Links in facebook messenger keep opening in web browser (Chrome or Safari)

I’ve also been having the same problem and it’s very annoying! I tried flipping on and off the setting, and uninstalling and reinstalling both Facebook and messenger. Nothing helped. Actually the only thing that works is to not have messenger installed. You can still access your Facebook messages in the Facebook app and then when you click links, they Open in the Facebook app. It’s when you’re coming from the Messenger app that it doesn’t divert to Facebook properly.

The only annoying part then if you don’t use the Messenger app is you have to open Facebook to see if you have any message notifications, rather than just seeing them on the app icon or as a pop-up or banner or whatever.

it’s not a fix, but it’s a workaround with it’s own an annoyance so I guess pick your poison until somebody fixes this

Copy the Facebook link and paste it into the notes app. Long hold down on the link and choose open in messenger and it will fix this problem.

This also works for other apps that are not opening in the correct app.

I’m having this same issue , I’ve already turned off open in external browser settings and I also deleted and re installed both apps and still having the same issue

Mine is Doing the same thing and I cannot find a solution! It is driving me absolutely crazy. Is there a fix to this yet?

Hi peeps, I think I may have figured this out for Safari users. My girlfriend has been having the issue where if she gets a link to Facebook or Amazon within the messages app it will take her to the Safari web browser instead of the app (like Facebook). For her case, I found that turning on the “reader” option within Safari would open the Facebook app instead of Facebook.com within the Safari browser. 

I found two ways to do this: one is thru the browser and it will require you to do it for every website you want to use the app for. The other is through the settings and you can choose an option to use it for all apps [definitely seems like the better option!]. I have photos below of both ways. Let me know if you have any questions!

Method 1: Within the safari app

Step 1: Open Safari app.

Step 2: Type in the website you are having troubles with into the search bar (e.g. “facebook.com”).

Step 3: Within the search bar, on the left side of it there should be an icon with a rectangle and 2 lines below it, click on that (image below).

Step 4: Within the pop-up, click the 3 dots in the bottom right-hand corner (image below).

Step 5: Within this settings screen, toggle the "Use Reader Automatically" slider to be in the active position (green, image below).

Step 6: When you are opening links to this site in the future it should open the app instead!

Method 2: Within the Settings app

Step 1: Open the Settings app (the one with a gear on it, gray in color), one can also swipe down from anywhere below the front facing camera (camera on the top of the screen) and search "Settings" [Only works if you are on the home page].

Step 2: Select the "Apps" option, this is usually at the bottom of the page I believe. [One can also swipe down on the screen anywhere below the "Settings" text and it will then show the search bar. You can then look up "Apps" (or "Safari" since that's where we're going next, can skip to step 4 if you do that)].

Step 3: Select "Safari" from the list of apps.

Step 4: Towards the bottom of the "Safari" app settings is a setting called "Reader", click on that (picture below).

Step 5: Within the "Reader" settings, toggle the "Other Websites" slider to be in the active position (green, image below). This should fix things! Otherwise you may add websites to this location as well. You can see I have Facebook and Amazon here since I did the web browser method first.

I hope this helps people!

Less annoying "fix" i use

So i didnt fix it but i made it better i guess...so, links from YouTube would open in m.facebook.com with facebooks embedded browser, and links from facebook (ie reels, videos etc) would open in chrome. I changed my default web browser to Duck Duck Go. Turned ON "open links in external browser" in the messenger settings for "photos and media" and now YouTube links open in YouTube app and facebook reels/videos links open in Duck Duck go but it gives you the option to open in the app. So its one extra click...not fixed but better. At least im not stuck trying to view videos in chrome with microscopic writing and trying to turn on the volume was laughable without having to zoom in.

Nope.. it’s still a problem for me too after all the updates. It’s only with Facebook links is what I noticed. If someone sends an Instagram link then it opens in Instagram app properly.

Having same issue. Has anyway figured this out? Very annoying.

I’ve been having the same issue! If anyone finds an answer to this problem, let us know! Apple, it’s on you to help resolve this! 😉

I think I figured it out, at least it worked for me. It seemed my issue was the google app itself was overriding the Facebook apps. I changed the default browser back to safari and it worked. If you prefer google I’m sure there’s a setting inside somewhere but changing default browser was enough for me.

So i didnt fix it but i made it better i guess...so, links from YouTube would open in m.facebook.com with facebooks embedded browser, and links from facebook (ie reels, videos etc) would open in chrome. I changed my default web browser to Duck Duck Go. Turned ON "open links in external browser" in the messenger settings for "photos and media" and now YouTube links open in YouTube app and facebook reels/videos links open in Duck Duck go but it gives you the option to open in the app. So its one extra click...not fixed but better. At least im not stuck trying to view videos in chrome with microscopic writing and trying to turn on the volume was laughable without having to zoom in.