Only Messenger
Facebook's Feed, Reels and Marketplace are hidden. Carrier shows only your conversations.
Free & open source · v3.0.1
Messenger, back on your desktop.
Meta retired the Messenger desktop app. Carrier brings it home - your chats in one clean, quiet little window, with none of the Facebook extras. Sign in with your usual account and you're all set.
macOS · Windows · Linux - the whole app is about 4 MB
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A quick backstory
Why Carrier exists
Wasn't there a Messenger desktop app once?
Meta discontinued it a while back.
Shame - I liked having my chats in their own window.
Try Carrier. It's a desktop app that shows Messenger in its own window ✈️
Same Messenger, same account - free and open source.
Delivered ✓
What's inside
Everything Carrier adds to Messenger
Reply from notifications
Reply, react or mark as read without opening Carrier. Notifications show the sender's photo.
Unread count on the Dock or taskbar
Show the number or just a dot, in the Dock, taskbar, menu bar or tray.
Hide that you're typing
The people you chat with don't see “typing…” while you write.
Right-click menus
React to, reply to or forward a message. Mute, archive or mark a conversation as read.
Themes and app icons
Nine themes, an accent color, a message font and four app icons.
Schedule messages
Write a message now and send it at a date and time you choose.
Export conversations
Save a conversation as an HTML or JSON file, straight from this computer.
About 4 MB
Carrier uses your computer's own web engine instead of bundling a browser.
Notifications
Reply, react or mark as read from the notification.
Notifications show the sender's photo, or the group's picture. Pause them for an hour or until tomorrow morning, and Messenger's own Do Not Disturb, set on your phone or in Carrier, silences them too.
Scheduled messages
Write it now, send it later.
Type a message, click the clock next to the emoji button and pick a time: in 15 minutes, in an hour, this evening, tomorrow morning, or any date and time you choose. Carrier sends it for you while it's running and online. You can change or cancel it until then.
Appearance
Themes, accent colors and app icons.
Pick from nine themes, from Graphite and Sage to Pink and Terminal, in light or dark, or import your own. Choose an accent color and a message font, and one of four app icons, with a different one for dark mode if you like.
Privacy
What Carrier does with your data
No Carrier server
You sign in on Facebook's own page, and your messages go straight between your computer and Facebook.
No tracking
Carrier adds no analytics, and it blocks Facebook's own telemetry by default.
Open source
Every line is on GitHub under the MIT license. Read it, or build Carrier yourself.
Privacy settings
Hide that you're typing, hide names and photos for screen sharing, or hide message previews in notifications.
Compare
How Carrier compares
Other ways to get Messenger on your desktop.
| Carrier | Messenger Next | Caprine | Ferdium | A browser tab | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Made for | Messenger | Messenger | Messenger | Many services in one app | All of Facebook, Feed included |
| Mac download | 4.1 MB | 10.1 MB | 102.9 MB | 167.6 MB | – |
| Windows installer | 3.0 MB | 4.1 MB | 82.3 MB | 135.6 MB | – |
| Built on | Your system's web engine | Your system's web engine | Electron (a whole Chromium inside) | Electron (a whole Chromium inside) | Your browser |
| Source code | Open (MIT) | Closed | Open (MIT) | Open (Apache 2.0) | – |
| Latest release | November 2026 | September 2026 | January 2026 | September 2026 | – |
From each project's latest release on GitHub, checked November 8, 2026. Sizes are the Apple silicon .dmg and the 64-bit Windows installer.
Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts
Use Ctrl in place of ⌘ on Windows and Linux.
Search conversations⌘K
Jump to conversation 1 to 9⌘1…9
Next or previous conversation⌃Tab/⌃⇧Tab
Focus the message box⌘L
New conversation⌘⇧N
Hide names and avatars⌘⇧H
Zoom in, out or reset⌘+/⌘−/⌘0
Settings⌘,
FAQ
Common questions
Is Carrier really free?
Completely. No price tag, no subscription, no ads, no paid tier. Carrier is open source under the MIT license - made by one developer who missed having Messenger on the desktop.
Do I need a new account?
No - you sign in with your usual account, and all your chats are just there. Anything you send in Carrier shows up on your phone too, and the other way around.
Is this an official Meta app?
No. Meta discontinued their desktop app, so Carrier is an independent, open-source replacement. It shows you the real Messenger - the same one from your browser - in a clean window of its own, with the Facebook clutter tidied away.
Is it safe to use?
Carrier adds zero tracking of its own - it even blocks Facebook's telemetry by default. The Mac version is signed and notarized by Apple, updates are verified before they install, and the complete source code is public for anyone to inspect. Your messages still travel through Messenger itself, so Meta's usual terms apply there. Windows builds are currently unsigned and may show a SmartScreen “Unknown publisher” warning.
Do voice and video calls work?
Yes - it's the full Messenger, so calls, group chats, reactions, photos, and everything else work like you'd expect.
How is the whole app only about 4 MB?
Most chat apps ship an entire hidden web browser inside. Carrier uses the one your computer already has - so it downloads in seconds, starts in a blink, and goes easy on your battery.
What if something stops working?
Facebook changes its markup from time to time, and that can occasionally break a feature. When Automatic Update Checks is enabled, Carrier finds fixes automatically; you choose when to install - and you can always tell us what broke.
Why not just use messenger.com?
Meta shut down messenger.com in April 2026. Messenger now lives inside facebook.com, next to the Feed and Reels. Carrier opens facebook.com/messages in its own window and hides the rest.
Do encrypted chats work?
Yes. End-to-end encrypted chats work like any other chat, and notifications, the unread badge and conversation export cover them too.
Which Mac download do I need?
Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. If it says “Chip Apple M…”, download the Apple silicon version. If it says “Processor Intel…”, download the Intel version.
Windows says it protected my PC. What do I do?
Carrier isn't code-signed for Windows yet, so SmartScreen warns about an unknown publisher the first time you open it. Click More info, then Run anyway. Only download Carrier from this site or its GitHub page.
My work computer doesn't let me install apps.
On Windows, use the portable .zip: unzip it anywhere, such as your Downloads folder, and open Carrier from there. It needs no administrator rights. On a Mac, Carrier runs from any folder, not just Applications.
Under the hoodThe more technical answers
How does it work under the hood?
Carrier is a small Rust shell built on Tauri 2 that opens the official Messenger web app in your operating system's own WebView. At page load it injects a focused stylesheet and typed scripts that hide Facebook's surrounding chrome and add the desktop features - notifications, badges, shortcuts, themes. No bundled browser engine, no Electron.
What can the injected code see?
Messenger content is processed only on your machine, only where a feature needs it - turning a new message into a native notification, counting unread chats for the badge, blurring names for screen sharing. Carrier has no servers and phones home to no one; the only network calls it adds are update checks against GitHub Releases. Off-site links open in your browser with Facebook's tracking redirect stripped first.
How do updates work?
When Automatic Update Checks is enabled, Carrier checks GitHub Releases at startup and then every hour, every 4 hours or once a day, as you choose. When a signed update is available, it shows you the release notes. You choose whether to download, install, and restart; Carrier cryptographically verifies the update first. macOS downloads are also Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple. Windows builds are currently unsigned, so SmartScreen may show “Unknown publisher.”
Why is the Linux AppImage bigger than the installers?
The .deb and .rpm packages are about 4 MB because they use your distro's WebKitGTK. The AppImage has to carry its own copy to run anywhere, which is why it weighs around 90 MB. If your package manager is an option, prefer it.
Is there a Homebrew cask?
Yes - brew install --cask kristofferR/tap/carrier, and the same cask token works on macOS and Linux. Already dragged Carrier.app into /Applications? Adopt it with brew install --cask --adopt kristofferR/tap/carrier.
Get Carrier
Free and open source. Downloads in seconds - it's only about 4 MB.
Latest version v3.0.1
The full list with checksums lives on
GitHub
- or brew install --cask kristofferR/tap/carrier
Works with your regular Messenger account · Signed update checks