Facebook Watch Party Ended: How to Watch Videos Together on Facebook in 2026

Quick answer: Facebook Watch Party, the feature that let Facebook Group and Page members watch a video together in a synced post, was discontinued on April 16, 2021. There is no longer a native "start a Watch Party" button anywhere on Facebook. To watch videos together in 2026, use Messenger Watch Together during a video call (up to 8 people) or a Messenger Room (up to 50), or bring your community together with a Facebook Live broadcast or Premiere. For Netflix, Disney+, or YouTube, you need a third-party tool like Teleparty. This guide covers exactly what still works.

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What Happened to Facebook Watch Party

Facebook launched Watch Party in 2018 as a way for Group members to watch the same video at the same time, with a synced timeline and a live comment thread running alongside it. It was popular during the early pandemic lockdowns, then usage faded.

On April 16, 2021, Facebook shut the feature down. The synced Watch Party post, its live reactions, and its shared comment thread were all removed. Facebook had already pulled Watch Party from Pages before the full shutdown, so by 2021 nothing remained.

If you find an old tutorial telling you to open a Group, create a post, and tap "Start Watch Party," that button no longer exists. The steps described in those guides fail because the feature itself is gone.

What this means for you:

• You cannot create a synced Watch Party in a Facebook Group or on a Page anymore.
• The closest replacement for private groups of friends is Messenger Watch Together inside a video call.
• The closest replacement for reaching a whole community at once is a Facebook Live video or a Premiere.

How to Watch Videos Together on Facebook Now

There is no single "Watch Party" replacement. Instead, three separate features cover the different things people used Watch Party for.

Messenger Watch Together: Step by Step

Watch Together is a separate feature that Meta launched in September 2020. It is not the old Group Watch Party under a new name. It lives entirely inside Messenger video calls and Messenger Rooms, and it plays videos from the Facebook Watch library.

To start Watch Together:

1. Open the Messenger app and start a video call with at least one other person.
2. Once the call is connected, tap the screen and open the menu in the bottom corner.
3. Tap Watch Together.
4. Browse the suggestions or use the categories such as TV & Movies, Watched, or Uploaded, then pick a video.
5. The video plays in sync for everyone on the call, and you can see each other's reactions live.

Capacity, straight from Meta:

• Up to 8 people on a standard Messenger video call.
• Up to 50 people in a Messenger Room.

For a bigger group, start a Room first, invite people in, then launch Watch Together from inside the Room.

What You Can and Cannot Watch Together

Messenger Watch Together only plays videos hosted on Facebook Watch. That includes trending clips, sports highlights, tutorials, some TV shows and movies in the catalog, and Facebook Watch originals.

You cannot use Watch Together for:

• Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, or any other streaming service
• YouTube or TikTok videos
• External web links of any kind

If you want to co-watch content from those services, skip Facebook entirely and use a purpose-built synced-viewing tool. See the alternatives table below.

Reaching a Whole Group or Page: Live and Premieres

Watch Together caps out at 50 people, so it does not replace what Watch Party did for large communities. For that, use a broadcast instead of a synced player:

• Facebook Live: go live to a Group or Page and everyone watches the same stream at the same time, with a live comment thread. You can even share your screen on Facebook Live to walk viewers through a video or presentation.
• Premieres: upload a pre-recorded video and schedule it to debut at a set time. It behaves like a live event, with a countdown and a live comment thread, so the whole audience experiences it together on first play.

These are one-to-many broadcasts rather than a shared player where everyone controls playback, but they are the practical way to gather a full community around one video in 2026.

Co-Watching Ideas for Groups and Communities

The tools changed, but the community-building ideas from the Watch Party era still work. Adapt them to Live, Premieres, or a Messenger Room:

Community and Fan Groups

• Premiere a highlight reel or fan edit at a set time and react in the comments together
• Host a Messenger Room watch session for a small core group of members
• Go Live to react to a new trailer or announcement in real time

Business and Brand Groups

• Premiere a product demo so the whole Group sees it at once, then answer questions live
• Run a webinar replay as a Premiere with a live Q&A in the comments
• Use a Messenger Room for a small customer or beta-tester viewing session

For more ways to keep a community active, see our Facebook content ideas guide and our Facebook Group marketing strategy.

Promotion Tips

• Announce 24 to 48 hours ahead, and promote it with your Facebook Stories
• Pick a recurring slot so viewers build a habit around it
• Line up a co-host to manage the comment thread while you run the video
• Schedule your promo posts in advance with SocialRails so the announcement goes out on time across platforms

Alternatives for Streaming Services and Other Platforms

If your goal is watching content that does not live on Facebook, these tools handle synced playback natively:

Troubleshooting Watch Together

"I cannot find the Watch Party option"

It is gone. Watch Party was removed on April 16, 2021. There is no setting or app update that restores it. Use Messenger Watch Together, Facebook Live, or a Premiere instead.

"I do not see Watch Together in my Messenger call"

• Make sure you are in an active video call with at least one other person; Watch Together does not appear in text chats or voice-only calls.
• Update the Messenger app to the latest version.
• Confirm you are on the mobile Messenger app, where Watch Together is supported.

"The video will not play for everyone"

• Confirm the video is still available in the Facebook Watch catalog; some titles are region-restricted.
• Have each person check their connection, since Watch Together needs everyone streaming at once.
• Try a different video from the suggestions to rule out a single broken title.

Frequently Asked Questions