Facebook went through a lot of changes in recent years, both company and the service. It fell out of favor a bit but it’s still an absolute unit of a platform and many users rely on it on daily basis. And while we wait to see what’s next coming out of this VR dream (or nightmare) factory, we can’t ignore current issues. Some users report that Facebook is not working on Wi-Fi but it works great on Mobile Data. If that’s also the case with you, check the steps we provided below.
Table of contents:
- Check the network
- Check permissions
- Clear local data from Facebook
- Reinstall Facebook
- Use a wrapper for the time being
What is wrong with Facebook not loading?
If Facebook is not loading on Wi-Fi but works without issues on mobile data, we recommend navigating to Settings > Apps > Facebook > Mobile data & Wi-Fi and allowing Wi-Fi access. Also, try setting your assigned MAC address as Device and not Randomized.
If that doesn’t help, clear local data or reinstall Facebook. In the end, if nothing works, roll back to an older version via an APK or just use a wrapper app for the time being.
1. Check the network
Before doing anything else, make sure that Facebook isn’t down again. It’s quite rare and the transition to the Meta Facebook/Instagram phase is finished, but it’s still a possibility. You can find out if Facebook is down on DownDetector.
Once you determine that Facebook and associated services are indeed working without issues for other users, you should check your own network. Test the network in other apps and see if the content is loading or not.
Make sure to try disconnecting and connecting again to your Wi-Fi network. You can also forget it and connect again with the password.
If that doesn’t help, restart your router and your phone. Some users mention that there’s a conflict with the MAC address and that you should stick to the device’s MAC. You can change these settings by following these instructions:
- Open Settings.
- Select Connections and open Wi-Fi.
- Tap on the cog icon next to your network to open network settings.
- Expand the options and look for the MAC address type.
- Change the Mac address type option to Phone MAC (or Use device MAC) instead of Randomized MAC.
You can also enable Developer options and look for the Mobile Data Always Active option. Once you find it, disable it.
If that didn’t help and Facebook is still not working on Wi-Fi, try the next step.
2. Check permissions
In this case, when we say permissions, we don’t talk about regular permissions (Storage, Mic, Camera, etc.) but the Wi-Fi and Mobile Data settings. Some Android skins on recent Android versions don’t have the option to disable Wi-Fi. But some do.
So, what you need to do is navigate to Apps Settings and disable this option. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps.
- Expand All apps and open Facebook from the list.
- Tap Mobile data & Wi-Fi.
- Enable Wi-Fi.
3. Clear local data from Facebook
If the previous steps failed, we recommend clearing local data from the app. Facebook for handheld devices is notoriously taking a ton of storage space under the assumption that this will speed up content loading. However, you should clean it regularly because, over time, it will do completely opposite — slow down the app and your phone in the process.
Here’s how to clear local data from the Facebook app:
- Once again, navigate to Settings > Apps > All apps > Facebook.
- Open Storage.
- Tap Clear data.
- Confirm and restart your device.
- Sign in to your Facebook account and check for improvements.
4. Reinstall Facebook
If the previous step failed, you can try reinstallation. Although wiping local data does almost the same as reinstallation, it’s worth a shot and, at this point, you don’t have much to lose. After you reinstall Facebook, check the Mobile data & Wi-Fi settings again, as explained in the second step.
Here’s how to reinstall Facebook from the Play Store:
- Open Play Store.
- Look for Facebook and open the app.
- Tap Uninstall.
- Restart your Android.
- Install Facebook again from the Play Store.
5. Use a wrapper for the time being
Finally, if Facebook is still not working on Wi-Fi, you can always try an alternative app. We’re aware that Facebook Lite and similar wrapper apps don’t have all the features that the official app has, but this is a temporary solution.
Chances are that the current version has a bug and you can either switch to a wrapper or try and roll back to an older Facebook version via an APK.
The most popular Facebook wrappers are Facebook Lite (Play Store), Friendly Social Browser (Play Store), and Phoenix – Facebook & Messenger (Play Store).
Alternatively, as we mentioned, you can download and sideload a Facebook APK from APK Mirror. We explained the complete procedure in step 5 of this article about possible fixes for Facebook crashing on Android.
That should do it. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions with us in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you.
