If you use Facebook you have probably seen the newest Messenger sidebar: a top to bottom right-hand column with the faces (profile pictures) of your friends who are on Facebook Messenger. And, there’s a good chance you’ve tried to figure out how to remove or disable the Messenger sidebar, only to be frustrated by your efforts. So here is how to hide the Messenger sidebar column from Facebook.

First, to be clear, here is what we are talking about:

 

Don’t want it? Here you go.

How to Remove the Facebook Messenger Sidebar

 

The trick to removing the Facebook Messenger sidebar is that it isn’t so much that how to get rid of the Messenger sidebar is hidden, it’s that all of the Messenger sidebar settings are hidden. So, what you need to do is click on the search option, which is represented by the little magnifying glass at the bottom:

 

Clicking on the search magnifying glass icon will expand the Messenger sidebar to its full width, revealing the..tah dah… settings icon!

 

As soon as you click on the settings icon, you will see ‘Hide Sidebar’ in the Facebook Messenger settings options.

 

Just click on that Hide Sidebar, and the Messenger Sidebar will magically disappear from your Facebook timeline, home page, etc.. (at least until the next change that Facebook makes).

Facebook Messenger Sidebar All Gone!

 

Now you just need to deal with those annoying “Sponsored” ads. You can do that with Social Fixer.