# Messenger Code > Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/messenger-code > research date 2026-06-03 · extracted at 2026-10-06 > Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards Specifications: - [Facebook Unveils Messenger Codes for its Chat App — TIME, 2016](https://time.com/4283515/facebook-messenger-codes-new-features/) - [Facebook Killed Messenger Codes: Why QR Codes Are the Best Alternative — Uniqode](https://www.uniqode.com/blog/linkpage/messenger-qr-code) ## Overview **Messenger Code** was a proprietary, circular scannable visual code used inside **Meta's Facebook Messenger** app to let people connect with another person or business without first searching for them or becoming Facebook friends [1][1]. Each code was a ring of dots and dashes arranged around the account's profile picture, acting as a unique signature for that account [3][3]. The format is **discontinued**: Facebook stopped supporting Messenger Codes on **August 15, 2019** and directed users toward standard QR codes pointing at `m.me` links instead [2][2]. ## History Facebook introduced Messenger Codes in 2016, alongside usernames and short links, as part of a push to make it easier to start conversations on Messenger without exchanging phone numbers or Facebook friend requests [1][1]. The feature was widely described as a direct response to **Snapchat's Snapcodes**, the circular scannable codes Snapchat had popularized for adding friends [2][2]. Inspired by that pattern, Facebook built its own circular code so users could "scan and connect with anyone on Messenger" [1][1]. Facebook discontinued the feature on **August 15, 2019** [2][2]. The stated and reported reasons were that most users did not know the feature existed, that scanning a Messenger Code required several taps inside the app whereas modern phone cameras scan ordinary QR codes natively in about a second, and that Facebook's broader plan to unify Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp made the proprietary code redundant [2][2]. As a replacement, Facebook recommended generating standard QR codes that encode an `m.me/` deep link, which any native camera can open [2][2]. ## Technical specification Publicly documented technical detail is limited; Facebook never published an open encoding specification. What is consistently described is the visual structure: a Messenger Code is **circular**, with the account's **profile picture in the centre** and a surrounding ring of dots and dashes that encodes a unique identifier tied to the account [3][3]. The circular form factor — rather than the square module grid of a QR Code — was the deliberate visual differentiator from traditional barcodes and QR codes, and it visually echoed Snapchat's Snapcode [2][2], [3][3]. Codes used high-contrast colours (for example, light pattern on a darker background) for scannability [3][3]. The exact encoding scheme behind the dot/dash pattern was never published by Facebook [3][3]. ## Use cases The primary use case was **connecting to a person or business on Messenger**: a user opened their own code in the Messenger app, displayed or shared it, and another user scanned it with the Messenger camera to be taken straight to a conversation or to add the contact, without needing to search by name or be Facebook friends first [1][1], [3][3]. Businesses used Messenger Codes on printed and in-store materials so customers could start a Messenger chat with the brand by scanning [2][2]. ## Implementations There are **no public, open-source implementations** of the Messenger Code encoder or decoder. The format was a closed, proprietary feature of the Facebook Messenger app and was never released as a specification or SDK; generation and scanning happened only inside Meta's own app [2][2], [3][3]. ## Comparison Compared with a standard **QR Code**, a Messenger Code was visually distinctive (circular, centred on a profile photo) but functionally weaker as a connector: it could only be scanned from inside the Messenger app, while QR codes are read natively by virtually every modern phone camera in roughly a second [2][2]. Scanning a Messenger Code reportedly required at least four taps, versus near-instant native QR scanning [2][2]. Messenger Codes are one example of a broader **industry retreat from proprietary social-media codes back to standard QR codes** around 2019-2022 — the same pattern seen with Instagram Nametags and Snapchat's gradual de-emphasis of Snapcodes — driven by universal native QR support and low user awareness of app-only codes [2][2]. ## Status **Discontinued.** Facebook ended support for Messenger Codes on **August 15, 2019**, recommending standard QR codes encoding `m.me` links as the replacement [2][2]. ## Sources [1] [Facebook Unveils Messenger Codes for its Chat App](https://time.com/4283515/facebook-messenger-codes-new-features/) — TIME, 2016 [2] [Facebook Killed Messenger Codes: Why QR Codes Are the Best Alternative](https://www.uniqode.com/blog/linkpage/messenger-qr-code) — Uniqode [3] [Structures of Messenger Codes](https://free-barcode.com/barcode/barcode-types-c/structures-messenger-codes-facebook.asp) — free-barcode.com [1]: https://time.com/4283515/facebook-messenger-codes-new-features/ [2]: https://www.uniqode.com/blog/linkpage/messenger-qr-code [3]: https://free-barcode.com/barcode/barcode-types-c/structures-messenger-codes-facebook.asp ## Deployments _No country reports mention this standard by name._ ## Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country - Universal