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How to Deactivate & Delete Facebook Messenger: 6 Steps

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How to Deactivate and Delete Facebook Messenger: 6 Steps

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While </span><a href="https://www.podium.com/article/ask-for-facebook-recommendations/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Messenger had its heyday, many are turning away from the platform in favor of other communication platforms alternatives such as Instagram, webchat, and text. If you’re finding that your customers simply aren’t communicating with your brand on Facebook Messenger anymore, you may be wondering how to deactivate Facebook Messenger. Continue reading to get all of the information you need. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pros of Deactivating Facebook Messenger</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the rise of other social and communication platforms for connecting with and providing support to your customers, maintaining your Facebook account may not be your top priority. If you need to deactivate Facebook Messenger until you have support to manage it well or delete it to encourage customer communication on other channels like Instagram, text, and webchat, here are some benefits you may experience:</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Benefits of Deactivating Personal Facebook Messenger</span></h3>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Avoid future data leaks.</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Personal conversations with friends and loved ones are just that &#8211; personal. So you wouldn’t want those conversations being leaked, would you? Trust in Facebook has been strained since the personal data of over</span><a href="https://firewalltimes.com/facebook-data-breach-timeline/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">530 million Facebook users</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was leaked on a public forum in April of 2023. That’s enough to make anyone hit the deactivate button!</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Don’t worry about Facebook Messenger’s lack of privacy.</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While Facebook has said that “privacy is at the heart of Messenger—where you can be yourself with the people who matter most to you” the experts who know what it takes to fully encrypt a mobile app aren’t convinced. There are many questions about how private the Facebook messenger app actually is. If privacy matters to you, messenger probably isn’t the app for you.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Avoid allowing Facebook to profit off of your user data.</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even if Facebook did fully protect the personal data shared through Messenger from the public and potential hackers, they still have access to your data themselves. Facebook is known for harvesting user data and selling it to advertisers so they can target ads to you. Despite the fact that legislation around the protection of personal data is coming into place, for many the trust has already been broken.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Benefits of Deactivating Business Facebook Messenger</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br />
</span></h3>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Improve customer response time by using fewer platforms. </span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of your customers will want a quick response if they message you through Facebook Messenger. In fact, an </span><a href="https://themarketingsquad.com/blog/does-facebook-response-rate-and-time-matter/"><b>estimated 18% of American internet users</b></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> say they expect a response within one hour when they message a company on social media. If you just don’t have the ability to meet these expectations, deactivating Messenger can prevent customer frustration when they don’t hear anything. Avoid negative comments on your page, unfavorable recommendations or reviews, and more bad press or backlash for your company.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Deactivate Messenger only temporarily.</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Temporarily deactivating Facebook Messenger can be a convenient way to accommodate vacations or other schedule changes. Customers won’t be able to send you messages through the platform while it is deactivated, but you can easily reactivate it when you have the staff to handle your messages.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Limit the number of channels you receive messages through.</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Managing multiple messaging channels can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Deactivating Facebook Messenger can limit how many channels you receive messages through, which can make it easier to respond to your messages and gather more concise data on your customer service and marketing strategy.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cons of Deactivating Facebook Messenger</span></h2>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cons of deactivating personal Facebook messenger</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With</span><a href="https://thesmallbusinessblog.net/facebook-messenger-users/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">931 million active monthly users</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> globally, there are still many people, potentially including your friend and family who enjoy using Facebook to communicate. Facebook Messenger has stood the test of time while other social media platforms have come and gone. With that in mind, make sure you download messages and media you have shared on Facebook Messenger over the years before deactivating Messenger.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cons of Deactivating Facebook Business Messenger</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Deactivating </span><a href="https://www.podium.com/article/facebook-for-small-businesses/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook Messenger</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has some drawbacks. Facebook Messenger is the leading messaging app in the United States, with </span><a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/4625/facebook-messenger/"><b>over 126 million Americans</b></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> using Facebook Messenger on their phones. Communicating with your customers through a platform they’re comfortable with can help you better connect with them. Without Facebook Messenger, you’ll have one less tool for </span><a href="https://www.podium.com/article/7-marketing-tools-and-templates-for-better-retail-customer-engagement/"><b>customer engagement</b></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to Deactivate Personal Facebook Messenger in 5 Steps</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now your personal messenger account and your Facebook account are closely linked. You’ve got to deactivate your main Facebook account in order to deactivate your Messenger account. Do this in the “account settings” of your Facebook account and then follow this process in the messenger app.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Open Messenger app.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These steps apply to both the IOS app for iPhones and the Android app for other phones.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Click on your profile in the top left corner.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s at the top next to the ‘Chats’ title.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Click “Account Settings”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may have to scroll down a little.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">4. Click “Account Ownership and Control”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is also where you can download your information if you don’t want to lose what you’ve shared over Messenger. </span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">5. Tap “Deactivation and deletion”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you deactivate your account it can be reactivated if you log in again. Deleting your account is permanent.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to Deactivate Facebook Business Messenger in 6 Simple Steps</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a simple process to deactivate your Facebook Messenger. It only takes a few minutes when you abide by the following steps.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Log in as an Admin.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You must be logged in as an Admin to deactivate Facebook Messenger. If you already have admin privileges, you can log into your existing account. Otherwise, ask the Page’s existing Admin to change your permissions to Administrator so you can deactivate Facebook Messenger.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Click “Settings”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you’re logged in as Admin, locate “Settings” at the top of the page next to the “Help” tab. Click “Settings” to see more options.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Select “General”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you open your “Settings,” “General” should appear in the menu. Click “General” and proceed to the next step.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">4. Select “Messages”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Find where it says, “Messages” to view options for your Page’s Facebook Messenger.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">5. Uncheck “Allow people to contact my Page privately by showing the Message button”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you currently have Messenger enabled, the “Allow people to contact my Page privately by showing the Message button” should already have a checkmark next to it. Uncheck this option to deactivate Messenger.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">6. Click “Save Changes”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By clicking “Save Changes,” you will officially deactivate Facebook Messenger from your Page. And that’s it! Easy peasy.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can I deactivate Facebook Messenger without deleting Facebook?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As </span><a href="https://www.podium.com/article/facebook-messenger-symbols-explained/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook Messenger</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is an offshoot of the main Facebook platform, most of us have our messenger accounts connected to our main Facebook accounts. If this is the case, you can’t deactivate Messenger without deleting Facebook. However, if your messenger account stands alone and isn’t connected to a main Facebook account, it can be deactivated without deleting Facebook by following the above steps.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is an alternative.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to Turn Off Facebook Messenger in 5 Steps</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of deactivating Messenger and having to deactivate Facebook too, you can turn off Messenger. By turning off your Facebook Messenger account, you’ll stop getting messages while keeping your </span><a href="https://www.podium.com/article/how-to-create-business-facebook-page-without-personal-account/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook account</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Here’s how to do it.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Click on your profile picture.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Go back into the messenger app and back into your profile.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Click “Active Status”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your active status is whether other users can see if you’re online or have recently been online.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Turn your active status off.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now you’ll always be shown as inactive to other users.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">4. Click “Notifications and Sounds”.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In case any messages do come through anyway, edit your notifications.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">5. Turn “Do not Disturb” on.</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This means you won’t get any notifications from Facebook Messenger.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Messenger Alternatives</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you’ve deactivated or deleted Facebook Messenger, you can uninstall it with confidence and choose which alternative messaging app you’d like to use instead. Here are some of the most popular options.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Messenger Alternatives for Users</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How about moving your personal conversations onto one of these three apps?</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Telegram</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the go-to messaging app for users concerned with privacy and has about 500 million users. Privacy being its main feature, you can create “secret chats” that are even more secure.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Signal</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is another privacy-driven messaging app with the usual features of being able to send messages, share photos and have video calls. As well as an app, it’s also available on PCs including Apple Macs and Microsoft Windows.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. WhatsApp</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While Whatsapp is marketed as providing end-to-end encryption, many have doubts because it is owned by Facebook and therefore could share personal data with its parent company.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Messenger alternatives for Businesses</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When looking for a messaging service for your business, you have priorities other than privacy. Although that is an important one! It needs to be easy to organize, shareable with the team, and provide a good customer experience. Here are some of your options.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Web Chat</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a very convenient communication channel. It lives on</span><a href="https://www.podium.com/webchat/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">your website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, targeting site visitors considering buying from your business. Plus, the customer can do other things while waiting for a response instead of having to wait on the phone for a customer service agent.</span><a href="https://www.podium.com/webchat-in-action/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Give it a go on your website for free</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Customer Relations Management system is designed to keep communications organized, ensuring every customer gets the help they need.</span><a href="https://www.podium.com/contacts/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Using a CRM</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to organize customer profiles takes your customer experience to the next level.</span></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. WhatsApp Business</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the standard WhatsApp platform with extra features to support businesses including automated messages and a detailed business profile. If your customers already use WhatsApp, it may be worth it to meet them where they’re at.</span></p>


How to Deactivate & Delete Facebook Messenger: 6 Steps

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