Facebook Black Screen Issue? Here's How To Fix It!

Part I: What Causes Facebook Black Screen?

The Facebook black screen can occur for a number of reasons. These are but are not limited to:

System Software Incompatibility

As software moves forward, companies deprecated support for old versions of system software (read: Android and iOS versions) and the Facebook app already installed on those versions can show up a black screen when Facebook is launched.

Poor Internet Connectivity

Facebook requires the internet to work, and if connectivity is jittery or the connection has other issues such as restrictive DNS or other network issues, Facebook app black screen might occur.

Browser Issues

Sometimes, the issue is nowhere but your web browser. More on that in part IV which deals specifically with the Facebook black screen on Chrome/ Firefox/ Safari.

Further reading: Fix iPhone Black Screen with Spinning Wheel

Part II: Fix Facebook Black Screen On iPhone/ iPad Without Data Loss

Now, we understand this is Facebook we are talking about. Facebook is used by over a billion users around the world, its apps (Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger) are the top two apps in the world that people use every day to stay in touch with each other. So, naturally, you would want this fixed as soon as possible.

Therefore, we are first providing a clear and quick way to get the Facebook app black screen issue fixed without data loss, and then we will also provide other ways you can try to fix the Facebook black screen on iPhone/ iPad/ Android.

One-Stop Solution For All Your Smartphone Needs: Wondershare Dr.Fone

Dr.Fone is a module-based software designed and developed by Wondershare Company to help you with your everyday smartphone activities, ranging from taking and restoring backups to using the software to unlock locked screens to repairing system issues and even for advanced data recovery. Right now, we will talk about Dr.Fone - System Repair (iOS) that will quickly fix the Facebook black screen problem on your smartphone.

Step 1: Install Dr.Fone software

Step 2: Connect your iPhone/ iPad with the data cable and launch Dr.Fone

Step 3: Click the System Repair module and select Standard Repair Mode to fix Facebook black screen on iPhone/ iPad without deleting user data.

Step 4: The system version page shows your device model and firmware version:

Step 5: Select the latest firmware and click Download

Step 6: The firmware will be downloaded from Apple servers, verified with Apple and the following prompt will appear:

Step 7: Click Repair Now.

This process repairs iOS/ iPadOS for any underlying configuration errors or corruptions that might be causing the Facebook app black screen.

Part III: Other Helpful Ways To Fix Facebook App Black Screen On iPhone/ iPad/ Android

As promised, here we are in Part III, to talk about other ways you can fix Facebook black screen on iPad/ iPhone/ Android if you do not want to use the above method involving Dr.Fone - System Repair (iOS).

Method 1: Close And Reopen Facebook App

Our handsets today feature a technology to keep apps connected to the internet in the background and are named differently but similarly across Android and iOS. So, closing the app kills this background connection and when you relaunch the app, the app makes a fresh connection request to the parent server. This sometimes helps to fix issues.

On Android

These steps are for a OnePlus smartphone running Android 12 with Gesture Navigation enabled. If you do not have gesture navigation enabled, appropriate steps will be mentioned alongside for your convenience.

Step 1: Swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen (home bar) and stop and hold the swipe for a split second to get the Android app switcher. If you do not have gesture navigation enabled, tap the hamburger menu at the bottom of your device to get the app switcher.

Step 2: Swipe the Facebook app card up to close the app.

Step 3: Relaunch the app from your home screen or app drawer.

On iOS/ iPadOS

Step 1: Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen and hold it midway to get the iOS app switcher.

Step 2: Swipe the Facebook app card up to close the app.

Step 3: Relaunch the app from your home screen or App Library.

Method 2: Restart Handset

Restarting the handset does two things. It refreshes your network connections, both Wi-Fi and cellular, and also serves to refresh the system memory on your device to remove code from RAM that might somehow be causing conflicts resulting in Facebook app black screen.

Restart An Android Device

Step 1: Press and hold the Power button on your device till the power options appear

Step 2: Tap Restart and your Android device will restart.

Restart An iOS Device

Step 1: Go to Settings > General > Shut Down

Step 2: Slide the slider and shut down the device

Step 3: Press the Side button a few seconds later and restart the device.

Method 3: Clear Facebook Browser Cache

If the Facebook app loads enough to give you the tab bar at the bottom where you can access the menu, then you can also try clearing the Facebook browser cache to see if this helps.

Step 1: Click the menu icon at the bottom of Facebook app

Step 2: Click the Gear icon at the top

Step 3: Scroll down to Permissions and tap Browser

Step 4: Tap Clear

Method 4: Sign Out And In Again

Again, if the bottom bar is visible, you can even sign out and sign back in to see if that helps.

Step 1: Tap the Menu icon in the Facebook app, scroll down till the end and tap Log Out

Step 2: When the app logs you out, log back in.

Method 5: Uninstall Facebook And Reinstall

Every app stores some data on the device that it needs to work. Sometimes this data gets corrupted, and you can uninstall Facebook to clear all app data from device. This will not remove your photos, messages, account information, or anything else. This only removes app data that was stored on device by the Facebook app.

On Android

Step 1: Go to Settings > Apps > App Management > Facebook

Step 2: Tap Uninstall and confirm by tapping OK.

Step 3: Go to Play Store and download Facebook again.

On iOS

Step 1: Tap and hold the Facebook icon until the contextual menu appears

Step 2: Tap Remove App and confirm by tapping Delete App.

Step 3: Go to the App Store to download Facebook again.

Method 6: Free Up Some Storage Space On the Device

All apps on your device take some storage space that is the app size, and then they consume more space dynamically, as and when needed, to function. So, if your device is totally out of storage, apps can throw errors such as the Facebook black screen you are getting.

The only way users get to free up space on their devices safely is to look for any large files stored on the device such as media downloads and delete them. Sometimes, they may have to part with large game files as well. But, remember how we said Dr.Fone is your one-stop tool for all your smartphone needs?

Dr.Fone features a unique Data Eraser module that helps you free up space on your device by removing junk and cache from the system storage completely reliably and safely, in just a few clicks. Interested? Click the following button to download and have a try.

Try It Free Try It Free

Part IV: How To Fix Facebook Black Screen On Chrome/ Safari/ Firefox

But what if I am not facing Facebook app black screen at all? Instead, what if I am facing Facebook black screen on Chrome/ Firefox/ Safari? What to do in that case?

Method 1: Disable Hardware Acceleration In Chrome

Users on Google Help forums have reported success with Facebook black screen issue if they disable hardware acceleration in Chrome settings. Here is how you can do that and try.

Step 1: Click the ellipses icon and go to Settings and click Advanced

Step 2: Toggle ‘use hardware acceleration when available’ OFF.

Method 2: Disable Browser Extensions

Browser extensions such as content blockers and several others interact with websites and code to produce the desired results, and this can also sometimes cause undesired effects such as the Facebook black screen. Disable browser extensions to check if this was the cause of the problem.

Step 1: Click the hamburger menu in the right corner of any Firefox browser window and click Settings. If you are using Google Chrome, you will find an ellipses symbol, and the navigation will be Ellipses symbol > More Tools > Extensions.

Step 2: Scroll down and click Extensions from the sidebar. In Chrome, you will get the extensions page right after step 1, there will not be a step 2 like Firefox.

Step 3: Disable all extensions for now

Step 4: For good measure, restart the web browser and access Facebook again.

In macOS Safari

Step 1: Go to Safari > Settings and click the Extensions tab

Step 2: Disable all extensions here.

Method 3: Turn Off Antivirus/ VPN Software

Antivirus and VPN software can also interfere with some code sometimes that they were not supposed to, so it is recommended to turn them off and try if you are facing browsing issues.

Method 4: Clear Browser Cache And Cookies

Web browser cache, cookies, and other data can cause corruption sometimes. Here is how to clean the browser cache and other data.

In Firefox

Step 1: Click the hamburger menu near the top-right corner in any Firefox window

Step 2: Select Settings from the dropdown

Step 2: Click Privacy & Security from the left sidebar

Step 3: Scroll a little downwards and click Clear Data button alongside Cookies and Site Data

Step 4: Tick both checkboxes and click Clear to remove all stored data.

Step 5: Open Facebook again and check.

In Chrome

Step 1: Click the ellipses menu at the top-right of the browser window and choose Settings

Step 2: Click Privacy & Security from the left sidebar

Step 3: Click Clear Browsing Data.

In the popup, select Time Range as All Time. Also, scroll and check what you want to remove.

Step 4: Click Clear Data.

In macOS Safari

Step 1: Click Safari from the menu bar and select Clear History

Step 2: In the popup that shows, click the dropdown list and select All History

Step 3: Click Clear History.

This step will also clear browsing history AND open tabs from other Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account. Check your tabs on other devices and bookmark them if necessary.

Method 5: Try Incognito Window/ Private Browsing Window

Incognito/ Private Browsing mode in a web browser allows users to bypass browser data and cache that the browser uses for performance purposes. Essentially, these are sandboxed windows and tabs. So, using them to try accessing websites that are not accessible in a regular tab/ window is a good way to narrow down the cause of the issue.

Conclusion

As annoying and frustrating as Facebook black screen issue is, it is also thankfully easily fixed. Depending on how comfortable you are with the idea of troubleshooting and how much time you have to spare, you can choose between fixing the Facebook app black screen quickly in just a few clicks or taking the more time-consuming approach to narrowing down the cause one by one. We have provided ways for both approaches. Happy Facebooking!