How to Add Contacts to Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is a great way to keep in touch with family, friends and acquaintances. It’s a free app from Meta, formerly Facebook Inc., that allows you to send private messages to anyone in your contacts.

But how do you actually add contacts to Facebook Messenger? Can you add them on Messenger but not on Facebook? And what if they don’t even have Facebook?

If you’ve already added the person you want to interact with as a Facebook friend, you can easily chat with them on Messenger.

Just open the Messenger app if you have it on your smartphone (or click on the service’s icon, which looks like a speech bubble with a lightning bolt inside, via Facebook in your browser).

Go to Chat User interface on the bottom left of your screen. You can then either click Seek and see suggested recipients or click the Compose button, which looks like a small pen in a square box; For smartphone apps, this is in the top right of your screen.

Suggested contacts are displayed, or you can enter a name in the To: field to filter this list. All applicable Facebook friends and groups will be displayed, so just click on the one you want and start talking!

You may have opened Messenger and were shocked to see a list of people you can chat with right away. That’s because Messenger automatically adds your friends from Facebook to Messenger.

So how about adding people you know from your smartphone? You might want to add all your contacts (or at least those who use Facebook) to Messenger.

All you have to do is go to your profile by clicking on your photo icon at the top left of your interface. Then tap Phone Contacts > Upload Contacts.

If you change your mind later, you can do this process again to desync the two.

How do I sync my contacts from Facebook to Messenger?

You can also open and navigate Messenger persons. You’ll see a list of friends who are currently active. Tap on the address book icon at the top right of your screen; This will show you the people who are in your phone contact list and are using Facebook. Click on any of them to start chatting.

Can I add someone on Messenger but not on Facebook?

You don’t need to add someone as a friend on Facebook to chat with them on Messenger.

All you have to do is go to Facebook, search for their name and click on the profile of the person you want to chat with. Below their profile picture and banner, you will see three icons. You don’t want to click the ellipsis or “add friend” button. Click instead news. This will open the Messenger app and you can talk to them.

Can you add someone without a Facebook profile in Messenger?

There used to be easy ways to use Messenger without also being on Facebook, mainly by adding phone numbers. However, since Facebook’s parent company rebranded itself as a meta, that option is gone.

Nevertheless, you don’t need Facebook to use Messenger – or at least you don’t have to be active on Facebook to still be able to use the chat function. However, the responsibility here lies with the person you are trying to connect with. If you can chat with them somewhere else, you may need to walk them through joining Facebook, deactivating (but not deleting!) their account, and then connecting in Messenger.

In principle, anyone can use Messenger as long as they have had a Facebook account before and have not deleted it. In this case you should be able to add them like any other, ie via your contact list if you have them in your address book or by clicking on news on their deactivated profile.

Why can’t I add a person in Messenger?

This is probably because they’re just not on Messenger! Another possibility, if you’re looking for them by their phone number, is that they haven’t added them to Facebook. Messenger can’t connect to something it doesn’t know exists.

If you haven’t done this yourself, go to your profile and then tap Mobile number > Add mobile number and add your number. Facebook will text you a verification code to verify that it’s correct.

This has a few benefits, including resetting your password if you’re having trouble signing in and getting SMS notifications about your account.

The downside is that you reveal more information about yourself: Facebook uses this to “improve personalized advertising”, ie if you buy something in a shop with a click via Facebook, all this data is linked to you. Social media apps don’t exactly have the best reputation when it comes to protecting your privacy…

However, in most cases, Facebook should connect people without their phone numbers. So if you can’t find someone, you should just talk to them and ask if you can connect through the app. If they don’t use it, they will tell you. If so, they will tell you the best way to get in touch with them.

How do I delete chats from Messenger?

Let’s say you have many chat threads open in Messenger now and you want to close some. You have some options to delete the conversations. In case you’re wondering, blocking someone won’t delete their chats on Messenger, but they won’t be able to send new messages from that account.

So how can you delete old messages in Messenger?

Open Messenger and tap and hold the conversation thread you want to remove. Below that, a box opens with numerous options. From here you can Mutewhich means you will not receive notifications from that person, Extinguishor archive.

You can find the latter by going to your profile photo and then tapping Archived chats. This is probably the better option as these conversations don’t clutter up your feed but are still just a few taps away.

Easily add friends to Messenger!

You can now easily keep in touch with your family and friends through Facebook and its accompanying Messenger app. Of course, there are plenty of instant messaging alternatives, but if you intend to stick with Meta, you can at least ensure your chats are secure by keeping them encrypted as well.