Facebook down? 7 ways to troubleshoot if the app is not working on your device

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• If certain Facebook pages won't work or you can't access the site at all, there are several ways to troubleshoot.
• Try refreshing your browser or reopening the site; on a mobile app, close and reopen the app.
• Also check to see if Facebook is down and then restart your device, clear your cache, and update the app.

Facebook is "Internet Home Base" for many people, the first stop to see what's happening in family and friends' lives. But whether you access Facebook on desktop, on your phone or on a tablet, sometimes the social media site doesn't work the way it should. If you are having problems with Facebook, here are seven common ways to troubleshoot and solve your problem.

Refresh your browser

If you're viewing Facebook in a web browser, the first thing you should try is to refresh the page using the Reload button at the top of the browser window. If that doesn't work, close the browser tab and open Facebook in a new browser tab or window. 

Check to see if Facebook is down

It's possible that the problem isn't at your end — the entire site might be down, or at least substantial parts of it. You can quickly find out the status of Facebook by searching for "Is Facebook down" in a web browser or checking Facebook's status at DownDetector.

Clear your browser's cache 

If you're having trouble with Facebook, or just reaching certain pages on Facebook, your browser's cache might need to be cleared. It only takes a few clicks to clear your browser's cache, and it might solve a Facebook connection issue. Beware, though: Clearing the cache will log you out of any websites you use, so you'll need to log back in the next time you visit.

For details on how to clear your cache, here is how to do that in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.   

Close and reopen the app

If you're using the Facebook app on your iPhone, Android, iPad or other tablet, it's possible the app is suffering from some sort of a software glitch. You can often get back on track by closing the app and then reopening it. As a reminder, here is how to close an app on your iPhone. The technique to close apps on Android varies from model to model, but here is how to do it on a Samsung Galaxy phone. 

Restart your device

Sometimes you can resolve an issue with Facebook by restarting your device. Turning the device off and back on again eliminates any glitches that might reside in memory and lets all the software start fresh.

As a reminder, here is how to restart an iPhone. If you have an Android device, you can restart most models by pressing and holding the power button until you see a screen with a Power off or Shut down button, then tap it to complete the shutdown.

Update or reinstall your app

If you still can't get Facebook to work and you're on a mobile device, you can try to update the app. Facebook might be misbehaving simply because the app is out of date and suffering from a bug or an incompatibility. It's a good idea to leave automatic updates turned on. Here's how to turn on automatic updates on your iPhone or update apps on your Android phone.

Another option: uninstall the Facebook app entirely and then reinstall it from the app store for your iPhone or Android. Here's how to uninstall the Facebook app from your Android or iOS device. Afterward, install a fresh version from Google Play or the App Store.

Try using Facebook with a different browser or device

Finally, a common way to troubleshoot a computer problem is to see if you can reproduce the same issue elsewhere. If the iPhone Facebook app isn't working, for example, try using Facebook in the iPhone's Safari browser or in a browser on your computer. If it isn't working in Chrome on your PC, try opening the site in Firefox.

Consider using Facebook Lite

You may be experiencing issues with the regular Facebook app if your internet connectivity speed is slow. In that case, consider using Facebook Lite, which is smaller and lighter than the standard app. Facebook's parent company Meta markets Facebook Lite as being compatible with internet speeds as low as 2G, with a theoretical maximum download speed of 48 kB/s.

A few other possibilities

If there's a specific person you're suddenly unable to find on the social network, it's possible that they deactivated or deleted their Facebook account or that you've been blocked or you blocked them. You'll need to unblock someone on Facebook if you want to see their profile again.

Hopefully these troubleshooting tips will resolve your problem. Otherwise, there's an entire family of Facebook apps to communicate with others and keep you occupied while the OG is down!