Is WhatsApp not working? There are various reasons why WhatsApp might not work on your smartphone and fortunately, fixing these problems is not that complicated. If you are not tech-savvy, then you don’t need to worry about it because we have your back. We will explain the top five methods to fix WhatsApp not working in a step-by-step manner. Without any further ado, let’s get into it.
Are the Servers Down?
Your first step in the process of fixing “WhatsApp not working” is to find what’s causing this to happen. As previously mentioned, there are various reasons why WhatsApp might stop working. The best thing that you can do is to narrow down the problem. Access the websites below to see if the problem is caused by WhatsApp’s official servers.
- Check to see if WhatsApp servers are down – Click here
- Search for outage reports – Click here
The websites featured above will help you determine if WhatsApp’s servers are down in your region. If that is the case, then there is not much that you can do about it other than to wait. The developers usually don’t take the servers down for more than one hour.
Is Your Internet Connection Good?
One problem that most people tend to overlook when they deal with WhatsApp problems is their internet connection. If there are no reports to show a server outage, then the next thing that you need to do is to verify your smartphone’s internet connection. Even though your Wi-Fi might say “Connected”, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the connection is strong enough for WhatsApp to function properly.
The best way to make sure that your smartphone’s internet connection is running properly is to enable the Airplane mode and then disable it after one minute. Doing this will automatically set all your smartphone’s network settings to default and reestablish a connection to the Wi-Fi.
Is WhatsApp Updated?
If the WhatsApp that is installed on your smartphone is running on an older software version, then this might be the cause why the chatting app is not working properly. Luckily, downloading the latest updates for WhatsApp is super simple. All that you need to do is access the Google Play Store, search for WhatsApp and then tap on the “Update” option. You should consider enabling automatic updates for the app that you use the most.
Clear the Cache
Did you follow all the previous steps and WhatsApp is still not working? This means that the problem is in the chatting app’s software. Force stopping WhatsApp and clearing the cache may fix your problem. If you are not familiar with these terms, then you should know that force stopping an app basically means that it kills the Linux process. In addition, clearing the cache will delete the temporary files that WhatsApp stores.
Access the Settings panel of your smartphone, tap on “Apps” and then select WhatsApp. Next, tap on the “Force stop” button and wait for the update to shut down. Now, tap on the “Storage” option and select the “Clear cache” button. All that is left to do now is to launch WhatsApp.
Final Words
This has been our quick and comprehensive guide on how to fix WhatsApp not working. We hope that your problem is now fixed but if you still have any questions left answered, then you should let us know in a comment and we will respond.