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

Today’s #GalaxyS9 troubleshooting article answers the question many users ask: how to fix Galaxy S9 “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped” bug. If you’re one of the unlucky ones to have an issue with Facebook app error mentioned, this post is for you.

Solution #1: Force restart

Before you attempt any advanced troubleshooting, make sure that you force restart your device.

A lot of minor bugs are fixed by simply restarting a device so you don’t want to skip this.

To force restart your S9:

1. Press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it.
2. Then, press and hold the power key while holding down the volume button.
3. Keep both keys held down for 10 seconds or more.

Doing the steps above is also known as soft reset. It has a similar effects to when you physically remove the battery so it should clear up the memory and the operating system.

If your S9 still won’t auto-rotate afterwards, go ahead and do our suggestions below.

Solution #2: Force quit Facebook

Some app bugs are easily fixed by quitting the problematic app. This is an easy solution that you can do first everytime you encounter an app issue. To Force quit Facebook app, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Recent Apps button (on the left of the home button on your screen).
2. Scroll up or down to see what’s running and open
3. Swipe from the left or right to close apps
4. Swipe it off the screen to close it

Force quitting your Facebook app will clear it and remove it from the memory.

Solution #3: Install Facebook and Messenger updates

Although not a lot of people thinks installing updates is useful when it comes to app troubleshooting, the fact is, it sometimes does. Updates not only fix things,sometimes, their coding changes also transforms apps under-the-hood making them more compatible with the latest Android troubleshooting version out there. In your case, you want to make sure that you install the latest updates for both Facebook and Messenger (if you have) apps.

To check for updates, just open the Play Store app, go to its Settings menu, and tap on My apps & games. Once you see the list of apps with available updates, look for Facebook and Messenger and tap on the UPDATE button for each one. Better still, you can simply tap on UPDATE ALL button to update all your apps.

Solution #4: Clear Facebook app cache

Every app keeps its own set of temporary files in order to operate efficiently. These temporary files or cache are usually built over time but sometimes, they can get corrupted. To ensure that this is not the cause of “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped” bug, you can clear the cache of your Facebook app with these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings at the upper right hand (three-dot icon).
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find the app and tap it.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap CLEAR CACHE.
8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution #5: Clear Facebook app data

The next logical troubleshooting step is to clear the data of the Facebook app. App’s data keeps app-level customizations, configurations, user data, among others. Like the cache, an app’s data may also lead to problems if it’s misconfigured or corrupted. To see if you have a Facebook app data problem. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings at the upper right hand (three-dot icon).
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find the app and tap it.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap CLEAR DATA.
8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution #6: Clear RAM

Some users were able to fix “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped” bug by refreshing the RAM on their device. If you haven’t tried it before, follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Device maintenance.
3. At the bottom of the Device maintenance find and tap Memory.
4. If this is the first time you’ve tried to clear the RAM, it may take a few seconds to prepare.
5. Tap CLEAN NOW once the button is active.
6. Restart your S9.
7. Log back in to your Facebook account and check for the problem.

Solution #7: Refresh the system cache

Clearing a device’s cache partition can sometimes fix app issues as well. If the Facebook bug remains at this point, be sure that you clear the cache partition to force the device to rebuild the system cache. Here’s how:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo displays, release all three keys.
4. An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Solution #8: Reset app preferences

Some apps will not work properly is their associated app or service has been disabled. To ensure that your email app has its needed apps and services up and running, make sure to clear app preferences. Resetting app preferences will have the following effects:

• re-enables previously disabled apps and services
• resets default apps for actions
• turns off background data restrictions for apps
• return app permissions to their defaults
• unblock app notifications

To reset app preferences on your S9:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings (three-dot) icon at the upper right.
4. Tap Reset app preferences.

Solution #8: Reinstall Facebook

Some carriers include Facebook as part of their pre-installed apps so if that’s the case in your S9, simply ignore this suggestion. However, if your Facebook app is added later and not included among the pre-installed apps, you need to uninstall the one you have. Reinstallation of a problematic app is usually recommended if clearing its cache or data does not work.

Solution #9: Reset settings

Some app bugs are only fixed by dealing with the operating system directly without actually wiping the device. To do that, you want to reset all settings on your S9.  To see if resetting your S9 settings will help, follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap General management.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Tap Reset settings.
5. Tap RESET SETTINGS button.
6. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution #10: Factory reset

Ideally, factory reset should not be part of the solution package for this issue but if the problem is still there, you should at least try it.

To factory reset your S9:

1. Create a backup of your personal data.
2. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
3. Tap Settings > Cloud and accounts > Backup and restore.
4. Tap the following sliders to desired setting: Back up my data, Automatic restore.
5. Tap the Back key (bottom right) until you reach the main Settings menu.
6. Tap General Management > Reset > Factory data reset.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, then tap RESET > DELETE ALL.
8. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your credentials.
9. If prompted to verify your Samsung account, enter the password, then tap CONFIRM.
10. Wait for the device to finish the reset sequence.

Contact app developer

Contacting Facebook developer team is not exactly a solution since you can’t expect their engineers to look at your ticket or report right away. With several millions of devices using Facebook app, you really can’t expect their the developers to notice your issue right away. The most that you can do is to report the bug under Settings. Here’s how to report an issue via your Facebook app:

1. Open Facebook app.
2. Tap More settings (three-line icon).
3. Scroll down and tap Help & Support.
4. Tap Report a Problem.
5. There will be three categories — General Feedback, Something isn’t working, and Abusive Content. Pick General Feedback and provide details for your problem.

Ideally, users should report bugs to improve products or apps but not everyone is inclined to do it. That’s because it can be pretty tedious and does not seem to do anything at all. Considering there are possibly millions of reports Facebook receives from billions of Android devices around the world, not everything may be given enough attention by people responsible. Remember, there’s no amount of internal quality assurance the developer can take to iron out everything. Because there’s no perfect system, bugs are a reality. The most that everyone can do is minimize them. We know for a fact that Facebook app is relatively stable, even their beta version, so you only have to trust that the issue you’re having may have fixed in time.

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