How to fix Galaxy S9 Plus "Facebook has stopped" bug [troubleshooting guide]

We’ve been getting an increasing number of reports from #GalaxyS9 and #GalaxyS9Plus owners having “Facebook has stopped” bug for the past few days. At this time, we are yet in the process of collecting more data about this problem so we can’t say for sure if this is only happening on S9 and S9 Plus devices or not. If you have a Galaxy S9 that’s having trouble opening, loading or using Facebook, this post should help.

Today’s problem: How to fix Galaxy S9 Plus “Facebook has stopped” bug

The Facebook app keeps crashing and won’t even fully launched on my Galaxy S9 Plus. I followed all your suggestions including wiping the cache on my phone. I’ve had the S9 Plus for less than a week and Facebook worked fine for the first few days. Any help you could provide would be extremely appreciated. Thank you. — Lisa

Im using a samsung S9. Facebook app randomly stopped working. It tries to open but crashes and a message comes up saying facebook has stopped. I try a few more times and it eventually says facebook keeps stopping. Ive tried the force stop and cache clear. Ive also done the full cache clear from android start menu from one of your guides but nothing has fixed it yet. — Hamiltontarryn

Facebook won’t load as of this morning. Tried with and without wifi. Works on iPad and computer . Worked fine last night. Tried restarting phone, uninstalling and cleared cashe and data on app. Tried to do ur cashe clear on phone by but pressing the 3 buttons wont pull up that screen for me- it just starts the phone. Did a regular reset but didnt try factory reset yet. Use phone for work and dont wanna lose all text message data. Please help! On Samsung s9. — Nicole.defelice

What causes Galaxy S9 Plus “Facebook has stopped” bug

There’s no single reason why an app crashes or suddenly stops working out of the blue. Apps, like Android Operating System, is a complicated piece of software that can be impacted in many ways. “Facebook has stopped” is a generic error that can mean a lot of things for different devices having it. Causes of this bug can vary a lot and frankly, only Facebook engineers can really know a particular cause. Facebook application is generally reliable and seldom encounters issues for long so if you are patient enough to wait it out, issues usually fix themselves even without user intervention. In many cases, Facebook bugs are brought about by new changes to the app’s code but there are also other possible causes. Let’s discuss them and their potential solutions below.

Possible solutions to “Facebook has stopped” bug

These are a number of troubleshooting steps and solutions that you can try in fixing “Facebook has stopped” bug:

Force restart

Majority of minor app annoyances are fixed by simply refreshing the system. If your Galaxy S9 Plus has been running for some time already, we suggest that you reboot it using the steps below:

Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Restarting your S9 this way should help refresh its memory and close all the apps you’ve opened. If Facebook app continues to crash after rebooting, do the rest of the steps below.

Install app and Android updates

One of the less known way to fix Android issues is installing an update. Aside from bringing cosmetic changes, app and system (Android) updates can also bring about solutions to known bugs. By default, your S9 should automatically download and install app and Android updates but if you changed this default behavior before, make sure that you manually check for updates.

To check for updates for apps, you can use the Play Store app. Here’s how to do that:

Open Play Store app.
Tap More settings at the upper right.
Tap My apps & games.
Tap UPDATE ALL button if you have multiple updates.

Make sure to always keep all apps up-to-date in order to minimize the chance of another app causing problems in the system.

To check for Android updates, you can go under Settings > Software update.

Clear Facebook cache

This is one of the most commonly recommended solutions for any app issue so you don’t want to skip it. Apps keep a set of temporary files, folders, documents, links, ads, etc. called cache in order to work faster. Sometimes, this cache gets corrupted or outdated, which, in turn, causes an app to crash or behave poorly. To ensure that your Facebook app cache is refreshed, follow these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear Cache button.
Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Clear Facebook data

For the same reason as the cache, you also need to ensure that Facebook data is cleared. You can do this if the problem continues after wiping the Facebook cache. Follow these steps on what you can do:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear Data button.
Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Switch network mode

Some users were able to successfully fix Facebook errors in the past by simply switching from one network mode to another. So, for example, if you’ve been having “Facebook has stopped” bug while you’re on wifi, you can try to see if the problem is related to that network mode by using mobile data instead, or vice versa. If you can’t switch to wifi or mobile data, simply skip this step and proceed to clearing your phone’s network settings.

Clear network settings

Facebook works only when you’re online so a lot of its bugs are network-related. To see if the cause of the problem lies on your phone’s current network setup, consider wiping its network settings by doing these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap General management.
Tap Reset.
Tap Reset Network settings.
Tap RESET SETTINGS button to confirm.
Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Uninstall or reinstall Facebook

Some app-specific problems are fixed by doing a simple step of deleting and installing it back. If your Facebook app is part of the pre-installed applications, which means that it was already there when you set your phone up for the first time, you won’t be able to delete it. What you can do to simulate the effect of deleting it is by disabling it. Here’s how to do that:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap DISABLE.
Tap OK to confirm.

Safe Mode (If facebook is pre-installed)

At times, other third party apps may cause problems with other apps. To check if one of your apps is causing Facebook to crash, you can boot your device to safe mode. Again This troubleshooting step only works if your Facebook app is part of the preinstalled app package. If you downloaded your Facebook app, this suggestion won’t work since you won’t be able to test after booting your phone to safe mode.

When on safe mode, your phone will not allow third party apps to run. So, if Facebook app works properly on safe mode but continues to crash when the device is back to normal mode, that’s a clear sign that one of the third party apps is causing the problem.

To boot your S9 Plus to safe mode:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
Open Facebook app and see how it works. To know if there’s a difference, use Facebook app for a few hours.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your S9 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Uninstall Facebook update

This may run contradictory with our suggestion above to keep your apps updated but sometimes, new app updates can be buggy. Although app makers strive to eliminate bugs with their updates, not everything can be anticipated. If your Facebook app became problematic after you updated it, you can try to uninstall the app updates by doing these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap the three-dot icon at the upper right.
Tap Uninstall updates.

Factory reset

Ideally, factory reset is not needed when it comes to fixing an issue like “Facebook has stopped” bug but if nothing has worked so far, you might as well try it. Factory reset works by returning all software settings back to their defaults and wiping all user data. Before you wipe your phone, be sure to back important user data. If you don’t use cloud services to back your files up, we suggest that you try Samsung Smart Switch. This will allow you to create an image of your phone. If you haven’t heard of Smart Switch before, make sure to visit this page: How to create backup from Samsung device to your computer via Smart Switch.

Once you’ve created a backup, follow these steps to factory reset your S9:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Report the Facebook bug

If the “Facebook has stopped” bug remains after doing all the steps above, you can assume that the problem is beyond your ability to fix. Make sure to report the bug using the app’s reporting tool under Help & Support section.

How to fix Galaxy S9 Plus “Facebook has stopped” bug [troubleshooting guide]