Facebook app won’t open? Don’t panic – try this!

Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world, so you’d expect it to always be working.. right?

Well sometimes disaster strikes, you tap that icon are then greeted with nothing but a loading wheel, or worse yet – an error page.

Is there something wrong with Facebook, has the internet exploded, or is it something on your end? 

Well, not to worry, because no matter the problem, we have the solution. It could be a quick and easy fix, or something a little more complicated.

Either way, continue reading for a step-by-step guide on getting yourself reconnected.

Facebook Won’t Open – What To Do Next

If you find Facebook not working, the first thing to do is check whether there’s an issue with Facebook itself. Though unlikely, it could be that their servers have gone down temporarily.

Though in most cases, it’s going to be an issue with one of three things; your data connection, software bugs or a corrupted app. Run through this troubleshooting guide if you want to resolve the issue.

Check the Facebook server

If your Facebook app isn’t opening at all, there’s a small chance that their servers are down for some reason or another.

This could be scheduled maintenance, some kind of localized outage, or maybe an intern tripped over a power cable and took the whole site down.

Whatever the case may be, the first thing you can do is check whether the problem is for everyone, or just for you by going to a Facebook status checker such as this one.

If users are having problems, you will see big spikes in reports of issues and potentially an “offline” status message.

If there seems to be a larger problem for everyone, unfortunately the only solution is to wait for it to be resolved and Facebook to sort out its own issues.

If that page displays Facebook is up, then I have some good news, and a bit of bad news.

The good news is we can get you back onto the app, the bad news is it might take a few more steps.

Most of the issues are fairly straightforward to solve, but depending on your device, whether you are IOS or Android, various problems will require different solutions.

Thankfully, we have you covered, and we are going to guide you through each of them starting with the simplest and fastest to fix.

Checking Your Connection

Sometimes, the fix is more straightforward than you may think.

One of the most common reasons Facebook won’t open is if you are just not properly connected to the internet on your phone.    

Have you checked your Wi-Fi connection lately? Are you trying to connect in a weak coverage spot in your current location?

If you have too many walls, too much distance or too much interference between you and your Wi-Fi source, your phone might be struggling to connect. Try moving around or getting closer to the router.

If that fails, try turning your phone off and on again. It’s worked for me in the past just by disconnecting and reconnecting, and voila, my flimsy signal magically becomes strong.

Having your phone in flight mode by accident can also prevent you from connecting, so make sure that little plane icon is off when you’re firmly on the ground.

If none of this works and you still can’t connect to the Facebook app, your issue could be down to the Wi-Fi itself.

While not a permanent solution, try connecting with your phone data instead, even just quickly to test that everything is working properly.

If you can connect with your phone data but not Wi-Fi, it’s time to look at your router for the source of your problem.

Unplugging it for 30 seconds can reset the DNS, which also has the tendency to fix most connection issues.

Problems With Your App

Over time your phone piles up data from apps and this can take up memory bandwidth, as well as your phone’s storage space.

It can also inadvertently cause some errors to happen, especially if data becomes corrupted.

If you are using IOS, your phone clears your cache over time, but if you are on Android you will need to manually do this.

Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to do and the images below show you where to go from your settings menu, into your apps, finding Facebook and then pointing out where your “clear data,” and “clear cache” buttons are.

Clearing your cache will get rid of “excess” data floating around in the app. This stuff is used to speed up load times and holds temporary information.

Ironically, this can slow down your phone and occasionally prevent apps from working if cache storage becomes too large.

Clearing the data also clears the cache, but additionally erases any database information, as well as saved user data such as login details.

This option effectively reverts the app to almost “brand new” state. I would start with clearing cache, and if that still doesn’t solve the problem, clear data as well.

Making sure that you install app updates as and when needed is a good idea too.

Outdated software is a common reason for an app not working, so keeping your app updated is a necessity to ensure no bugs or problems are causing an issue.

Plan B – Reinstalling The Facebook App

If all else fails and every fallback comes up short, then this is your “nuclear option” to fixing any problem relating to apps not working. It’s time to zap your current version and reinstall it.

What this does is it ensures all of the previous options take place, as well as cleansing any corrupt files and making sure you have the most updated version.

Sometimes you miss an update or have your settings wrong somewhere and not having the correct version can sometimes cause issues which prevent the app from loading properly, especially if it’s a security update.

Keep in mind that if you choose this option, any temporary files like preferences, cookies, saved usernames and passwords will be wiped.

Make sure you make a note of any important information or settings that a reinstall would remove before you go through with it.

Conclusion

While Facebook going down for everyone is incredibly rare, and much more likely is an issue with your internet connection or data, these things still happen.

Whether you can’t add someone on your Facebook profile or you want to see who viewed your profile recently, we can help.

Sometimes it can be frustrating trying to figure out whether the problem is on your end, or theirs, and what actions to take when you can’t open Facebook.

No matter problem, following these steps should resolve your issues so you can get back to connecting with your social world.