Fix: Facebook Messenger Waiting for Network on Android

After an awful start that many people disliked (including us), Facebook Messenger got a lot better. To that extent that even many users who decide to deactivate Facebook, keep this instant messenger. The app is fairly stable but, seemingly, has its share of unfrequent blunders. Some users report that they get Facebook Messenger waiting for network error, even when connected to a stable Wi-Fi. What’s this all about and how to fix it? Learn below.

Why does my Facebook Messenger say no Internet connection?

If Facebook Messenger keeps waiting for the network or a prompt says that there’s no internet connection, just restart your Android and give it another go. In case the issue persists, make sure to check your network connection and, if everything is in order, clear local data.

Additionally, make sure that the Battery saver isn’t enabled or that the system isn’t limiting Facebook Messenger’s data usage. Finally, you can reinstall the app or roll back or upgrade via an APK.

1. Check the network connection

Of course, this is something that most of the affected users checked first. When you get a connection-related error, you usually check, well, the connection. Right? You can try switching to mobile data, if available, just to confirm that your Wi-Fi isn’t acting sketchy.

Now, if you are still getting the Messenger Waiting for Network error, move on to the next step. On the other hand, if everything works on mobile data, try these steps to resolve Wi-Fi connectivity issues:

• Restart your device.
• Restart your Wi-Fi router.
• Forget the network and connect again.
• If you run a VPN or proxy, disable them. This applies to DNS system-wide ad blockers, too.
• Reset Network Settings.

2. Clear Messenger’s cache and data

Now, what we want to do is reset Facebook Messenger. On Android, this is simply done by removing all local data. This, followed by a reboot, will fix the majority of issues on third-party apps. Chances are that the local data is corrupted so, by clearing it, the app can create new data. A fresh start.

Of course, you’ll need to set up everything from a scratch so, before removing data, try with cache first. If the error pops up again, go for the data.

Here’s how to clear cache and data on Facebook Messenger:

1. Navigate to Settings > Apps > All apps > Messenger.
2. Tap Storage.
3. Clear the cache and open Facebook Messenger to see if the error appears again.
4. If it does, get back and tap Clear Storage.
5. Confirm and restart your device.
6. Open Messenger, sign in with your account, and look for improvements.

3. Check Background data usage

This is important. If you limited data access to Facebook Messenger, you won’t be able to connect. This action usually requires a manual approach but, considering how intrusive some Android skins are, maybe some kind of System Manager prevented background data usage.

Here’s how to allow Background Data usage for Facebook Messenger on Android:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Apps & notifications (Apps).
3. Open All apps (App manager or Manage apps).
4. Open Facebook Messenger.
5. Tap on the Mobile data & Wi-Fi.
6. Allow usage of both Wi-Fi and mobile data along with Background data and VPN data (if you are using a VPN).

4. Check if Facebook is down

This happened on multiple occasions and, with Facebook’s massive changes to its various services, it will happen again. So, ensure that the Facebook Messenger Waiting for Network issue you are experiencing isn’t a result of an outage.

You can check the status of Facebook services. This also applies to WhatsApp and Instagram. If Facebook Messenger is down, there’s a good probability that other services are down, as well.

5. Disable Data saver

If you enabled a system-wide Data Saver, there’s a possibility that you won’t be able to utilize some apps on Mobile Data. Disabling it is a good idea. Likewise, disabling Extreme Battery Savers (every Android skin has its variation) might help as well.

Once you disable those two, give Facebook Messenger another try. If the issue persists, we can only suggest rolling back or even updating (upgrade) the app via an APK.

6. Rollback or update Facebook Messenger

Finally, the solution we can recommend that should deal with Facebook Messenger waiting for network errors is to just downgrade or upgrade the app by sideloading an APK. Of course, you can also, temporarily, switch to an alternative app like Facebook Messenger Lite.

But, let’s give this procedure a go and, if it fails, you can try Messenger Lite until the problem is addressed by Facebook. If you want to learn more about APKs, we got you covered. Also, we have an article on installation from unknown sources.

Follow these instructions to roll back or upgrade the current version of Facebook Messenger:

1. Uninstall Facebook Messenger.
2. Navigate to APK Mirror or use any APK aggregator.
3. Download the APK. We recommend that the APK is not older than 3 months. You can also get a newer Beta or Alpha version. Anything but the version you are currently running (the latest stable version).
4. Run the APK and allow the installation of third-party apps (unknown sources) on your device when prompted.
5. Clear cache and data and then sign in with your credentials.

That should do it. Thank you for reading, follow us on  Twitter and Facebook, and share your thoughts about this problem in the comments section below.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in January 2021. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.