How to Fix Facebook News Feed not Working

When Facebook’s News Feed isn’t working, users often encounter a scenario where the feed either fails to load beyond a few posts or displays a persistent loading symbol. This issue typically indicates a failure in retrieving data from Facebook’s servers, which can be caused by various factors.

The most common cause is a poor or unstable internet connection, though issues like outdated app versions, cache corruption, or even specific app bugs following updates can also contribute. This problem isn’t limited to a single device or platform, as it has been reported across iOS, Android, and even desktop browsers.

Despite the giant doing everything it can to make the application and platform more streamlined, we came across several different cases where users reported that their news feed was not working. There are several different variations of the error, including the following:

• The news feed doesn’t work at all.
• The news feed keeps loading old data again and again in an endless loop.
• The ‘most recent’ feature of the news feed keeps displaying data that is day(s) old.

In this article, we report our findings as to why this issue occurs on the mobile application as well as on the web platform. Even though your situation might not correspond to the reasons given above, the solutions below will still apply to you.

Before we move on to the solutions, make sure that you have your credentials at hand as you will be required to log in again. Furthermore, if you have two-factor authentication, you should have your phone with you as well.

Solution 1: Check News Feed Preferences

Facebook has news feed preferences that allow you to decide what you see on your news feed page. These preferences have two main options, namely Top stories and Recent. By default, Top stories are selected. If you want to see the most recent stories, you would need to change the preferences manually.

Furthermore, there are also other options available where you can decide which feeds you want to see first and which to ignore until the end. Facebook provides loads of customization, but they are usually unknown to the user. In this solution, we will go through the methods on how to change your news feed preferences.

1. Navigate to the main page of Facebook. Now locate the News Feed title present at the left side of the screen. Click on the three dots.

   

2. A drop-down will appear. Here you can choose which type of news feed you require, i.e., Top Stories or Most Recent.

In case you want to edit more preferences, click on the button of Edit preferences. A window like the one below will appear. From here, you can further customize your news feed and set any priorities for content to be displayed.

After you are done, restart your application/browser and launch Facebook again. Check if the issue persists.

In the case of Android devices, you can click on the stacks (menu) icon present at the left-most side of the screen and click on See More.

Now you can select Most Recent for the most recent feeds to show up in your application.

Solution 2: Check your Internet Connection

If the internet connection of your network isn’t up to the mark, you will have issues connecting to Facebook whether you are using the website or the mobile application. This is one of the leading causes of why users have issues refreshing or fetching their news feeds.

You should ensure that you don’t have a limited internet connection and are not using data from organizations/public places. These networks usually have limited access for applications such as Facebook or Instagram. You should switch to mobile data or change your network before trying the other solutions listed down below.

Solution 3: Check for Facebook Downtime

We received numerous reports where Facebook was down due to either technical difficulties or fixing bugs, etc. Facebook has a lot of downtimes and is notorious for this in the social media community. If this is the case, it means that there is a problem with the backend servers (not at your end).

You can make sure that you aren’t the only one experiencing the problem by navigating to DownDetector and checking the status there. If you see a large spike, it means that other people are also experiencing the problem and there is nothing you can do. You can also check out other forums such as Reddit and see other people’s issues to determine whether this is a global or specific geographical issue.

Solution 4: Clear Application Data (For Android)

Like all other applications on Android, Facebook also has data stored locally in your storage, which contains all the passwords, preferences, usernames, cached data, and much more. The storage is usually divided into two parts, i.e., Application data and Cache data.

First, you can try clearing the Cache data, and after restarting your phone, check if the issue is resolved. If it isn’t, you can clear the application data as well and see if it works for you. Data corruption is very common in the Android platform, so there is nothing to worry about.

Note: You will have to re-enter your credentials to log into the application again.

1. Open the Settings application and click on Apps.
2. Locate Facebook from the list. Now click on Storage.

   

3. You will now be given two options, i.e., Clear Data and Clear Cache. Click both of the options.
4. Now, launch the Facebook application again and check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 5: Install the Latest Version of Facebook

Facebook releases frequent updates to ensure that the applications stay up to date with Android OS and to fix all the bugs. If you are by any means avoiding the update to Facebook, it is recommended to make it your top priority to update the application.

For Android Users:

In Android, navigate to the Play Store and update the Facebook application from the Update tab.

1. Open the Play Store on your Android Device. Now slide the screen towards the right from the left side, and a new taskbar will show up. Click My apps and games.

   

2. Now navigate to the tab of Updates. Locate Facebook and click the Update button in front of it.

After the application is updated successfully, restart your phone and launch Facebook. Now check if the issue is resolved.

For iPhone/iPad Users:

For iOS devices, navigate to the App Store and update the application using the update tab, which is similar to Android.

1. Open the App Store application on your iDevice.
2. Select the Update button present at the bottom-right side of the screen.
3. Locate Facebook in the list. If it is present, there will be an update available. Click on Update.

After installing the update, restart your application and check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 6: Check your Time and Date Settings

Almost every mobile application uses the local time on your mobile phone to work properly; it takes timestamps according to your geographic location. If the local and geographic times don’t match, you will not be able to load the feeds properly. In some cases, you will not be able to post either.

In this solution, we will check the time settings for both the mobile application and your PC.

Ensure Correct Time on a PC

In these steps, we will navigate to the Date and Time settings on your PC and make sure that the correct time is set.

1. Right-click on the time present at the bottom-right side of your screen and click on Adjust date/time.

   

2. If the options ‘Set time automatically’ and ‘Set time zone automatically’ are not checked, enable them and let the computer decide the time zone for you.

   

If both options are checked and you are still having incorrect time, you can click on Change and manually set the correct time according to your location.

Ensure Correct Time on Android

On Android devices, time is usually set automatically with the help of your SIM card. If you are still experiencing issues, follow the steps to set it manually.

1. Open the Settings application and search for Date and Time.
2. Once the new menu is opened, you can disable Automatic date and time if it is checked and you are having incorrect time. New options will pop up where you can easily set the correct time and date according to the time zone.

   

If the automatic date and time are not enabled, try enabling them and check if the issue is resolved. Don’t forget to restart your smartphone before checking.

Solution 7: Use Alternatives for Outdated Smartphones

If you have an outdated smartphone in which you are using Facebook, chances are that the news feed loads extremely slowly, and the entire application lags. This is a known issue since the main Facebook application requires good processing power and intensive storage.

Here you can use the alternative of Facebook Lite. This version of Facebook uses much less data and loads extremely fast. Just download the application from the Play Store and after entering your credentials, check if the news feed issue is resolved for good without any shortcomings.

Solution 8: Change Zoom to 100% in Browser

Another bizarre issue we came across was where the zoom of the screen in your PC’s browser affected the loading of the news feed. This seems like a bug that was probably solved by Facebook engineers, but we received recent reports that this was still an issue.

To fix this issue, simply navigate to the Facebook page and then press Ctrl and wheel the mouse down to reduce the percentage of the screen. After the browser screen is at 100%, refresh Facebook and check if you can load the feeds properly without any issues.

Additional Fixes:

If all the above methods don’t work, you can try the following remedies and see if they do the trick for you.

• Try launching Facebook in your Android browser or navigate to m.facebook.com.
• Launch Facebook in another mobile device or computer and see if the issue persists there.
• Use Android simulator BlueStacks and install an older version of Facebook in it. In numerous cases, this works if the latest version of Facebook is causing issues.
• Ensure that you have enough storage and RAM in your mobile devices.