Given the talent, resources, and power of the Facebook organization, you would think they could offer an app that wouldn’t crash. Some days the app seems pretty stable and others it seems to crash every time you want to do anything. Fortunately, we had enough time to find ways to stop Facebook crashing on Android or recover when it crashes.
While many are switching from Facebook to Instagram or Snapchat instead, there are still millions of people using it. That means millions of crashes and millions of frustrated users every day. After a few of you read this, you won’t be so disappointed.
Stop Facebook from crashing on Android
If the core app itself is problematic, we’re limited to what we can do, but when we’re in the middle of a call, chat, or update, we should do our best to reduce the chance of this happening.
update facebook
Facebook updates regularly on both Android and iOS, so it’s always worth checking for an updated version. While the app is still problematic, a lot of work has been done to make it more stable. It’s always worth opening Google Play and checking for an update. Or just setting up automatic updates.
Log out and back to Facebook
Signing out of Facebook and back in is a simple thing to try, but it can be very effective at cleaning up the files Facebook uses during a session. Many users found it helpful.
- Open the Facebook app and select the three-line menu icon in the top right.
- Select Sign Out from the next page.
- Close the application and reopen it.
- Sign in again when prompted.
This may be enough to get you up and running again.
Restart the application
As your next step, I recommend restarting the application from the beginning. Not only does it open from your app drawer, make sure the process isn’t running in the background and then launch Facebook.
- Open Settings and Apps on your device.
- Select Facebook and Force Close if the option is available.
If the Force Close option was available, Facebook crashed but left the process running. If you had started the app without doing that, it might not have started or would most likely crash again.
clear facebook cache
If Facebook is still unstable and crashes again, the next logical step is to clear the app cache. It clears the memory and temporary files that the application uses to run. If one of these files is corrupt or causing a crash, refreshing it with a new file may stop the file.
- Open Settings and Apps on your device.
- Select Facebook and Storage.
- Select Clear Cache and Clear Data.
The exact location of this option differs by phone manufacturer and Android OS version. It should be somewhere in the app menu though. Clearing cache and stored data is a good way to prevent many Android apps from crashing.
Restart your phone
If only Facebook is crashing, restarting your entire device might seem a bit extreme. Considering that our only option next is to reinstall Facebook, it’s worth a try. Restart your device fully and test again. There’s a slim chance it will work, so it’s worth a try!
reinstall facebook
The last option is a bit harsh but as far as I know there is no other troubleshooting method for the Facebook app. Deleting the app from your device, restarting, and then downloading a fresh copy of Facebook can repair a corruption or fix any problem that caused it to crash. Or it may not.
Move to Facebook Lite
One of the first things I do when I get a new phone is to uninstall the Facebook app and replace it with Facebook Lite. Facebook spies a lot, follows me and crashes all the time. Facebook Lite is much more stable, doesn’t spy too much and crashes almost out of nowhere. It’s not as full-featured as the full app, but it’s also not unstable either.
Facebook is notoriously unstable and always has been. It’s a very complex app that reaches deep into your phone and loves to stick its fingers in everything that’s going on. This comes with complexity and instability. If you are still using Facebook, one of the above steps will stop it crashing on your Android device.
Are there any other fixes to stop Facebook crashing on Android? Any tweaks or fixes to make it more stable? If you do, tell us below!