Many times it happens that one cannot access his/her Facebook account or any of its features. The reason for the underlying problem can be many, one very prominent of all is Facebook being down. There are many past incidents on the basis of which it can be inferred that it’s not a problem that can be neglected; there are many incidents where people keep on searching the internet to find a solution to resolve their Facebook not working issue, while the problem lies with Facebook servers.
One such recent outage of Facebook happened on 5 October 2021, where it remained out of service for several hours.
“*Sincere* apologies to everyone impacted by outages of Facebook-powered services right now. We are experiencing networking issues and teams are working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible”, said Mike Schroepfer, Facebook CTO.
This outage of Facebook services ran for the longest recorded time of more than 6 hours. After this incident, users have a hard time believing that any issue with Facebook, whether related or not related to the server, is not due to a server fault.
Therefore, in order to help our readers, we have structured and written the article in a way that helps them to figure out that the problem is due to Facebook servers being actually down or there’s another matter of concern.
How To Check If Facebook Is Down?
If next time you are not able to access Facebook and have a doubt that it is down, then the following are some ways to check if Facebook is down or there is a problem on your side:
- Head over to the official Facebook status page: If you have a bit of a doubt that you are facing a problem with Facebook because it is down, then, first check the Facebook server status on the official Facebook status page. Here, you will get the report of the problems that Facebook is facing at that particular point in time. However, it may happen that you do not get the updated information as the data on the page is not updated on a regular basis. You will get to know this, as the time at which the page was updated last, is mentioned at the top of the page.
- Check Facebook Status on Third-Party Tools: If the above-stated page doesn’t help, then you can look for the same information on different third-party websites that provide the live status of Facebook and other websites as well; DownDetector, OutageReport, are two of them. These websites provide the real-time update of not just Facebook but also other popular websites.
- Use Twitter to Know About the Problem: Since Facebook is used by people all around the world; therefore, to conceal the sudden panic in people which arises due to not being able to access their account, some official statements from Facebook high management are always released on Twitter. Thus, you can get the answer to your question ‘Is Facebook down or not?’ on Twitter. To get the answer fast, you can search ‘#facebookdown’ on Twitter and see if there is any statement from Facebook officials.
- Go to the Facebook website: If you are not sure that Facebook is down or not, by going through the methods stated above, then you can get to know the same by visiting the Facebook website. Now, if you usually access your Facebook via browser, then it can happen that due to its cache stored in the browser, the website loads fine, and you do not see any problem. Therefore, open a new incognito tab on the browser and visit the Facebook.com website. If you are able to log in and access the website, then the problem might be others and not with Facebook servers; on the other hand, if you see 5XX errors or the error messages stated below, then the Facebook servers are down, or it is facing some temporary issue:
- “Account temporarily unavailable. Your account is currently unavailable due to a site issue. We expect this to be resolved shortly.”
- “Sorry, something went wrong. We are working on getting this fixed as soon as we can.”
- “Your account is temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance. It should be available again within a few hours.”
Solving Facebook Down Issue
If you have gone through one or all the methods to check if Facebook is down or not, and encounter no information that confirms that Facebook is down, then probably the problem lies on your side. Listed below are some general methods that can solve whatever the issue be.
For Desktop
Method-1: Clear Browser’s Cache
If you are not able to figure out what the problem is if Facebook is not down, then the first thing that can help you out, is clearing your browser’s cookies and cache. Many times it happens that these files get corrupted when they are being stored in the browser and cause the inaccessibility of some websites. Therefore, go to your browser settings and try accessing the Facebook website once you have cleared all the browsing data (cookies and cache).
Method-2: Enable JavaScript
JavaScript is a computer language that runs the web. All the actions you take on a website are possible only because of JavaScript. If you have unknowingly turned off JavaScript on your browser, then you may face a lot of problems in accessing not just Facebook, but other websites as well. You can turn it on by visiting your browser settings and following the steps as instructed in your browser’s official manual page. Listed below are the links to those pages of some popular browsers:
Method:3- Update the browser
What you were thinking of as a problem as huge as Facebook down, might be as mere as an outdated version of the browser. Many a time it happens that when the browser is not updated for a long time, some security differences arise between a website and the browser and the website becomes unreachable on that browser; the same can be the case with Facebook. Therefore, it is always a good thing to keep your apps up to date to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
Method-4: Use a Facebook Compatible Browser
If you are using any browser that is not usually used, then you can face Facebook incompatibility issues with the browser. Many websites or web applications, like Facebook, have defined the browser in which they work the best. Browsers that are compatible with Facebook and suit its functionality the most are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
Method-5: Disable unnecessary browser add-ons
A lot of extensions installed in the browser can lead to the unpredictable behavior of many websites. The same happens with Facebook; when it detects an extension that can be a threat to users’ data and website safety, it doesn’t work properly; or it can happen that the extension is causing hindrance in some functions of the website, which is often wrongly concluded as ‘Facebook is down’ or ‘There’s a problem with Facebook today!’. To deal with the situation, you have to turn off each extension one by one and see which one is causing the problem.
For Mobile Phones
Method-1: Update the Facebook app
Facebook is very certain about adding new features and functionalities to it on a regular, timely basis, and therefore its app requires frequent updates. If you haven’t updated the app for a long while, then the problem of you facing issues with Facebook is not because it is down, it is because of outdated features of your app. Therefore, first update the app before moving on to other troubleshooting methods.
Method-2: Clear App Cache
Just like corrupted cookies and cache files cause interruptions in the smooth functioning of a website in the browser; similarly, a lot of cache files of an app stored in a phone’s memory causes problems in the proper running of the app. Therefore, go to your phone’s settings, within it open the Facebook app settings and clear all the cached data, remove the app from the background and relaunch it.
Method-3: Ensure Your Phone has Enough Storage
For apps to run smoothly, they require some minimum storage space to save data and cache files, without which they cannot work. Similarly, Facebook requires at least 100 MB of storage to function properly, otherwise, it may crash abruptly every time you try to use it. This can create a perception in your mind that Facebook is down, while it’s not the actual reason. Therefore, if your phone is running out of space, you either need to free up some memory by deleting some apps or other data or expand it by inserting a new memory card.
Method-4: Disable Restricted Data Usage for Facebook App
If you have enabled the restricted data usage for the Facebook app and have forgotten about it, then after reaching that limit, you will not be able to access the app or any of its features. This will make you wonder what’s wrong with Facebook today? Thereby, to get rid of this situation, go back to your phone settings and disable the data usage restriction on the Facebook app.
Method-5: Restart the mobile phone
If you are using a lot of applications at the same time, then they tend to occupy a lot of RAM of the phone, which leads to lagging and crashing of any application opened. Thus, all the applications running in the background are to be closed before opening a new app. In order to do so, you can restart the phone, it not only closes all the applications but also terminates all the activities running in the background that were occupying the RAM. After doing so, you will be able to use the Facebook app without facing any problems.
