. This limits user control since users are unaware of how their data is handled. Meanwhile, the lack of transparency is a clear red flag, resulting in potential uninstallations and discovering how to deactivate Facebook Messenger.

3. Facebook-Cambridge Analytical Data Scandal

In 2018, it was reported that a firm known as Cambridge Analytica harvested data of millions of Facebook users in 2014. In what became Facebook’s biggest scandal, the social media giant has been threading privacy concerns ever since.

It sparked outrage and calls for quitting Facebook, which trended under the #DeleteFacebook hashtag, leading to people searching for “how to deactivate Messenger.” Many also uninstalled Messenger.

FAQs - How to Deactivate Messenger

How do I temporarily deactivate Facebook?

Here’s how you can temporarily deactivate your Facebook account on your Desktop:

Press the "MENU" in the top right of Facebook.
Navigate to "Settings & Privacy," then click on "Settings."
Click "Personal and account information"
Click on "Account ownership and control" > "Deactivation and Deletion."
Choose "Deactivate Account" then click "Continue to Account Deactivation."
Follow the prompts to confirm your decision and provide a reason for deactivating.

Why is there no deactivate button on my Messenger?

According to the recent updates, you can’t deactivate Messenger and Facebook separately. Deactivating Facebook will simultaneously deactivate your Messenger account. And activating your Facebook or Messenger will activate both your accounts.

How do I stop receiving messages on Facebook Messenger?

You can filter out the messages to stop receiving specific messages on Facebook. You can do that by changing your account's Privacy and Security Settings. Here's how you can do that:

Open the Messenger app.
Go to Privacy and Safety.
Choose Message delivery.
Select the people for whom you want to control messages.

How do I delete a Facebook Messenger chat?

Here's how to delete your Facebook Messenger chat on your mobile:

Open the Messenger app.
Press and hold the chat you want to delete.
Click on Delete right under Archive.

Final Note

This article briefly covered how to deactivate Facebook Messenger and ways to deactivate your Facebook account as well. While Facebook has been in the hot waters due to allegations that it is risking user privacy and security, many people now have a way to discover how to deactivate Facebook Messenger for enhanced data safety.

However, it would be best if you remembered that the online world never promises data safety. To ensure complete data protection, you must always use a reliable VPN, like FastestVPN, for enhanced digital protection.