If your Facebook app is unexpectedly closing or crashing on your iPhone, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try to resolve the issue.
Check for Facebook App Updates
The first thing to check is whether your Facebook app is up to date. Open the App Store on your iPhone and go to the Updates tab. If there is an update available for the Facebook app, install it and see if that fixes the crashing issue.
Facebook releases app updates to fix bugs and improve performance, so installing the latest version can often resolve app crashing problems. Make sure your iPhone is connected to WiFi for the fastest download of the Facebook app update.
Force Close and Relaunch the Facebook App
If your Facebook app is still crashing after updating to the latest version, try force closing it and relaunching.
To force close the Facebook app on iPhone:
- Double press the Home button to open the multitasking view.
- Swipe up on the Facebook app preview to close it.
- Open the Facebook app again from your Home screen.
Force closing the app will clear out any temporary glitches that may be causing it to crash. Relaunching the app starts it up with a clean slate.
Restart Your iPhone
Restarting your iPhone resets all running apps and services and can resolve app crashing issues. To restart an iPhone 8 or earlier, press and hold the Power button until you see the “Slide to Power Off” prompt. For iPhone X and later, press and hold the side button and a volume button until the power off slider appears.
After your iPhone fully restarts, reopen the Facebook app to see if the crashes have stopped. A restart will clear out any memory issues that were causing the app to crash repeatedly.
Check Your Available Storage
If your iPhone is low on storage space, it can cause apps to crash unexpectedly or run slowly. Check your available storage in the Settings app and delete any photos, videos, or large apps you don’t need to free up space.
The Facebook app requires a certain amount of free storage to cache content and run smoothly. Having plenty of available storage on your iPhone can prevent crashing issues.
Uninstall and Reinstall the Facebook App
If you’ve tried updating, force closing, restarting, and freeing up storage but the Facebook app is still crashing, the next step is to uninstall and reinstall the app.
To uninstall the Facebook app:
- Press and hold the Facebook app icon until it starts jiggling.
- Tap the X icon displayed on the top left corner of the app.
- Tap Delete to confirm you want to uninstall the app.
Once the Facebook app is uninstalled, restart your iPhone again. Then go to the App Store and reinstall the Facebook app. This will give you a clean install of the app which can stop crashes from recurring.
Disable Background App Refresh
The Background App Refresh feature allows apps to refresh their content when you are not actively using them. Disabling this for the Facebook app may prevent intermittent crashes.
To disable Background App Refresh for Facebook:
- Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
- Toggle the switch next to Facebook so background refreshing is disabled.
With Background App Refresh turned off for Facebook, the app will only refresh when you have it open. If the setting was causing crashes, this should prevent them in the background.
Turn Off Auto-Play Video
Having the Auto-Play setting enabled in the Facebook app can sometimes contribute to its crashing, especially if you have an unstable internet connection.
To disable auto-play of videos in Facebook:
- Open the Facebook app and tap the three-line menu button.
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Media and Contacts.
- Toggle off Auto-Play Videos.
With auto-play disabled, videos won’t load and run in the background. This prevents crashes from unstable video playback within the app.
Update Your iPhone Software
Make sure your iPhone is updated to the latest iOS version. Apple releases software updates to fix bugs and optimize performance. Updating to the newest iOS version can resolve app crashing problems.
To update your iPhone software:
- Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
- Tap Download and Install if an update is available.
- Connect to WiFi and allow your iPhone to complete the update.
Once your iPhone is updated, restart it and try using the Facebook app again normally without crashes.
Disable Facebook Notifications
Frequent notifications from the Facebook app could potentially contribute to it crashing. Try disabling notifications to prevent this possible issue.
To disable Facebook notifications:
- Open Settings > Notifications.
- Scroll down and tap on Facebook.
- Toggle off Allow Notifications.
With notifications turned off, this will prevent them from interrupting your phone’s resources that the Facebook app needs to run smoothly.
Reset Network Settings
Resetting your iPhone’s network settings can clear up any issues caused by improper network configurations that may be causing the Facebook app to crash.
To reset network settings go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This will restore all of your Wi-Fi networks and other network settings to their defaults without affecting other data on your iPhone.
Factory Reset Your iPhone
If all else fails, you can perform a factory reset to restore your iPhone to original factory conditions. This should eliminate any problematic software issues causing the Facebook app crashes.
To factory reset, go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Be sure to fully backup your iPhone first before resetting.
Get Your iPhone Hardware Checked
Persistent Facebook app crashes could potentially indicate a hardware problem with your iPhone rather than just a software issue. If you’ve exhausted all other troubleshooting steps, get the iPhone hardware inspected at an Apple Store or authorized service provider.
Issues like faulty RAM or a glitchy processor can cause apps to crash. Have a technician run diagnostics on the iPhone hardware to check if everything is functioning properly.
Conclusion
Here are some final tips for avoiding Facebook app crashes on iPhone:
- Close unused apps running in the background
- Only install updates from the official App Store
- Use the Facebook Lite app which requires less resources
- Delete and reinstall Facebook if issues persist
- Check the developers’ website for known Facebook app issues
Troubleshooting app crashes requires patience, but being diligent about updating software, freeing up space, and resetting settings can typically resolve Facebook problems on iPhone. Contact Apple Support if the crashes remain unresolved after trying all recommended fixes.
Summary Table of Troubleshooting Steps
| Troubleshooting Step | Details |
|---|---|
| Update the Facebook app | Install the latest app version from the App Store |
| Force close and relaunch | Close the app from the multitasking view and reopen it |
| Restart your iPhone | Power cycle the device to clear out glitches |
| Check available storage | Delete unused apps and media to free up space |
| Uninstall and reinstall | Delete the app and freshly install the latest version |
| Disable Background App Refresh | Turn off refreshing Facebook when not in use |
| Turn off Auto-Play Video | Stop videos loading automatically in the app |
| Update iOS software | Upgrade to the newest operating system version |
| Disable Facebook notifications | Turn off notifications which can disrupt the app |
| Reset network settings | Restore networking configurations to default |
| Factory reset the iPhone | Erase all content and settings as a last resort |
| Get iPhone hardware checked | Inspect components like RAM and processor |