Threads is redesigning its website and finally adding direct messages to the desktop

Summary: Threads head Connor Hayes previewed a redesigned web interface that adds direct messages, a navigation sidebar with shortcuts to saved posts and insights, and a cleaner single-feed layout replacing the current multi-column design. DMs, which launched on mobile in June 2025, will roll out on web “over the coming weeks,” bringing one-on-one chats, group conversations of up to 50, and media sharing to the platform’s most engaged desktop users as Threads surpasses 450 million monthly active users and begins scaling its global advertising business.

Threads is getting a redesigned web interface that adds direct messages, a navigation sidebar, and quicker access to features that were previously buried in the mobile-first layout. Connor Hayes, who took over as head of Threads in September 2025, previewed the changes in a post on the platform this week, writing that “web is an important part of how our most engaged users interact with Threads, and we’ll be investing more here going forward.” Messages on the web version are not yet publicly testing, Hayes said, but users should “start to see them appear over the coming weeks.”

The redesign replaces the current multi-column layout with a cleaner single-feed view anchored by a left-side navigation rail. The sidebar includes shortcuts to saved posts, performance insights, activity, notifications, and the ability to switch between feeds, all features that exist on the mobile app but required multiple taps or profile navigation to find on the web. The result looks significantly more like X’s desktop layout, which is either a pragmatic design choice or an admission that the format Threads was trying to replace turned out to be the right one.

DMs finally reach the desktop

Direct messages launched on the Threads mobile app in June 2025, nearly two years after the platform itself launched. The web version has operated without them since, meaning that the users Hayes describes as “most engaged,” those who use Threads on a computer, have been unable to access one of the platform’s core communication features. The web rollout will bring one-on-one chats, group conversations of up to 50 people, emoji reactions, and the ability to send photos, GIFs, and stickers.

Threads has been building out its messaging infrastructure steadily. In January, it launched a basketball mini-game within DMs. In February, it began testing a shortcut that converts the phrase “DM me” in a post into a clickable link that opens a direct message. The messaging system is built on Instagram’s infrastructure, which gives it reliability but also ties it to a platform with different privacy expectations and content norms.

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The redesign preview came one day after Hayes showed changes to how replies look on mobile. Replies under a post will now be indented to make conversation threads easier to follow, a feature rolling out on iOS and currently testing on Android.

The competitive context

Threads has grown faster than any social platform in history and now has more than 450 million monthly active users, with daily active users estimated at roughly 137 to 141 million. In January, Similarweb data showed Threads had surpassed X in daily mobile users, 141.5 million to 125 million, a milestone that would have seemed improbable when the app launched as a text-based companion to Instagram in July 2023.

The growth has come alongside a broader decline of X under Elon Musk’s ownership, which has pushed users, advertisers, and publishers toward alternatives. Bluesky, which raised $100 million in its Series B and has grown to 43 million users under new CEO Toni Schneider, has captured a vocal segment of the market. But Threads’ integration with Instagram’s 2 billion-plus user base gives it a distribution advantage that no standalone competitor can match.

The web redesign is part of a shift from growth to retention. Threads has the users. What it has lacked is the feature depth that makes a platform indispensable for the power users who drive conversation and content creation. DMs, a proper desktop experience, and improved reply threading address the specific complaints that have kept some users treating Threads as a secondary platform rather than a primary one.

Monetisation and Meta’s broader bet

Meta began rolling out ads on Threads globally in late January 2026, after testing in the US and Japan throughout 2025. The rollout uses Meta’s existing Ads Manager and supports image, video, and carousel formats through both Advantage+ and manual campaigns. Early pricing has been lower than Facebook and Instagram, with CPMs estimated at $3 to $8 and cost per click at $0.30 to $1.50, reflecting the early stage of advertiser competition on the platform. Evercore ISI analysts have projected Threads advertising revenue of $8 billion by the end of 2025 and $11.3 billion by 2026.

The advertising rollout gives the web redesign commercial significance beyond user experience. Desktop users tend to have higher engagement times and are more valuable to advertisers. A web interface that keeps users on the platform longer and adds messaging, which increases session frequency, directly supports the revenue trajectory that analysts are projecting.

Hayes was appointed to lead Threads in July 2025, taking over from Adam Mosseri, who had been running the platform directly alongside Instagram. Hayes previously served as Meta’s VP of product for generative AI and spent 14 years at the company in various product roles, including a stint growing Instagram Reels. Mosseri said at the time that “given Threads’ maturity, we think we need a dedicated app lead who can focus all of their time on helping Threads move forward.” The web redesign and DM rollout are the most visible results of that dedicated focus.

Threads is also the largest platform running on the ActivityPub protocol, allowing users to share posts to Mastodon, WordPress, and other fediverse-compatible services. Meta says it has interacted with over 75% of all fediverse servers, though full account portability is not yet available.

The redesign is incremental rather than transformative. It brings the web version closer to feature parity with the mobile app, which is itself still catching up to the feature set that X has built over 17 years. But for a platform that has Meta’s resources behind it, 450 million monthly users in front of it, and a growing creator economy to support, the gap between what Threads offers and what its most engaged users expect is closing faster than most new platforms manage. Hayes is signalling that the web is where the next phase of that closure will happen.