My Whatsapp is not working - 13 Fixes [2023] 💥

March 14, 2023 | by: Martijn Assie | NL DE

Whatsapp is the most popular online chat platform worldwide, with more that 2 billion users each month. If your Whatsapp is not working you just have a rahter big problem nowadays. What do you do? Here are some tips for your Android and/or iOS device.

1. Check internet connection

Your internet may be down. You can test other apps and the web browser, if they work your internet is fine. Your internet connection could be the problem if nothing else works. Those who are connected via Wi-Fi/LAN can check the router to see if it is connected. You might also try restarting your router. VPN-users might also want to temporarily disable their VPN service to check if it fixes the problem.

2. WhatsApp might be down

When something doesn't work, we blame our phones. But maybe the problem isn’t that simple. WhatsApp may not be working because the service is down. You can test other apps or browsers to determine if WhatsApp is the problem. Check their Twitter account where you can find the info that Whatsapp is down.

WhatsApp's servers could be the problem if everything else works. Online tools such as the website Down-Detector are also available. This service will notify you if WhatsApp is experiencing problems. You can wait for WhatsApp to be restored if it is down.

3. Restart your Whatsapp

You can fix many of the minor problems with WhatsApp by simply restarting it. To do this, you will need to close the app completely. The app won't close if you just press the home button, or navigate out of it. Open the multitasking screen on your phone, then swipe WhatsApp away. This will close the app. You can now close the app and reopen it to try again. You are good to go if it works.

4. Restart your mobile phone

This is for iPhone as well as for Android. As anyone knows very well how to turn off and -on this mobile phone, tablet or iPad there must be no need to explain it here.

5. Update Whatsapp app

Updating Whatsapp is not only necessary to keep things smoothly working, but also prevent hackers from being able to attack your phone.

For Android

Although older apps are often fine, it is possible for some services to make certain functions obsolete. To ensure that you are using the most recent version of your app, visit the Google Play Store to check for updates.

How to check for updates in the Google Play Store

Open the Google Play Store.
Tap the "profile icon" at the top right corner.
Click Manage "apps and device".
Click on the available Updates button.
Click "Update All" or search for WhatsApp to select "Update".

For iOS

It's easy to update WhatsApp on an iPhone. These are the steps to follow. Instead of the Update prompt, you will see WhatsApp listed under "Updated recently" and a prompt to open it. This indicates that there are no WhatsApp updates in progress so you are all set.

Open the App Store for your iPhone.
Tap your profile picture.
Scroll down to the Updates section and tap "Update"right next to WhatsApp Messenger.
Wait for the update installation to complete.

6. Set Phone's Date and Time correct

For Android

You won't have the ability to download or access media from WhatsApp chats if your tablet or phone is not using the correct date and time. Modern operating systems use an internet-based server to keep track of time and date. If that option is not available on your phone and you have an incorrect time or date, then fix it so WhatsApp works properly. Android users can choose to set the time manually or to select the automatic option in Settings > System > Date and Time.

For iPhone

Open the Settings app on iPhone to disable the automatic time and date, and activate the manual option. Tap "General" in Settings. Next, tap "Date & Time." The Date & Time page will open. This will allow you to manually enter your date and time options.

Tap the current date on your screen to manually change the date. To change the time, simply tap the current date and enter a new time. Your iPhone saves all your changes automatically so that you don't need to do anything. You are now done.

7. Clear the Whatsapp cache

Next, clear Whatsapp's data, cache and other information. Both the first deletes temporary data and the second erases all data, including settings. However, both can be used to clear cache and data. Because data and settings can sometimes become corrupted, or bugs can cause problems, both are effective in clearing out cache and data. Clearing all data will reset your browser or app, allowing you to start over.

Clear your Whatsapp-cache on Android

Open the "Settings" App
Go in Apps.
Click on the Whatsapp App in the "See all Apps" section.
Tap on Storage and cache.
Clear Cache.
Clear storage is also available for a clean start.

Clear your Whatsapp-cache on iPhone (older than iOS-11).

Tap "Settings" >> "General" >> "Storage & iCloud Usage".
Tap Manage Storage in Section, (Storage), at the top.
Search and tap "Whatsapp" >> "Tap for "Delete App"
Go to the App Store to reinstall the application. This will allow you to do a clean install without any documents or data.

Clear your Whatsapp-cache on iPhone (iOS-11 and newer).

Tap "Settings" >> "General" >> "iPhone Storage".
Tap "Whatsapp" >> Tap "onload or delete" the app as per your requirements.
Go to the App Store to reinstall the app

Clear your Firefox cache to get Windows

Click the three-line menu button in the top-right corner of Firefox desktop browser to open the Settings page. To open the Settings page, click "Privacy & Security".
Scroll down to "Cookies & Site Data". This section will tell you how much space cookies, site information and cache are currently using. It is greater than 1 gigabyte in our case.
To continue, click "Clear Data".
To open, click the Clear Data button. Clear the box to remove "Cached Web Content". This will however sign you out from websites.
To delete an item, click Clear.
Firefox can also be cleared by clicking the three-line button, and selecting History. Then, click "Clear Recent History"
Clear Recent History opens. Clear all history boxes, except Cache. You can also choose to clear the "Browsing Data and Site History" option.
Click OK to select All from the drop-down menu, "Time range to clear", and then click on it.

Clear your Chrome cache to get Windows

Start Chrome on Windows.
Click the three dots button in the top-right.
Go into Settings.
Choose Security and Privacy from the left column.
Pick Clear browsing data.
Check the boxes to select the items that you want to delete. If you have serious issues, I will delete all of them.
Choose All time within the Time range.
Hit Clear data.

8. WhatsApp permissions

Not giving WhatsApp the permissions it needs to access important information can cause many problems. WhatsApp might not be able to access your contacts if you have accidentally denied permission. Background data may be disabled.

How to modify app permission settings on Android

Open the Settings app.
Go into Apps.
Under See all apps, locate the WhatsApp app.
Choose "Permissions"
You must allow everyone to access the Not allowed section.

How to modify app permission settings on iPhone

You can look at one app and see which permissions it has. Toggling these on or off is possible. Open the Settings app, scroll down to the bottom and select the Whatsapp-app. You can tap an app to see the permissions it needs. Here you can disable or enable specific permissions for apps.

9. Do you have enough storage left?

For Android

Sometimes WhatsApp may have problems downloading content if the storage is low. Clear some space on your Android phone first. You can also open WhatsApp by clicking the three dots menu button. Next, go to "Settings" >> "Data and Storage" >> "Manage storage". You can then delete any data you do not want.

For iPhone

Go to Settings > General > [Device] storage. A list of recommendations to optimize your device's storage might appear. Next, you will see a list with installed apps and their storage requirements.
To find out more about the storage of an app, tap its name. Temporary and cached data may not count as usage.

You can see the details in this view:

You can offload the app to free up space, but it will still keep its data and documents.
You can delete the app to remove it and any data associated with it.
You might be able, depending on the app's settings, to delete certain documents or data.

You might receive a Storage Almost Full notification if your device is nearly full and you can't free space. This alert may be a sign that your storage is being reduced or that you need to offload less-used content, such as videos and apps.

10. Enable the background data

For Android

There is a possibility that WhatsApp is not sending you messages in the right way. This can be easily fixed by going to the settings.

How to enable background information:

Open the Settings app.
Go into Apps.
Under See all apps, locate the WhatsApp app.
Go into Mobile data & Wi-Fi.
Enable Background data.
You can also toggle Unrestricted usage. This allows the app to access all data even when it is in Data Saver mode.

For iPhone

You can disable background app refresh or restrict it using the same steps as above. You can control background app refresh for individual apps as well as the entire iPhone.

This is how to activate background app refresh for specific apps on iPhone.

Tap on General and go to Settings.
Select Background App Refresh. You can toggle the switch from green to gray to select which apps background data should be enabled.

Here's how you can turn background app refresh on all your iPhone apps.

Tap on General and go to Settings.
Select Background App Refresh.
Click Background App Refresh at the top of your next panel.
Select Wi-Fi or Wi Fi & Mobile Data to enable background app refresh for all your apps. Wi-Fi restricts apps from refreshing when they are connected to WiFi. Wi-Fi and Mobile Data allows apps to refresh continuously.

11. Install the Official WhatsApp App

It's time to download the official app if you're using an non-official version of WhatsApp. WhatsApp has been crackingdown on unofficial WhatsApp clients since years. This can lead to your account being temporarily blocked or the app not functioning.

The company may also ban you permanently from using an unapproved WhatApp version if you keep using it. You should also avoid using any unapproved versions of any app unless they are from a trusted source. They can contain malware or other harmful components that could steal your data.

12. Is your account blocked?

Sometimes, you might have difficulty contacting certain people on WhatApp. However, the rest of the app works perfectly. These contacts may have blocked you in such instances.

WhatsApp doesn't tell you explicitly that you are blocked. However, there are some indicators. You won't be able to see the online status or last seen of the contact who blocked you from the chat window. You won't be able to see their profile photo or any messages they send you.

13. Was your account deleted?

Are you having trouble using WhatsApp? WhatsApp may not work if your account has been deleted. After 120 days of inactivity, the service will delete your account. An account on WhatsApp is only active as long it has an internet connection. You can create a new WhatsApp account if this is the case.