How to log out of Facebook Messenger

Read on to find out how to log out of Messenger on Android, iOS or from your computer.

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• How to log out of Facebook Messenger on Android
• How to log out of Facebook Messenger on iOS
• How to log out of the Messenger app from the Facebook website

How to log out of Messenger on Android and iOS

There are two methods of logging out of Facebook Messenger on Android: clear Facebook Messenger app data from within your device Settings, or log out of the Messenger session from the Facebook app. The first procedure works on Android phones while the second option can be used by iPhone/iOS users.

Let us now take a look at each of these steps.

Clear Messenger app data in Settings (For Android users only)

To log out of Facebook Messenger, you need to go into the Settings of your Android device.

• Close the app if you have it open, and get rid of it from your recent apps list, otherwise, this trick won’t work.
• In Settings, scroll down to the Apps or Application Manager, and scroll down until you see Messenger.
• Tap on this, scroll down, and find Storage & cache.
• After opening Storage select Clear Storage. There also should be a Clear Cache option, which we suggest you use too

Now when you go back to tap on Messenger in your app drawer, you should see that it won't log you in automatically. 

Pro tip: If someone else wants to use your phone to check their Facebook messages while you're still logged in, they just need to tap Switch Account to sign into their own account.

Note that this little trick will delete all the data that your Messenger application had saved: so it will be back to a state when it was freshly installed. But like we mentioned earlier, the application 'remembers' your Facebook account.  If you do not want even your account to be displayed here, you will need to repeat the same step - this time, however, with the main Facebook app.

Log out of Messenger session from the Facebook app (Android and iOS users)

If you've got Messenger on your phone, chances are good that you've got the Facebook app as well. From the Android Facebook app, tap the More button on the top right (which should appear as three lines), then go to Settings and Privacy, followed by Settings. There you should see Account settings and Security. Scroll down to Security and select Security and login. You'll see a section called Where you're logged in, then just select the Messenger session and tap Log Out.

Following a recent update, you can access these same settings from within Facebook Messenger. To do this, please follow these steps.

• Open Facebook Messenger and tap on your profile picture.
• Scroll down to 'Account settings' and then tap 'security & sign-in' from where you can sign out.

How to log out of the Messenger app from the Facebook website

You can log out of the iOS or Android Messenger apps from the Facebook website, from your PC, or your mobile phone's browser. Go to facebook.com/settings and navigate to Security and Login, then find the section called Where You're Logged In. Find the Messenger session you'd like to log out of, click the three dots on the right, then click Log Out.

These workaround methods can be a bit annoying to deal with, but they work. Facebook doesn't seem keen to change the situation and make it any easier. If you are annoyed by Facebook in general, you might want to consider giving it the boot and trying one of these Facebook alternatives.

In case you are looking at something more concrete to step away from Facebook, you can log out from Facebook in different ways depending on where you are accessing it from.

Logout of Facebook on a computer

If you primarily access Facebook on your computer using a browser, all you need to do to log out of Facebook is to do these steps

• Open Facebook.
• On the extreme top right corner, click the downward arrow button and hit logout.

Logout of the Facebook App on iOS and Android

If you happen to access Facebook using the official Facebook app, the steps to logout of the app are pretty simple

• Open the Facebook app.
• Hit the menu button (three lines) on the top right.
• Scroll down to the very bottom and select ‘logout’.

How to logout of Facebook if you lost your phone

In case you lost your phone and are worried the thief or someone could possibly access your private information, you can remotely log out of Facebook using your computer. Here’s how you can do it.

• Open Facebook on your computer.
• Click this link: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=mobile 
• Click on ‘Lost your phone’.
• In the dialog box that appears, click ‘logout on phone’.

If you are on the lookout for something even more drastic, we are assuming you are looking at temporarily deactivating or worse, even permanently deleting your Facebook account. Well, we have a separate article that addresses the same issue. Please check the link below.

• Now's the time: How to delete a Facebook account permanently

What do you think of Facebook's decision to make Messenger a separate app? Does it annoy you that there's no log-out button? Let us know in the comments.

This article was last updated in April 2021. Older comments have been retained