11 Best Fix­es for Face­book Noti­fi­ca­tions Not Work­ing on Android

Push notifications have made our life easier (or maybe not). They save us time by letting us know if something is worth our full attention while making sure that we're not missing out on critical updates. But sometimes these alerts for certain apps might not work as desired. One such app that has constantly given people a headache regarding notifications is the Facebook app.

When push alerts stop working on the Facebook Android app, one stops receiving the sound alerts. However, when you open the Facebook app, it shows the number of notifications normally on the notification icon. Basically, one has to open the app to see new notifications. Frustrating, no?

Worry not. In this post, we will tell you six effective solutions to Facebook notifications not working on Android.

1. Check Phone Notification Settings

This is the first thing that you should check if you are facing the notification issue. Android has a built-in notification setting for apps. You can turn notifications on and off for individual apps directly from the phone settings.

Sometimes, however, you’ll find that the app notifications are turned off. This could happen due to some bug in the system caused by an app or for some other unknown reason. And whenever this happens, the push alerts stop showing up.

To verify whether app notifications are turned on for Facebook, follow these steps:

Step 1: Tap Settings on your phone followed by Apps or Apps & notifications.

Step 2: Under Apps, tap Facebook. Then hit App notifications.

Step 3: On the next screen, make sure notifications are turned on. If notifications are off, tap the toggle to turn them on. On phones running Android 9.0 and higher, you will find notification categories. Check if those are enabled. Tap on each category name such as comments, tags, friend requests, etc. Verify whether all required settings such as sound, pop on screen, etc., are enabled.

2. Verify Facebook App Notification Settings

In addition to Android’s built-in notification settings for apps, most of the apps come with their own notification settings too. The same is the case with the Facebook app. You can modify, enable, or disable notification settings from within the Facebook app.

If push notifications are disabled in the Facebook app, then that could be the reason for your trouble. Hence, we need to check the Facebook notification settings.

To do so, open the Facebook app on your Android phone and tap the three-bar icon in the top-right corner. Scroll down and expand Settings & Privacy. Tap on Settings.

Tap on Notification settings. You will see various types of notification categories. Tap on each and make sure Push is enabled.

Also scroll down and you will find ‘Where you receive notifications’ section. Tap on Push and make sure various settings inside it are enabled.

3. Check Data Restrictions

Another built-in Android setting that could be responsible for the notification issue is the data restriction. If enabled, apps don’t sync data in the background, which results in no push notifications.

To check if background data sync is active for the Facebook app, go to Apps under the phone Settings. Tap Facebook followed by Data usage/Mobile data & Wi-Fi. Look for the Background data option. It should be enabled. In case, it’s turned off, tap the toggle to turn it on.

4. Clear cache

Clearing app cache might work for some users, depending on the device they’re using and the settings they have on it. Give it a shot, you might get lucky. Here's how to go about it.

To reset the app cache for the Facebook app, go to Apps under phone Settings. Look for Facebook. Then tap Storage. Under Storage, tap Clear Cache. Restart phone. If that doesn't work, tap on Clear data/Storage. Find out what happens when you clear the data of the Facebook app.

5. Log out From All Devices

For some users, the issue might be account-specific and not related to a device. Meaning, if they sign in using another Facebook account on their phone, they will start getting push notifications. However, they don’t get the notifications on their own device neither on some other phone.

To fix this issue, follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to Facebook on your desktop and tap the small down arrow present at the top-right corner and select Settings from the menu.

Step 2: From the left sidebar, click on Security and login. Under Where you're logged in, click on See More.

Step 3: Scroll down and click Log out of all sessions. This will log you out from all the signed in devices.

Step 4: Sign in to Facebook from your phone. You should be able to receive push notifications.

6. Update Facebook App

Often the issue is with the Facebook app. There might be some bug in the app. You should update the app from Play Store.

7. Disable Battery Saver Mode

At times, even battery saver mode affects the push notifications. You should disable battery saver mode on your Android phone. For that, go to Settings > Battery. Disable Battery saver. On Samsung phones, make sure the Facebook app isn’t added in sleeping apps. For that, go to Settings > Device care > Battery > App power management > Sleeping apps.

8. Remove SD Card

Some Samsung Galaxy phone users have suggested that removing SD card from their phone fixed the notification issue for the Facebook app. Do give it a try if your phone supports a memory card.

9. Reset App Preferences

You should also try resetting settings or app preferences on your Android phone. That will not delete any personal data of yours. Only settings such as app permissions, default apps, etc., will be reverted to their original values. You will have to set them again. Find out in detail what happens by resetting app preferences on Android.

To reset app preferences, go to Settings > System/General Management > Reset > Reset app preferences or Reset settings depending on the option available.

10. Reinstall App

If the issue persists, it’s time to delete the Facebook app. Uninstalling the Facebook app will not delete your account or posts. Know in detail what happens when you uninstall the Facebook app. Once uninstalled, restart the phone. Then install the app again from Play Store.

11. Try Facebook Lite

If none of the above solutions work, you can try using either the Facebook Lite app or the mobile website. Both send you notifications and are lightweight. In case you want to know more about the Facebook Lite app, check this detailed comparison.

Let's Fix It

We hope you were able to resolve the Facebook notifications not working issue on your Android device using the above-mentioned solutions. Let us know how it worked out for you.