Do you receive notifications like "Messenger keeps stopping" on Android, you can fix it within few minutes! Get in here to know-how.
If also got the frustrating "Messenger keeps stopping" or "Unfortunately, Messenger has stopped" pop-up message on your Android phone, you're not alone. And we're here to help you get rid of it by all means!
Facebook remains one of the populous social media apps in the world. And since the initial release of Facebook Messenger in 2011, connecting and chatting with friends on Facebook has received a whole lot of improvements, which makes it really frustrating when it doesn't work. But on the bright side, you can fix the issues by yourself in a few clicks; and that's what we're here for. Let's get straight into business!
How to fix "Messenger keeps stopping" or " Unfortunately, Messenger has stopped" on Android
If Messenger keeps crashing on your Android phone, follow the solutions below to get victory over it.
Install the update for Android System web View
If Messenger keeps crashing on your Android device, you may need to update the Android System web View app. straight to the point, a recent change on the Android System web View app has caused a lot of apps to be crashing recently, but Google confirmed the issue has been fixed in the latest update.
All you need to do is to update the Android System web View app, and hopefully, it fixes the problem. Follow the steps below to get that done.
- Open 'Play Store' on your phone
- Click the search bar and search for 'Android System web View', then tap on it.
- Finally, tap the 'Update' button to install the update.
Now, try re-launching Messenger to check if it won't crash.
Restart your phone (Soft Reset)
Equally important, you need to reboot your phone after updating the web View app to make the changes effective. And hopefully, that fixes the issue.
Moreover, Facebook Messenger crashing on your phone might occur frequently if you've not restarted your phone for a while. Most of us are fond of using our gadgets every day without bothering about restarting them, and that could be harmful in most cases. Restarting your phone refreshes the system, closes all running processes, and might fix many software and hardware-related issues.
So, if Facebook Messenger keeps crashing on your phone, try performing a system reboot and see how it goes. In case you don't know how to restart your phone, you can long-press the Power key for 10 seconds to perform a force restart. You can also press and hold the Power key, then select 'Restart' for the power options to reboot normally.
Erase the cache data for Messenger
Another thing to do when Messenger keeps closing on your Android phone is clearing its cache data. You can do that by going to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Manage apps > Messenger > Storage > Clear Cache.
When you receive an image on Messenger, for instance, it's stored privately on your phone as cache, and that saves you from re-downloading the image when next you need to view it. But as good as it is, this cached data may get corrupted over time and introduce problems.
So, you need to erase the cache when Facebook Messenger keeps closing on your phone. Follow the steps below to do so.
- Open the 'Settings' app on your phone.
- Click on 'Apps & Notifications', followed by 'Manage apps'.
- Scroll through the app list and select 'Messenger'.
- Tap on 'Storage & Cache'.
- Finally, tap 'Clear cache' to erase the cached data.
After clearing the cache, tap the back button once to return to the App info page; then tap the 'Force stop' button to close Messenger. Now relaunch Messenger to see if it works, or try another solution below.
Free up your phone's internal storage
As experienced by most users, Facebook Messenger keeps closing whenever the internal storage is getting full. And the only thing you can do to fix that is clearing up your phone storage. First, go to Settings > Storage > Internal Storage to check if you still have enough storage (we recommend 500MB to 1GB), then prepare to do some cleaning up on your storage if it's low!
To free up your phone storage, you can delete unnecessary files and apps. Delete the videos you've watched, APK files, apps you don't need, etc. You can also move files to your SD card if you have one.
Restart your phone after clearing up the storage, and relaunch Messenger to see if the issue is fixed.
Update your Messenger app
Apps can get one or two issues sometimes, and Messenger is not exceptional. But the favorable part is that app developers always improve and fix known issues on their apps by pushing out updates as soon as possible. So, if Facebook Messenger is crashing on your phone, updating it from the Play Store might fix it. Just follow the steps below.
- Locate and launch the Play Store on your phone.
- Click on your profile icon at the top-right corner and select My apps & games. In case you don't see it there, tap the 3-dash button at the top-left corner to open the side menu and tap My apps & games from there.
- Find Messenger on the available update list and tap on the Update
- Restart your phone and launch Messenger after the update.
Reinstall the Messenger app
Finally, if none of the above fixes has worked for you, you need to reinstall the Messenger app. anything could've caused the problem, but you can try uninstalling the Messenger app to fix “Unfortunately, Messenger has stopped" or "Messenger keeps stopping" on your Android phone.
You might be worried about losing your chat history, but it's backed up with Facebook, so you have nothing to lose after reinstalling Messenger; all it takes is to sign in to your account again. Follow these steps uninstall and reinstall Messenger on your phone.
- Open the Play Store on your phone and search for Facebook Messenger.
- Click the original Facebook Messenger app on the search results.
- First, tap on 'Uninstall'.
- After uninstalling it, tap the 'Install' button to reinstall Messenger on your Android phone.
Note: we strongly recommend you restart your phone after uninstalling Messenger before reinstalling it, to make the solution more effective. Either way, you should be able to use Messenger again after reinstalling it. If not, you may settle for the last solution below.
Try Messenger Lite
In conclusion, if Messenger won't stop crashing, it might be because your phone is not powerful enough to run it flawlessly. That happens mostly on low-end/entry-level devices - particularly devices with low memory and weak chipset. In that case, installing Messenger Lite is the surest thing to do if Messenger keeps crashing on your phone.
Though it comes with some compromises and lacks some core features of the regular Messenger app, Messenger Lite is enough to keep you connected with your Facebook friends.
If you're willing to try it out, simply head over to the Play Store to download Messenger Lite. Log in to your Facebook account on it, and continue enjoying your chats.
