Meta is shutting down its Horizon Workrooms VR meeting software on February 16.
If you’re unaware, Workrooms is Meta’s collaborative productivity app for Quest headsets, first launched in 2021. Workrooms lets you view your PC monitor inside VR and share your screen with teammates as Meta Avatars in a virtual meeting room. People who don’t own a Quest can join via webcam through a web interface.
The app also has a solo Personal Office which gives you free extra monitors, effectively turning your laptop into a triple monitor setup.
Facebook Launches Horizon Workrooms To Power Remote Work
Facebook is moving to power remote work with a collaborative platform called Horizon Workrooms. The new service launches as an open beta testing release today free to use on the Web over video call or embodied in Oculus Quest 2, with the latter being the only entry point requiring a
In summer 2024, Meta released an overhaul of Workrooms that streamlined the interface while removing major features, leading to significant backlash from users.
The update removed the virtual whiteboard in meeting rooms, a flagship feature of the app which the Touch Pro controllers were designed around, as well as all meeting room customization, the web-based text chat and file sharing system, and tracked keyboard support.
The main upside of the overhaul was its improvements to the solo Personal Office. But just over a year ago, Meta and Microsoft launched the official Windows 11 Remote Desktop feature for Quest’s Horizon OS, which also allows spawning virtual extra side monitors.
The official Windows 11 Remote Desktop feature runs as OS-level windows, meaning that it supports the seamless multitasking feature added to Horizon OS in 2024, letting you use your PC while inside any VR or mixed reality app.
Quest 3’s Windows 11 Remote Desktop Gets Aspect Ratio Setting & Ultrawide Mode
The official Windows 11 Remote Desktop of Horizon OS now has 21:9 and 3:4 aspect ratio options, as well as an enveloping visionOS-like Ultrawide Mode.
Essentially, the Windows 11 integration fully supersedes the Personal Office of Workrooms. But what Meta isn’t providing a replacement for is the online multi-user meeting room functionality.
Meta officially recommends Workrooms users to switch to Arthur, Microsoft Teams Immersive, or any other virtual meetings software on the Horizon Store. An example we’d point out is Fluid, which has excellent reviews and a strong focus on sharing your screen with others in VR.
“From 16 February 2026, you will no longer be able to access Workrooms, and any data associated with Workrooms will be deleted”, Meta notes.
The news comes on the same week the company closed three of its acquired VR game studios, gutted another, stopped updates for its VR fitness service, and canceled the sequel for Batman: Arkham Shadow, a wider move to shift spending from VR towards smart glasses.
