Some products don't currently support end-to-end encryption, such as community chats for Facebook groups, chats with business and professional accounts, Marketplace chats and others.
End-to-end encryption on Messenger adds extra security and protection to your messages and calls so only you and whoever you're talking to can see, hear or read them.
The content of your messages and calls in end-to-end encrypted conversations is protected from the moment it leaves your device to the moment it reaches the receiver's device.
This means that nobody else can see or listen to what's sent or said - not even
Meta. We couldn't even if we wanted to.
How end-to-end encryption protects your conversation
Every device in an end-to-end encrypted conversation has a special key to protect the conversation. When you send a message in an end-to-end encrypted conversation, your device locks the message as it's sending. This message can only be unlocked by a device that has one of the keys for that conversation.
No one can access your messages or calls except the people with the keys. You and whoever you're talking to in end-to-end encrypted conversations are the only people with unique, matching keys.
You can check that your keys match to be sure your conversation is secure:
Web browsers and end-to-end encryption
When you send encrypted messages on the web, your messages are stored in the device's browser (example: Chrome). If you clear your browser cookies or browse in private mode:
- Your browser may delete those messages from its storage.
- You may no longer see those messages in the Messenger chat on that browser.
- You may not see those messages if you use a different browser on the same device.
To view your end-to-end encrypted messages, log into your Messenger mobile app.
Note: In some cases, your messages may not be on your mobile device, such as a newly added device or a device that hasn't logged into Messenger in 30 days.
What to keep in mind about end-to-end encrypted conversations
- You can't report video or audio calls on Messenger or Facebook chat.
- If someone in the end-to-end encrypted conversation chooses to share the message with someone else, they'll be able to see or hear its contents.
- Chat customizations aren't end-to-end encrypted. Chat customizations include nicknames, chat themes, quick reactions and more.
- If your conversation wasn’t previously secured with end-to-end encryption, interactions with messages sent before Messenger upgraded the chat won’t be end-to-end encrypted. This includes reactions to messages.
- Some actions may be unavailable for messages sent before Messenger upgraded the security of the chat, such as pinning or replying to messages.
- When you use Play Together or Watch Together, no one outside the call can see or hear your audio and video. However, certain actions are communicated to third-party gaming servers for the game to work (example: playing a card in a game). Meta provides personalized recommendations based on game and video selections, and you can learn more in our Privacy Policy.
