You Can Now Use Facebook Messenger Without A Facebook Account, Know How
With over one billion users worldwide, Facebook Messenger is now one of the biggest messaging platforms worldwide. In order to have a Facebook Messenger app on your device, you need to have an active Facebook account.
However, there are a lot of reasons that many people may not want to use Facebook but only the Messenger app. For instance, Facebook staples like pyramid schemes, political debates, and pointless status updates can fill some users with rage and using such a social media site is a big no-no for them. Similarly, there are users who are not interested in keeping up with friends online and rather catch up over a cup of coffee or on the phone instead of through liking each other’s perfect social media posts.
But, what about those people who want to keep in touch with certain people who are not on any other platform except for Facebook Messenger. In such a scenario, is it possible to use Facebook Messenger app without having an active Facebook account? Yes, it is.
You can stay in touch with your friends via Facebook Messenger, by following the steps below:
1. Open Facebook’s deactivate account page.
2. Ignore the photos of the people who will apparently miss you and scroll to the bottom.
3. The last option says you can continue using Facebook Messenger even if you deactivate your account. Make sure this is not checked and just leave it as is.
4. Scroll down and hit Deactivate.
5. Now, your Facebook account will be deactivated. All your Facebook data will be safe until you are ready to log in again.
Go ahead and open the Messenger app using your old Facebook credentials on your smartphone or log in via the website on your PC. You will notice that you can continue chatting with all your friends without losing any of your data.
Please note that your deactivated Facebook account doesn’t get reactivated, if you are using Messenger. Your friends will only be able to contact you via the chat window in Facebook or the Messenger app.
If you want to use Messenger and don’t have a Facebook account, then follow the instructions mentioned below:
1. Download Facebook Messenger on iOS, Android, or Windows Phone.
2. Open the app and enter your phone number.
3. Tap Continue.
4. You will get a code via SMS to confirm your number.
5. Once you have done that you can key in phone numbers of your friends and start messaging them.
Facebook Messenger tied to phone number (no Facebook account) is not so convenient:
– If you have several smartphones and tablets, you can’t have the same Messenger account because it’s tied to the phone number. (Although, I was able to have the same Messenger account open in two iPhones).
– There’s no Windows desktop version
Messaging apps (Hangouts, Skype) that can be opened, using the same account, on multiple devices are more practical.
Viber is a bit more functional than Messenger. Viber (same account) is limited to 1 smartphone (primary device) but can be opened in, theoretically, an unlimited number of secondary devices (tablets, computers).
If you’re using just one smartphone, then Messenger is fine. If you’re working on several computers, smartphones and tablets, having to go back to that 1 smartphone just to see messages is not practical.