Is Facebook down, or is it just you? A 60 second diagnosis
Facebook going dark for you does not mean it is down for everyone. Most "Facebook is down" moments are local. Work through these four checks in order: each one rules out a whole class of causes.
- 1
Read the live status above.
Red or amber with a spike in reports means Facebook itself is struggling. Wait it out: nothing on your side will fix it.
- 2
Run "Is it just you?"
If our servers reach Facebook but your browser cannot, the block is between you and Facebook: your network, DNS, firewall, VPN or a browser extension.
- 3
Switch networks.
Turn Wi-Fi off and try mobile data (or the reverse). If Facebook works on one and not the other, restart your router, or ask your workplace or school whether Facebook is blocked.
- 4
Try another way in.
If the app fails but facebook.com works in a browser, the app is the problem: update it and clear its cache. If both fail only for you, check your account (see Down or hacked below).
Flush your DNS when Facebook is up but will not load
A stale DNS entry on your computer can keep pointing at a dead address long after an outage ends.
- Windows: open Command Prompt and run
ipconfig /flushdns - Mac: open Terminal and run
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder - Phone: turn airplane mode on for 10 seconds, then off.
Want to see what your DNS returns? Look up facebook.com with our free DNS lookup tool.
Facebook not working? Fixes by symptom
Find the line that matches what you see. Each fix assumes Facebook is up: if the status above is red, wait first.
The Facebook website will not load at all
Check the status box. If Facebook is up, it is your browser, DNS or network.
Fix: Open facebook.com in a private window. If that works, clear cookies for facebook.com or disable extensions. If it fails, switch networks (Wi-Fi to mobile data) and flush your DNS.
"Sorry, something went wrong"
Facebook’s generic server error. A few at once during an outage is normal.
Fix: Wait two minutes and reload. If it keeps happening only for you, log out and back in, then clear the app cache.
Logged out or "Session expired"
Either a Facebook session problem (many users at once) or a change on your account.
Fix: If reports show login problems, wait: do not reset your password mid-outage. If only you are affected and your password was changed, go to facebook.com/hacked.
Feed stuck or "Couldn’t refresh feed"
The app cannot reach the Graph API, or your connection is slow.
Fix: Pull down to refresh once, then switch networks. Update the app and clear its cache if it persists after Facebook is green.
Messages not sending
Messenger runs on separate servers and can fail on its own.
Fix: Check Messenger in the live checks. Update the Messenger app and confirm it has background data permission.
Photos or videos will not load
Media comes from Facebook’s content network, which can degrade while text still loads.
Fix: Turn off data saver and any VPN, then reload. Ad blockers and strict DNS filters sometimes block the content domains.
Login code or SMS not arriving
Codes are often delayed during outages and when your carrier filters SMS.
Fix: Do not request many codes in a row. Use an authenticator app or a saved recovery code instead of SMS.
"This content isn’t available right now"
Usually not an outage: the post was deleted, its audience changed, or you were blocked.
Fix: Try another post. If every post shows this, it is a loading problem: follow the website fix above.
Fixes by device
iPhone and iPad
- Update Facebook in the App Store.
- Close the app fully: swipe up and flick it away.
- Settings, General, iPhone Storage, Facebook, Offload App, then reinstall. This clears the cache and keeps your data.
- Settings, Facebook: make sure Mobile Data is on.
- Turn off any VPN or content blocker and try again.
Android
- Update Facebook in the Play Store.
- Settings, Apps, Facebook, Force stop.
- Same screen: Storage, Clear cache. Avoid Clear data unless you know your password.
- Check that Data saver and battery restrictions are not blocking Facebook.
- Restart the phone.
Computer browser
- Hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac.
- Open facebook.com in a private or incognito window.
- If that works, clear cookies and cache for facebook.com.
- Disable extensions one at a time, ad blockers first.
- Try a different browser to rule out the browser itself.
Is Facebook down, or was your account hacked?
This is the question most status pages skip, and the one that matters most. An outage hits everyone at once and fixes itself. A hacked account affects only you and gets worse every hour you wait. Here is how to tell them apart.
| Sign | Probably an outage | Possibly hacked |
|---|---|---|
| Who is affected | Friends and user reports here see it too | Only you |
| Your password | Rejected, but works again later | Rejected because it was changed |
| Emails from Facebook | None | "Your email was changed" or "New login" alerts you did not trigger |
| Your profile | Will not load | Loads, but shows posts, messages or ads you did not create |
| Timing | Starts suddenly, ends within hours | Starts after a suspicious link, message or login |
If you think your account was hacked, do this now:
- Go to facebook.com/hacked from a device you trust. This is Facebook's official recovery flow.
- Once you are back in, open Accounts Center, Password and security, Where you're logged in, and log out every session you do not recognise.
- Change your password and turn on two-factor authentication with an authenticator app, not SMS.
- Change the password anywhere else you used the same one. Check whether it has leaked with our free password breach checker (your password never leaves your browser).
- Warn your friends: hijacked accounts are used to message contacts with scams.
Facebook outage scams to watch for
Outages are a gift to scammers: millions of people are suddenly locked out, anxious, and searching for help. Expect these within minutes of any major Facebook disruption.
Fake "restore your account" links
Messages or emails claiming Facebook is down and you must log in at a link to keep your account. Facebook never asks you to log in through a link during an outage.
Fake Meta support numbers
Search ads and social posts listing a "Meta support" phone or WhatsApp number. Meta has no public phone support for personal accounts. Whoever answers wants your login code.
"Your page will be disabled" warnings
Messages from pages styled as Meta Support claiming your page broke the rules. The link leads to a fake login page that also asks for your two-factor code.
Paid account recovery services
People offering to "recover" your account for a fee, especially in comments under outage news. They cannot do anything you cannot do at facebook.com/hacked, and often scam you twice.
Got an email about your Facebook account and not sure it is real? Real ones are listed in your settings under Accounts Center, Password and security. You can also forward it to our free email verifier: it checks the sender, links and attachments and replies with a risk score in seconds.
Why does Facebook go down?
Facebook runs on some of the most redundant infrastructure on earth, so when it falls over, it is rarely a single server. Almost every major outage comes from one of four causes.
- Configuration changes
- A routine change pushed to many systems at once. Facebook blamed its 2019 outage, the longest in its history, on "a server configuration change." Big platforms deploy constantly, so this is the most common trigger.
- Network and DNS failures
- In October 2021 a maintenance command cut Meta’s backbone network. Its DNS servers, unable to reach the data centres, stopped announcing themselves to the internet. For six hours facebook.com effectively did not exist. That is why this page asks Meta’s own nameservers directly.
- Login and session systems
- If the service that checks who you are fails, everyone gets logged out at once, as happened on March 5, 2024. The site looks up, but nobody can use it.
- Regional blocks and local networks
- Some outages are not Facebook at all: an internet provider’s routing problem, a cut undersea cable, or a government blocking social media. These hit one country or one provider while the rest of the world is fine.
Facebook outage history
The biggest Facebook outages of the last decade. Durations are approximate and come from public reporting.
| Date | How long | Affected | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 12, 2026 | About 1 hour on Facebook, about 4 hours overall | Facebook, Messenger, Instagram | Meta: "a technical issue." Instagram took longest to recover. Source: Tom's Guide |
| December 11, 2024 | About 5 hours | Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Threads | Meta: "a technical issue." No root cause published. Source: TechCrunch |
| March 5, 2024 | About 2 hours | Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads | Users worldwide were logged out and could not log back in. Meta: "a technical issue." Source: VOA |
| October 4, 2021 | About 6 hours | Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Oculus | A maintenance command disconnected Meta’s backbone network. Its DNS servers then withdrew from the internet, so facebook.com stopped existing for every resolver. Source: Meta Engineering |
| March 13, 2019 | Most of a day in parts of North America and Europe | Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger | Facebook: "a server configuration change." Still the longest outage in its history. Source: AP via WJLA |
For businesses and page managers: what to do during an outage
Do not edit or relaunch ads. Changes made mid-outage can reset an ad’s learning phase or save half-way. Pause big launches until the status is green for at least an hour.
Check delivery after recovery. Ads often under-deliver during and just after an outage. Compare spend and results with the same hours on a normal day before you change budgets.
Watch Meta’s business status. Ads Manager, Business Suite, Commerce and the Marketing API are tracked on metastatus.com, summarised live on this page.
Tell customers somewhere else. If customers reach you through Messenger or a Facebook shop, post a note on your website, email list or other social channels so they know where to find you.
Protect admin accounts. Business pages are prime targets for the scams above. Every admin should use an authenticator app and never log in through links in messages.
How this page works
We built this page because most "is it down" sites show either user reports or a single ping, but not both. This page combines four independent signals, and we are open about what each one can and cannot see.
Live endpoint checks
Every minute our servers request facebook.com, m.facebook.com, the login page and the Graph API that powers the apps, plus Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp Web. Any answer below HTTP 500 counts as reachable.
DNS checks
We resolve facebook.com through Cloudflare and Google, and ask Meta’s own nameservers directly, the exact failure behind the 2021 outage.
Meta’s official status
We read metastatus.com for Facebook Login, the Graph API, Messenger Platform, Business Suite, Ads Manager and Shops.
User reports
One-tap reports from real browsers, filtered for duplicates and abuse: one per person every 15 minutes, a few per connection per hour, and bursts from one network are not counted. A spike needs at least 12 reports in 15 minutes from 8 or more different networks, at four times the usual rate.
What it cannot see: our checks run from one cloud region, so a problem limited to one country or internet provider may only show up in user reports. A page that loads is not proof that every feature works: partial outages such as mass logouts appear first in reports. Privacy: reports store the problem type, a country code and anonymous codes that change every day, used only to block duplicates and abuse. We never store your IP address, name or account, and reports are deleted after 30 days. Restore alert emails are deleted as soon as the alert is sent.
Protego is an independent cybersecurity site and is not affiliated with Meta. Last reviewed .
Frequently asked questions
Is Facebook down right now?
The status box at the top of this page answers that live. Our servers request the Facebook website, mobile site, login page and Graph API every minute, resolve facebook.com through Cloudflare, Google and Meta’s own DNS servers, read Meta’s official status feed and count user reports. If every check passes and reports are normal, Facebook is up.
Why is Facebook not working for me when it is not down?
When Facebook is up but not working for you, the cause is almost always local: a stale app or browser cache, an outdated app version, a browser extension, a VPN or DNS problem, your Wi-Fi or mobile network, or a problem with your account. Run the "Is it just you?" test on this page, then follow the fix for your exact symptom.
Why did Facebook log me out?
Mass logouts usually come from a Facebook-side session problem: the March 5, 2024 outage logged out users worldwide. If Facebook is up and only you were logged out, check whether your password or email was changed. Changed details you did not make are a strong sign of a hacked account: go to facebook.com/hacked straight away.
How long do Facebook outages usually last?
Most Facebook disruptions are fixed within one to two hours. The worst in recent years were the October 4, 2021 outage (about six hours) and the March 13, 2019 outage, which lasted most of a day in parts of North America and Europe.
Is Facebook down for everyone or just me?
Compare two signals. Our live check shows whether Facebook answers from our servers, and the "Is it just you?" test shows whether it answers from your device. Facebook up for us but blocked for you means the problem is on your side. Failing for both, or a spike in user reports, means it is Facebook.
Does Facebook have an official status page?
Meta runs metastatus.com, but it covers business and developer products such as Facebook Login, the Graph API, Ads Manager and Business Suite, not the consumer app. That is why outages often appear there late or not at all. We show its current state on this page next to our own checks.
Was Facebook hacked when it went down?
No major Facebook outage has been caused by an attack. Meta attributed the 2019 outage to a server configuration change and the 2021 outage to a faulty command during network maintenance, and later outages to technical issues. Individual accounts get hacked every day, though, so a problem that affects only you deserves a security check.
Should I keep refreshing or reinstalling the app during an outage?
No. If Facebook itself is down, reinstalling the app, resetting your password or clearing your phone will not help, and resetting a password during an outage can lock you out longer when login codes are delayed. Wait, keep this page open (it refreshes every minute), and try again once the status turns green.
Can my internet provider or country block Facebook?
Yes. Some governments block Facebook entirely or during protests and elections, and some workplaces, schools and parental control apps block it at the network level. If Facebook is up for us but our in-browser test fails for you on every device on the same network, a network block is the likely cause.
Can I get notified when Facebook is back up?
Yes. While Facebook is down or recovering, this page offers a one-time $1.99 alert: enter your email and we send exactly one message once Facebook has worked for 10 straight minutes, then delete your address. If we cannot confirm recovery within 7 days, you get a full refund on request. Everything else on this page is free.
How do you stop fake or duplicate outage reports?
Each person can report once every 15 minutes, each internet connection a few times an hour, and reports must come from a real browser that loaded this page. Bursts from a single network are kept but not counted. A spike only counts when at least 12 reports arrive within 15 minutes from at least 8 different networks, so one person or one office cannot fake an outage.
How do I know if a "Meta support" message is real?
Meta does not contact you through WhatsApp, Telegram, a phone call or a Facebook message from a page to warn about violations or outages. Real security emails are listed in your Facebook settings under Accounts Center, Password and security. Never log in through a link that arrives during an outage.
KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTS SAFE