Add Friends and Contacts in Facebook Messenger
Messenger allows you to contact all of your Facebook friends on the go, and you can also chat with other Messenger users that don't use Facebook. There are several ways you can add people to your Messenger contacts list. You can sync the contacts on your mobile device, add phone numbers, use special Messenger Scan Codes, or add people on Facebook.
Contents
Steps
Adding Contacts from Your Phone
- Open the People tab in the Messenger app. When you sync your device's contacts list, Messenger will check all of your contacts for Messenger accounts, as well as check if new contacts that you add use Messenger.
- Tap "Sync Contacts." If you're an iOS device, tap "Find Phone Contacts" first.
- Allow Messenger to access your contacts. You'll likely need to approve this access when you do this for the first time.
- In iOS, the Settings app will open and you'll need to toggle "Contacts" on.
- View the contacts that were added. If Messenger found any contacts during the sync process, you can tap "View" to see them. You don't need to do anything,l as they are added automatically.
Adding by Phone Number
- Open the People tab in Messenger. You can enter a phone number and Messenger will search for a profile that matches. This will only work if that person is using Messenger with that phone number.
- The icon for the People tab looks like a list with three lines.
- Tap the "+" button and select "Add Contact" (Android) or "Enter Phone Number" (iOS). This will open the phone number search.
- Type the phone number of the person you want to add. Type in the phone number for the person you want to search for.
- Tap "Add" or "Save" to search Messenger for the number. If the person can be found, you'll be able to add them to your contacts list.
- Tap "Invite to Messenger" if the person isn't using Messenger. If the number doesn't return any results, you can send that person a Messenger invite. They'll receive the invite via SMS with a link to download the app and get started.
Using Messenger Scan Codes
- Find the code you want to scan. Messenger users and businesses can create codes that can be scanned by the Messenger app, much like a barcode. Messenger Scan Codes are circular with dots, dashes, and circles surrounding the user's profile picture.
- You can see your own Scan Code on the Profile screen in Messenger.
- Open the People section of Messenger. You can scan codes from the People screen.
- Open the code scanner. The process is slightly different for Android and iOS:
- Android - Tap "Scan Messenger Code" at the top of the "Messenger" list.
- iOS - Tap "Scan Code" at the top of the "All" list.
- Line up the code in the viewfinder. Fit the entire circular code into the circle in the view finder. Make sure to hold your phone steady as it scans the code.
- Start chatting with the person. After adding the person or business, you'll be able to start chatting.
Adding Friends on Facebook
- Log into Messenger with your Facebook account. Messenger allows you to send Facebook messages to anyone on your Facebook friends list, even if they aren't using Messenger. The messages you send will appear as standard Facebook messages for people not using Messenger.
- Search for new friends on Facebook. Facebook offers much more advanced search functions than the Messenger app. Every friend that you add in Facebook can be contacted through Messenger.
- You can search Facebook based on location, shared interests, and more. See Find People on Facebook for tips on finding people through Facebook's search features.
