Messages in MacOS X has the ability to combine multiple chat services. Facebook Chat however does not seem to appear in the list.
This trick will probably also work for other Jabber capable clients on different Operating Systems as well, simply use the same settings.
With this little guide, I’ll show you how to add Facebook Chat to Messages so that you do not need to open the Facebook website every time you get a message.
Since Apple released MacOS X Mavericks for free, I carefully assume that most users have updated their MacOS X to 10.9 (Mavericks).
Mavericks comes with Messages default installed and allows you to add Google Talk, Yahoo, AOL/AIM, and Jabber chat services.
To my surprise Facebook Chat is nowhere to be found in this list … however; this can be resolved by using the Jabber protocol.
So here the steps on how to add Facebook Chat to Messages.
“Messages” can be found in the “Applications” folder.
Click “Message” “Add Acount” …
Messages – Add Account
To add Facebook Chat to Messages, we will need to add a Jabber account.
To do this you first have to select “Other messages account…” and click “Continue“.
Messages – Add Other Messages Account
with the following settings;
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Account Type | Jabber |
| Account Name | your_username@chat.facebook.com |
| Password | your password |
| Server | chat.facebook.com |
| Port | 5222 |
| Use SSL | (leave unchecked) |
| Use Kerberos | (leave unchecked) |
Note :
For account name you of course need to enter your Facebook username. This is not the email address you might use to login!
To find your username, if you don’t know yours by heart: Open Facebook in your favorite web browser, login, and click on your name or avatar (upper left corner, just under the Facebook logo). You’ll now see a new webpage open with a link something like https://www.facebook.com/your.name – where your.name is your username.
Do not forget to write “@chat.facebook.com” to your name!
Click “Create” when done entering your info …
Messages – Add Jabber Account for Facebook Chat
You will now see your Facebook friends in your buddy list (click menu “Windows” “Buddies“).
And thats all there is to it … don’t forget the set your account to online/available of course … 
Your support is very much appreciated, and can be as easy as sharing a link to my website with others, or on social media.
Support can also be done by sponsoring me, and even that can be free (e.g. shop at Amazon).
Any funds received from your support will be used for web-hosting expenses, project hardware and software, coffee, etc.
Thank you very much for those that have shown support already!
It's truly amazing to see that folks like my articles and small applications.
Please note that clicking affiliate links, like the ones from Amazon, may result in a small commission for us - which we highly appreciate as well.
Comments
There are 2 comments. You can read them below.
You can post your own comments by using the form below, or reply to existing comments by using the "Reply" button.
Nice write up, one of the clearer ones I’ve seen on this subject.
It may be worth noting that if you are using two-factor authentication then this method will work initially, but fail the next time you try to log on. Facebook do provide the ability to create app specific passwords and I’ve found this to work fine.
Simply create your password (Facebook App Password) and then follow the procedures above using your new password.
Hope this helps spare the week of frustration I endured before I discovered this.
Nik Green
Thanks Nik for the feedback and the valuable tip!
hans