When your app can’t connect, you may find yourself wondering if WhatsApp is down right now, or is it just you? Here’s how to troubleshoot whether WhatsApp is down, and how to get the app working when it isn’t.

How to Tell If WhatsApp Is Down

If you think WhatsApp is down, you can use any of the following online services.

  • Is The Service Down: See the frequency of WhatsApp service issues over the last 24 hours. A recent spike in the number of issues may indicate widespread outage issues.
  • Is It Down Right Now: You’ll see a realtime status whether WhatsApp is currently UP or DOWN based on a ping test.
  • Outage Report: See the frequency of reported issues from all around the world. The page includes a live map showing which countries have had the most problems accessing WhatsApp.
  • Down Detector: This web page provides a global heat map showing where issues accessing WhatsApp are concentrated. If there’s a dark red area near your location, then the WhatsApp service is likely down for you at the moment.

How to Fix When WhatsApp Is Down Only For You

If you’ve used any of these services to check if WhatsApp is down right now and they’re showing that it’s up, then you’ll need to use the following steps to troubleshoot the issue with the app on your own phone.

  • Check your phone’s internet connection. Very often, people think there’s something wrong with their app when in fact their phone isn’t even connected to the internet. If you’re using a Wi-Fi connection, then open Settings, select Wi-Fi, and confirm that the network you’re connected to says Connected. If it doesn’t, select the toggle to Disable Wi-Fi and then re-enable it to connect.
  • If you’re using mobile data, make sure your notifications area shows a 4G data connection with arrows flashing showing that data is transmitting.
  • Restart the WhatsApp app. Sometimes, the WhatsApp app itself can get locked or frozen. This makes it appear as though the app can’t connect to WhatsApp at all. The easiest first step to try to fix this is restarting the app by forcing it to close and reopening it.
  • On Android: Open Settings, select Apps, and scroll to WhatsApp. Tap to open, and at the bottom of the display select Force Stop.On iPhone: While in the app, swipe up from the bottom of the screen so the Dock appears. Keep swiping to open the App Switcher. Find WhatsApp and swipe up (that is, flick the app towards the top of the screen) on it to force quit. On older iOS devices, double click the Home button, navigate to the WhatsApp app, and swipe up and off the screen to force quit.
  • Reopen the WhatsApp app to test if it connects.
  • If the problem persists, try clearing the WhatsApp cache. To do this, go into Settings and select Apps. Scroll to WhatsApp and tap to open. Tap Storage, and at the bottom of the screen you’ll see Clear Cache. When you select Clear Cache, you’ll see the Cache size go to 0 MB.
  • Reopen WhatsApp and try to connect.
  • Update Your WhatsApp app. Sometimes the WhatsApp team may update the app, and occasionally this could cause issues with people running the older installed versions connecting with the WhatsApp service. To check if you have the latest version:
  • On Android: Open the Play Store app and find the WhatsApp app. If you see Update instead of Open, you’re running the older version. Tap Update to update the app.On iOS: Open the App Store and select Updates. If you see Update next to WhatsApp Messenger, then tap to update the app.
  • Reinstall WhatsApp. If updating doesn’t resolve the connection issue, you could have a problem with your current WhatsApp install. To check if this is the case, uninstall the app and reinstall it.
  • On Android: Open Settings and Apps. Tap on the WhatsApp app, and select Uninstall at the bottom of the window. Find WhatsApp on the Play Store and reinstall it.
  • On iOS: Tap and hold the WhatsApp icon until it either starts jiggling or a menu pops up. If the app is jiggling, tap the X icon to delete the app. If a menu pops up, tap Delete App at the top of the menu. You can also Open Settings, General, and iPhone Storage. Tap the WhatsApp app and select Delete App to uninstall the iOS app. Visit the App Store to reinstall WhatsApp.

Check your phone’s internet connection. Very often, people think there’s something wrong with their app when in fact their phone isn’t even connected to the internet. If you’re using a Wi-Fi connection, then open Settings, select Wi-Fi, and confirm that the network you’re connected to says Connected. If it doesn’t, select the toggle to Disable Wi-Fi and then re-enable it to connect.

If you’re using mobile data, make sure your notifications area shows a 4G data connection with arrows flashing showing that data is transmitting.

Restart the WhatsApp app. Sometimes, the WhatsApp app itself can get locked or frozen. This makes it appear as though the app can’t connect to WhatsApp at all. The easiest first step to try to fix this is restarting the app by forcing it to close and reopening it.

  • On Android: Open Settings, select Apps, and scroll to WhatsApp. Tap to open, and at the bottom of the display select Force Stop.On iPhone: While in the app, swipe up from the bottom of the screen so the Dock appears. Keep swiping to open the App Switcher. Find WhatsApp and swipe up (that is, flick the app towards the top of the screen) on it to force quit. On older iOS devices, double click the Home button, navigate to the WhatsApp app, and swipe up and off the screen to force quit.

Reopen the WhatsApp app to test if it connects.

If the problem persists, try clearing the WhatsApp cache. To do this, go into Settings and select Apps. Scroll to WhatsApp and tap to open. Tap Storage, and at the bottom of the screen you’ll see Clear Cache. When you select Clear Cache, you’ll see the Cache size go to 0 MB.

Reopen WhatsApp and try to connect.

Update Your WhatsApp app. Sometimes the WhatsApp team may update the app, and occasionally this could cause issues with people running the older installed versions connecting with the WhatsApp service. To check if you have the latest version:

  • On Android: Open the Play Store app and find the WhatsApp app. If you see Update instead of Open, you’re running the older version. Tap Update to update the app.On iOS: Open the App Store and select Updates. If you see Update next to WhatsApp Messenger, then tap to update the app.

Reinstall WhatsApp. If updating doesn’t resolve the connection issue, you could have a problem with your current WhatsApp install. To check if this is the case, uninstall the app and reinstall it.

  • On Android: Open Settings and Apps. Tap on the WhatsApp app, and select Uninstall at the bottom of the window. Find WhatsApp on the Play Store and reinstall it.
  • On iOS: Tap and hold the WhatsApp icon until it either starts jiggling or a menu pops up. If the app is jiggling, tap the X icon to delete the app. If a menu pops up, tap Delete App at the top of the menu. You can also Open Settings, General, and iPhone Storage. Tap the WhatsApp app and select Delete App to uninstall the iOS app. Visit the App Store to reinstall WhatsApp.

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