Fix: Facebook Videos Not Playing on iPhone/Android/Computer

Facebook is no doubt the largest social media platform available out there. Millions of people post their everyday life updates on the platform to keep their friends and family updated. One of the cool features of the site is there are a lot of videos for people to watch.

Whether you want to watch a cartoon video or you are interested in thriller series, you have got all of that on the platform. However, sometimes due to issues with your devices, your video viewing experience gets interrupted. And to help you out with just that, here we have put together a guide that shows how to fix the Facebook video not working issue on your devices.

How to Fix Facebook Videos Not Playing on iPhone

If you are having trouble watching Facebook videos on your iPhone, this section will help you out. You will learn multiple methods to fix the issue so you can then watch your favorite videos without being interrupted.

Method 1. Relaunch the App on Your iPhone

If you use the Facebook app to access the videos, you may try closing the app and then opening it back again. This will force the app to reload all the resources it has been occupying so far and it will likely fix the issue for you.

Exit out of the Facebook app on your iPhone. Then launch the app from your springboard and see if you can access your videos.

Method 2. Reboot Your iPhone

If quitting and relaunching the Facebook app did not resolve the issue for you, you may want to reboot your iPhone so that all the temporary resources get freed-up.

Press and hold down the Power button on your iPhone and you should be able to reboot your device. When it boots-up, launch the Facebook app and you should be able to watch your videos.

Method 3. Reinstall the App on Your iPhone

If the files of the Facebook app have got corrupted on your device, you will need to reinstall the app to fix the issue. Reinstalling basically means deleting the app and then installing it again from the App Store.

Tap and hold on the Facebook app on your springboard and tap the X icon to uninstall the app. Then, launch the App Store and download and install the Facebook app on your iPhone. It should fix the app-related issues on your device.

Method 4. Free-up Memory Space on the iPhone

When you watch a video in the Facebook app on your iPhone or iPad, the app temporarily downloads the video to your device. And if you do not have enough space available on your iPhone, the app will not be able to do it and as a result, you will not be able to watch the video. Therefore, it is recommended that you free up some memory space on your iPhone to then watch Facebook videos.

To do so, head to Settings > General > Storage & iCloud Usage > Manage Storage on your iPhone and find out the apps that occupy a large amount of memory but you do not use them a lot. Delete these apps from your device to free-up space.

Method 5. Reset Network Settings

Since Facebook videos are fetched from the Internet, your network configuration settings must be properly configured on your iPhone. If you are not sure, you can reset the settings to the defaults.

Head to Settings > General > Reset and tap on Reset Network Settings. It will reset all of your network settings to the factory defaults.

Method 6. Use a Browser to Watch Videos

If none of the methods mentioned above helped you fix the issue, you may want to ditch the Facebook app and start using an alternate method to access the site. One of these methods is to use a web browser to access the Facebook site.

You may use Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or any other browser of your choice to access Facebook and watch videos. This method will certainly work for you unless there are some system issues on your iPhone.

How to Fix Facebook Videos Not Playing on Android

While the official Facebook app works fine most of the time on Android devices, there are times when it goes haywire and needs fixing. If you are in a situation where Facebook videos are not loading on your device, we have got some tips for you to fix the issue on your Android-based device.

Method 1. Exit and Open the App

One of the basic things you will want to do to fix the issue is close the app and then relaunch it from your app drawer. Doing so will force the app to reload all the files which, as a result, will fix your video issue.

Method 2. Clear the Cache for Facebook App

Like any other apps, the Facebook app also stores cache files on your device. If you do not clear them regularly, they will increase over time and cause issues.

Having a number of cache files may be a possible reason why you have Facebook video problems on your device. Therefore, you should get rid of these files from your device as soon as you can. Head to Settings > Apps & notifications > Facebook > Storage and tap on Clear Cache. It will clear all the cache files for the Facebook app on your device.

Method 3. Uninstall and Reinstall the App

If clearing cache did not do the job for you, you may want to get rid of the entire app. Then get a newer version of the app from Google Play Store and use it to access your videos.

Head to Settings > Apps & notifications > Facebook on your device and tap on Uninstall. It will remove the app from your device. Then, head to Google Play Store and download and install the latest version of the app.

Method 4. Log Out and Log Back In

Sometimes logging out and logging back in does the trick for you and resolves issues like the video loading issues. To do it, while you are inside the Facebook app, tap on the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner, scroll all the way down and tap on the option that says Log Out.

Once you are logged out, log back in using your login credentials and you will be able to watch videos without any issues.

Method 5. Remove Junk Apps

It may be that the other apps you have installed on your device are interfering with the Facebook app. If that is the case, you may want to get rid of these junk and suspicious apps from your device.

Head to Settings > Apps & notifications on your device and choose the app you would like to delete from your device.

Method 6. Reset the Device to Factory Settings

If nothing works, your final resort is to reset your device to the factory settings. It will remove all the files and settings from your device.

To do so, head to Settings > System > Reset options on your device and tap on Erase all data (factory reset). Follow the on-screen instructions to reset your device.

How to Fix Facebook Videos Not Playing on Computer

It is not that just the smartphone users are facing Facebook video issues. The error occurs on computers as well but fortunately, you have a few quick ways to resolve the issue on your computer.

Method 1. Ensure a Working Internet Connection

The first thing you will want to verify is if you have an active Internet connection on your computer. Make sure the WiFi or any other network you are connected to works and has reasonably good speed.

Method 2. Clear the Cache of Your Browser

Over the time, your browser accumulates a large number of cache files. If you do not get rid of these, these will only increase and slow down your system as well as your browser. And often these files cause issues like the one you are currently facing. You can clear the cache from the settings menu in almost all the web browsers out there.

Method 3. Disable Hardware Acceleration

Some of the web browsers, especially the Chrome browser, use hardware acceleration to provide you with a better viewing experience. But sometimes it does not work well and you may want to disable it to fix the Facebook video problem.

In Chrome, head to Settings > Advanced and disable the Use hardware acceleration when available option.

Method 4. Update the Browser to the Latest Version

You should always keep your web browsers up to date and if you have not updated yours for a long time, it is likely the reason why you are facing issues with Facebook videos on your computer.

Get the latest version of whatever web browser you use and install it on your computer. You will find that the new version has fixed many issues and it may have fixed the Facebook videos issue as well.

Method 5. Switch the Browser on Your Computer

If you are facing issues in a specific browser on your computer, you are suggested to switch the browser and see if the problem occurs in the new browser as well.

Sometimes, some of the browsers have issues in them and switching to a working browser resolves the issue for you.

Method 6. Download and Watch the Video

If you still cannot get the Facebook videos to play on your computer, your final option is to download the video to your computer and then play it.

This can be done using various online media downloaders that let you download videos from Facebook and save them to your computer.

The Bottom Line

Facebook videos work just fine most of the time, however, if things are not working well on your device, the above guide has got multiple tips to help you get around the Facebook video problem on your various devices.