Meta-owned Facebook has faced several privacy and support issues, impacting individual users and business pages. Many are opting to deactivate their Facebook tools, including Messenger, but the platform’s changing processes have complicated the task.
This blog post simplifies the steps to deactivate your Messenger account and offers a few alternatives for your communication needs.
Table of contents
Pros of deactivating Facebook Messenger
Since Facebook Messenger remains an essential communication tool for most businesses, you may feel unsure about deactivating it.
Some of the reasons prompting individual users to deactivate Facebook Messenger are:
- Keep conversations safe and private:
This is one of the major reasons for Facebook users to deactivate their Messenger account as Facebook owns all your data and is privy to all conversations. This makes many feel unsafe and uncomfortable using the platform.
- Safeguard data from leaks :
‘Facebook has had many data leak incidents where private information has been made public. Users who talk to brands or share private information with friends must avoid this channel for such conversations.
- Other social media platforms have gained popularity:
The younger generation, especially Millennials and Gen Z, have moved on to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to talk to their peers. This motivates many to deactivate Messenger and switch to other channels.
Deactivating Messenger also have a few significant benefits for businesses:
- Save data from privacy:
Facebook’s privacy policies are not very strict on data security. Deactivating Facebook Messenger can safeguard your customer data and related information from potential privacy concerns.
- Manage communications on limited channels:
Handling multiple customer interaction channels can be overwhelming. Hence, deactivating Messenger can help your business manage resources more efficiently.
- Improve response times:
Studies show that customers expect faster responses and resolutions when contacting businesses over social media. Limiting the number of channels you receive messages on can streamline interactions and boost response times.
- Focus on other platforms with high conversion rate:
While Facebook is one of the oldest social media platforms, it is no longer the primary go-to platform for generating leads. By deactivating Facebook Messenger, you can focus on other popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
Cons of deactivating Facebook Messenger
Individual users, as well as users with personal accounts on Facebook, hesitate to deactivate their Messenger accounts as it can:
- Lead to a sense of missing out on important conversations.
- Force them to leave certain chat groups where they were active or had saved important conversations.
- Prevent them from connecting with their friends who still use this platform actively.
For businesses too, having an active Facebook Messenger account can be quite helpful. Especially, if:
- You have established a substantial audience on Facebook, moving them over to a different platform can be challenging.
- Deactivating Facebook means losing out on the benefits of Facebook ads, which are a good source of generating leads, especially during the holiday season.
- Connecting with customers, who prefer social media over other channels for interactions, is important for your business.
Steps to deactivate Facebook Messenger for personal and business accounts
How to deactivate Facebook Messenger for personal accounts
If you have a personal/non-business account on Facebook, you can deactivate Facebook Messenger by deactivating your Facebook account. Meta updated this process in 2023, making it a bit more complicated, but we have the exact breakdown of the process to help you do that.
Follow these steps to deactivate Messenger on your personal Facebook account:
- Go to the Facebook Messenger app on your mobile device. This process is the same for Android and iPhone users.
- Tap the hamburger icon on the left.
- Go to the “Settings” page by tapping the gear icon.
- Scroll down to find the Meta Accounts Center option. Select “Personal details” on the next page in this section.
- Tap “Account ownership and control.”
- Next, choose “Deactivation or Deletion”. Select the Facebook or Instagram account linked to Messenger if you have multiple accounts synced.
- Note: You can only see the Messenger account once you deactivate the connected Facebook account.
- Choose “Deactivate account” and click “Continue”.
- Enter your password as validation.
- Next, choose the appropriate reason for deactivating and click “Continue”.
- On the next screen, scroll down to the bottom and toggle the “Automatically reactivate my account” to “Don’t reactivate automatically.” Click “Continue”.
- Next, you’ll notice that the platform has also deactivated the Messenger account. Read the instructions carefully and click on “Deactivate my account.”
How to delete an account on Facebook Messenger?
Businesses and individual users can only delete Messenger accounts if they deactivate or delete their Facebook accounts.
If you wish to delete your Facebook Messenger account, here’re the steps to do so:
- Open the Facebook Messenger app on your mobile device. This process works for Android and iPhone users.
- Tap the hamburger icon on the left and tap on the gear icon to go to “Settings”.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find “Meta Accounts Center”. Tap on that to go to the next page.
- Here, tap on “Personal details”.
- Next, tap on “Account ownership and Control”.
- On the next page, select “Deactivation or Deletion”. If you have multiple accounts synced, you have to choose the account you wish to delete in this step.
- Next, choose “Delete account” and tap “Continue”.
- Enter your password on the next screen and proceed with deleting your account on Facebook Messenger.
This will ensure that you delete your Facebook account, Messenger, and all connected messages.
Can I deactivate Facebook Messenger without disabling my Facebook account?
No, personal accounts cannot deactivate Facebook Messenger without deactivating or deleting the Facebook account, as they are interlinked. However, you can discourage other Facebook users from contacting you on Messenger by turning it off with the “Away” status option.
Here’re are steps to turn off Messenger from your personal Facebook account:
- Login to the Messenger app.
- Click the hamburger icon to launch the menu.
- Go to the “Settings” page by clicking the gear icon.
- Click the “Active Status” option under the “Profile section”
- Toggle “Show when you’re active” and “Show when you’re active together” to off.
This process will ensure that your friends and other Facebook users cannot see you active on Messenger.
Boost social media conversion rates with Birdeye
Want to see the impact of Birdeye on your business? Watch the Free Demo Now.
How do I deactivate Messenger on my iPhone?
You can deactivate Facebook Messenger on iPhone from the Settings tab on your app. Use the following steps to complete the process:
- Go to the Settings tab.
- Tap the Accounts center.
- Click “Personal details”.
- Tap “Deactivation or Deletion” on the next screen.
- Click “Deactivate account” and tap “Continue”.
- Follow the steps on screen to continue with the deactivation process.
- Set “Don’t reactivate automatically”.
- Click “Confirm” to complete the process.
This way, you can deactivate Messenger on iPhone without having to delete your Facebook account.
How to deactivate Facebook Messenger for business on mobile (iPhone and Android)
As of 2023, businesses cannot deactivate their Facebook Messenger account alone. If a business decides to deactivate Facebook Messenger, they must deactivate their business account. The process is similar to that of a personal account deactivating their Facebook Messenger account.
Follow these steps to deactivate your Facebook page by logging into your business account with the official email address. Once you have logged in,
- Go to the Messenger app on your mobile phone.
- Click the hamburger icon on the left.
- Click the “Settings” menu using the gear icon.
- Go to the “Settings” page by clicking the gear icon.
- Scroll down to see the Meta Accounts Center option.
- Click “Personal details” on the next page in this section.
- Click “Account ownership and control.”
- Next, click “Deactivation or Deletion”.
- Choose “Deactivate account” and click continue.
- Enter your password as validation.
- Next, choose the reason for deactivating and click continue.
- On the next screen, scroll down to the bottom and toggle the “Automatically reactivate my account” to “Don’t reactivate automatically.” Click continue.
- The next screen shows that this process also deactivates your Messenger account. Read the instructions and click “Deactivate my account.”
This process deactivates both your Messenger account and Facebook business account.
However, since most businesses may need to retain their Facebook business page, there is another option to deactivate Messenger without deactivating the Facebook business page or the official business account.
Businesses can temporarily deactivate Facebook Messenger by turning off messages for the business page.
How to turn off messaging for Facebook business pages
Follow these steps to turn off messaging on your Facebook business page:
- Login to your Facebook account connected to the business page.
- Click the profile picture in the right corner.
- Switch to the business page profile.
- Go to your business page and click “Settings” from the left side Manage page menu.
- On the next screen, choose “Privacy.”
- Locate the messaging tab and click “Edit.”
- Move to the “Allow people and pages to message your page?” option and toggle it Off.
Now, Facebook users can’t message your Page, as you have essentially deactivated Messenger without actively turning it off.
What are the alternatives to Facebook Messenger
If you decide to deactivate your Facebook Messenger account, you might be looking for some alternatives. Here’s a list of a few platforms that could come in handy:
WhatsApp, acquired by Meta in 2014, is a communication platform that emphasizes privacy and end-to-end encryption. It offers voice calls, video calls, status updates, and community features.
This tool also allows businesses to create a professional account to set up automated replies, chatbots, communities, etc., making WhatsApp for business an efficient and effective alternative to Facebook Messenger.
Telegram
Telegram is an option for those seeking a communication platform known for its privacy features. With over 500 million users, Telegram is famous for its robust security features. Customers can also connect with businesses on this platform by joining the related community threads.
Signal
Signal is also one of the top communication tools known for its privacy and diverse features. It offers voice calls, video calls, text messages, and other data transfer solutions.
Birdeye Messaging
For businesses looking to connect with customers who are in their CRM platform, visit their website, and contact them via text messages, emails, or social media platforms, Birdeye Messaging is the ultimate tool.
It allows businesses to integrate all their contacts, including existing customers, leads, visitors, and so on, and view all messages under a unified inbox. You can handle leads, book appointments, respond to queries, and set up automated responses from a single, easy-to-use dashboard.
Birdeye Messaging also has an in-built AI tool that allows you to set up templates for FAQs, respond to customers in multiple languages, view conversation summaries, and analyze your interactions in detail.
Check out our best-in-class pricing and sign up today!
FAQs on how to deactivate Messenger
No, since you can only deactivate Messenger by deactivating your Facebook account, people or pages cannot message you once you deactivate Messenger.
You can only find the deactivate option for your Facebook and Instagram accounts on the Messenger App. Deactivating your Facebook account will automatically deactivate Messenger.
To access the deactivate button on Messenger, follow this path: Messenger app → Settings —-> Meta Accounts Center —-> Personal Details —-> Account ownership and control —-> Deactivation and Deletion.
Manage customer communication with Birdeye
Facebook Messenger is an essential tool for businesses and customers looking to connect. However, the platform has a lot of privacy issues, support issues, and limited communication options, prompting many users to deactivate Messenger and move on to other communication options.
So, instead of Facebook Messenger, you can improve communication by choosing a neutral and customized communication platform like Birdeye Messaging.
Birdeye Messaging allows businesses to customize the platform to their needs, use AI to improve their responses and enhance customer experience.
Originally published
