Deploy Messenger on Windows via command line

Messenger ships as an MSI on Windows, so you can install it from a command prompt or push it at scale through your RMM, MDM, or other deployment tool.

Before you start

Finish setting up Messenger.
Know whether you’re doing a partner-level or customer-level deployment — it determines which App ID you use.

Messenger lives in the system tray and starts with Windows by default. Open it from the tray icon.

Thread Messenger icon in the Windows system tray being clicked to open the app

Retrieve your App ID

You need an App ID so Messenger inherits your branding. Find your partner-level App ID in the Thread Admin Panel under Messenger → Installation.

Choose an install context

This is the decision that matters most, and it’s hard to change later.

	Per-user (recommended)	System
Best for	People on their own machine	Shared machines, terminal servers, or when you want to pin a version
Auto-updates	Yes — each user stays current automatically	No — you must schedule re-installs
Maintenance	None	IT keeps it patched
Versioning	Each user has their own	One version for the machine
Data location	Per user	`%ROAMINGAPPDATA%`

Use per-user unless you have a specific reason not to. It’s the only context that auto-updates, so users always run the latest Messenger.

Per-user context

Installs silently and skips the sales-versus-service question:

msiexec /i "https://assets.getthread.com/messenger/downloads/desktop/messenger.msi" APP_ID=YOUR-APP-ID-HERE FLOW=customer INSTALL_TYPE=user msiinstallperuser=1 /qn

INSTALL_TYPE tells Messenger whether to enable auto-updates. It does not control where Messenger installs — MSIINSTALLPERUSER does that.

The installer only adds Messenger if it was never installed for the currently logged-in user.

MSI system context

msiexec /i "https://assets.getthread.com/messenger/downloads/desktop/messenger.msi" APP_ID=YOUR-APP-ID-HERE FLOW=customer INSTALL_TYPE=system MSIINSTALLPERUSER="" /qn

System-context installs do not auto-update. You have to manage scheduled re-installs yourself and make sure users are on the current version.

Argument reference

Argument	What it does
`APP_ID=YOUR_APP_ID`	Required. Your parent or client App ID — this applies your branding.
`FLOW=customer`	Skips the first end-user screen that asks whether they want sales or service, giving a support-only flow.
`MSIINSTALLPERUSER=""`	Installs at system context instead of the default per-user. Remember: no auto-updates.
`STARTUP=disabled`	Stops Messenger auto-starting with Windows.
`/qn`	Installs silently.
`/norestart`	Prevents a restart. Only needed when uninstalling.

PowerShell examples

Keep system-context installs current

Only per-user installs auto-update, so schedule this for system-context deployments:

# Kill any running instance
taskkill /f /im Messenger.exe

# Install the latest version
msiexec /i "https://assets.getthread.com/messenger/downloads/desktop/messenger.msi" APP_ID=YOUR-APP-ID-HERE FLOW=customer INSTALL_TYPE=system MSIINSTALLPERUSER="" /qn

Uninstall without a restart

Find the MSI’s IdentifyingNumber, then uninstall with it — keep the braces:

Get-WmiObject -class Win32_Product | ? {$_.Name -eq "Messenger"}

taskkill /f /im Messenger.exe ; msiexec /x "{IDENTIFYING_NUMBER}" /qn /norestart

Uninstall Messenger

From user context

Run these two scripts in order. First, a batch file:

@echo off
echo Killing any running instances of Messenger...
taskkill /F /IM Messenger.exe /T
taskkill /F /IM ChatgenieMessenger.exe /T

echo Uninstalling applications...
wmic product where "Name like 'Chatgenie Messenger%%'" call uninstall /nointeractive
wmic product where "Name like 'Messenger%%'" call uninstall /nointeractive

set "packageName=Messenger*"
powershell.exe -Command "Get-Package -ProviderName Programs -Name '%packageName%' | ForEach-Object { Uninstall-Package -ProviderName Programs -Name $_.Name -Confirm:$false }"
echo Applications were successfully uninstalled.
pause

Then a PowerShell script:

taskkill /f /im Messenger.exe

$updatePath = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Messenger\Uninstall Messenger.exe"
Start-Process -FilePath $updatePath -ArgumentList "/S" -Wait

From system context

taskkill /f /im Messenger.exe

$appName = "Messenger"

function Get-ProductCode {
    param([string]$appName)
    $uninstallKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"
    $uninstallKeyWow6432 = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"
    $appKey = Get-ChildItem $uninstallKey, $uninstallKeyWow6432 |
              Get-ItemProperty |
              Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -eq $appName}
    if ($appKey -ne $null) { return $appKey.PSChildName }
    return $null
}

$productCode = Get-ProductCode $appName
if ($productCode -ne $null) {
    Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList "/x $productCode /qn" -Wait
} else {
    Write-Host "App not found."
}

To remove Messenger from a Mac, see Deploying Messenger to Mac.

Customise Messenger’s behaviour

Deep links

Open Messenger from another application:

# thread-messenger://?open=true   (the legacy scheme was chatgenie://?open=true)
Start-Process -FilePath "thread-messenger://?open=true"

Change the desktop icon

# ================================================
# Customize the values below.
# ================================================
$appId = "<APPIDHERE>"

$chatName = "Thread Messenger"                              # Renames the shortcut file
$shortcutPath = "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\Messenger.lnk"     # Existing shortcut
$newShortcutPath = "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\$chatName.lnk"  # Path after renaming
$targetFolder = "C:\PATH\TO\DESTINATION"

$iconUrl = "URL of your ICO file"
$iconName = "icon.ico"
$iconPath = "$targetFolder\$iconName"
# ================================================
# Do not modify the script below this line.
# ================================================
msiexec /i "https://assets.getthread.com/messenger/downloads/desktop/messenger.msi" APP_ID=$appId STARTUP=disabled INSTALL_TYPE=user MSIINSTALLPERUSER="" /qn
Start-Sleep -Seconds 60

if (Test-Path $shortcutPath) {
    Rename-Item -Path $shortcutPath -NewName $newShortcutPath
    Write-Output "Renamed successfully to '$chatName.lnk'"
} else {
    Write-Output "Original file not found: $shortcutPath"
}

if (-not (Test-Path $targetFolder)) {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $targetFolder | Out-Null
}

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $iconUrl -OutFile $iconPath

$WshShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut($newShortcutPath)
$shortcut.IconLocation = $iconPath
$shortcut.Save()

Auto-startup on Windows 10 and later

Messenger registers itself as a Windows startup app the first time it’s opened. Users can turn that off from Windows Settings or Task Manager → Startup.

Windows Settings startup apps list showing Messenger enabled

Task Manager Startup tab with the Messenger entry

Toggling Messenger auto-start off in Windows startup settings

Troubleshooting

Antivirus is blocking or quarantining Messenger

Per-user installs keep updates in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\messenger-updater, which is expected behaviour. Some tools — ThreatLocker among them — flag this. Add Messenger to the allow list.

Users aren't getting new versions

They’re almost certainly on a system-context install, which doesn’t auto-update. Either schedule the re-install script above, or redeploy per-user.

Thread Inbox

Messenger

Companion Apps

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Automation

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Deploy Messenger on Windows via command line

Before you start

Retrieve your App ID

Choose an install context

Per-user context

MSI system context

Argument reference

PowerShell examples

Keep system-context installs current

Uninstall without a restart

Uninstall Messenger

From user context

From system context

Customise Messenger’s behaviour

Deep links

Change the desktop icon

Auto-startup on Windows 10 and later

Troubleshooting

​Before you start

​Retrieve your App ID

​Choose an install context

​Per-user context

​MSI system context

​Argument reference

​PowerShell examples

​Keep system-context installs current

​Uninstall without a restart

​Uninstall Messenger

​From user context

​From system context

​Customise Messenger’s behaviour

​Deep links

​Change the desktop icon

​Auto-startup on Windows 10 and later

​Troubleshooting

Before you start

Retrieve your App ID

Choose an install context

Per-user context

MSI system context

Argument reference

PowerShell examples

Keep system-context installs current

Uninstall without a restart

Uninstall Messenger

From user context

From system context

Customise Messenger’s behaviour

Deep links

Change the desktop icon

Auto-startup on Windows 10 and later

Troubleshooting