How To Fix Facebook News Feed Not Working Issue

Facebook is undoubtedly the most popular social media network in the world today. I was first launched 15 years ago, February 2004 to be exact, and today it has more than 2.45 billion monthly active users. What makes it popular is the number of useful features it offers that are attractive to users. Although accessing the Facebook website from a computer browser is a great experience there are instances when certain issues can occur. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the Facebook news feed not working issue.

How To Fix Facebook News Feed Not Working Issue

Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and remove any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.

There are several factors that can cause this particular problem ranging from a slow internet connection to an incorrect date and time. Listed below are the troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix this problem.

Check the news feed preference

There are two ways that information is displayed on your news feed. This can be the top stories or the most recent. Top stories will usually be the default setting so if you are not getting new feeds then you should try changing this setting to most recent.

  • Go 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.
  • A drop-down will appear. Here you can choose which type of news feed you require. Try changing this to Most Recent.

You can even fine tune this further by clicking on Edit Preferences. You can prioritize the content to be displayed first among others.

Check if the Facebook news feed not working issue still occurs.

Check your internet connection

One of the common factors that can cause this problem is a slow internet connection. Try checking if other websites load properly. You can open YouTube and check if the videos will play without any lag. You can also run a speedtest by going to https://www.speedtest.net/ to check your current internet speed.

In case the problem is caused by the internet you should perform some of the basic troubleshooting steps such as restarting the computer and router/modem. This action will refresh your connection to the ISP.

Check if Facebook is down

Another factor that can cause this problem is if the Facebook servers are down. This usually happens if there are technical problems experienced by the servers or if maintenance work is being done. You can use several online tools that can check if a website is down at the moment such as https://downdetector.com/.

Clear the cache and data of the browser

There are instances when corrupt data in the browser can cause this problem. To check if this is the culprit you will need to remove the cached data from your browser. Take note that once this is done you will need to login to your Facebook account again.

Google Chrome

  • On your computer, open Chrome.
  • At the top right, click More.
  • Click More tools and then Clear browsing data.
  • At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
  • Next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files,” check the boxes.
  • Click Clear data.

Microsoft Edge

  • In the top right hand corner you’ll see three dots in a horizontal line. Clicking here opens a drop down that reveals the settings option. Select “Settings”.
  • Once in settings, select “Choose what to clear”.
  • You’ll reach a screen that has you check off what you’d like to clear. It is recommended that you check off the first four boxes (Browsing History, Cookies and saved website data, Cached data and files, and Download history). Next, click “Clear”.
  • Restart the browser

Mozilla Firefox

  • Click on your tools bar.
  • Click on Settings.
  • On the menu to the right, select “privacy”.
  • Under the history option, there is a shortcut titled “clear your recent history” – click that.
  • Select only the top four options and hit clear now.
  • Close out of your browser for changes to take effect.

Safari

  • Click on the Safari drop-down menu and select Preferences.
  • Click the Advanced tab. Select the Show Develop menu in menu bar checkbox and close the Preferences window.
  • Select the Develop drop-down menu. Click Empty Cache.
  • You may want to also clear your browser history. Select the History drop-down, then Clear History.

Check if the Facebook news feed not working issue still occurs.

Check the time and date settings

If your computer has an incorrect time or date then it’s possible that this is what’s causing the problem.

  • Right-click on the time present at the bottom-right side of your screen and click on Adjust date/time.
  • 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 then manually set the correct time according to your location.

Check if the Facebook news feed not working issue still occurs.

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