How to Get Rid of “WhatsApp Not Working” Issue on Android Phone

One of the best social media communication apps, WhatsApp has become an integral part of our daily lives. Now imagine a day where you aren’t able to use WhatsApp on your phone. Have you too been a victim of “WhatsApp not working” or “WhatsApp not connecting” error? Well, few have been, and we’re damn sure that the day didn’t go quite well for them.

Pretty sure this out of nowhere “unfortunately WhatsApp has stopped error” has made you guys suffer also. So to make sure this situation doesn’t repeat itself, there are many ways to fix it. Check out the below problems and fixes we enlisted so it doesn’t suffer you anymore:

Fix 1: Clear the Cache and App Data

Fix 2: Restart the Device

Fix 3: Reinstall the WhatsApp app

Fix 4: Create More Storage Space on your Phone

Fix 5: Recheck Gmail Account Status (valid or hacked)

Fix 6: WhatsApp Incompatibility with your Phone

1. Clear the Cache and App Data

By far, the most common and simplest way to get rid of any glitches while using any app is “clearing cache and app data”. The same thing can also work here as with continuous or heavy use, sometimes we get a pop-up saying, “WhatsApp not working” or “WhatsApp stopped working”.

So the best and quick thing is to clear cache and app data to check if this was the reason bothering you using the app.

In order to do so, please follow below navigation steps:

Go to “Settings” > Search for Apps/Applications/Application Manager/Apps & notifications > Click on Manage Apps/App Info/Swipe left till you find title “All” > search or tap on WhatsApp > Select Storage/Storage & Cache > click on Clear Cache.

Once you have cleared the cache. Go ahead and restart the phone to check if it has started working. If not, follow the same process. The difference is this time instead of only clearing Cache, clear data as well.

Also Read: How to Show or Hide WhatsApp Status from Specific Contacts

2. Restart the Device

This method was needed to be mentioned here as almost all of us restart our phones the moment it starts working a bit slower. Though we don’t know what this “restarting-the-device” does to our phones, our first instinct goes with restarting the device.

So if in case your WhatsApp notifications are not working or stopped working, do give it a try to restart your phone to check if this method worked.

3. Reinstall the WhatsApp app

Here comes the third and again quite common way we follow whenever we have running issues with any app on our phones. Sometimes just uninstalling an app from your phone works out in favor of you.

So do try this method of uninstalling and reinstalling the WhatsApp app to check if the error “WhatsApp not working” has resolved.

Either hold onto the WhatsApp icon and use the auto-popping-up option of “Uninstall”. Or you can simply follow the steps given in the first method and instead of Clearing, tap on Uninstall.

4. Create More Storage Space on your Phone

Not always but a few times an app stops working due to the reason for not enough space on the phone. Whenever the device starts running out of space, it results in a few apps not operating properly for their functions to take up space in the device.

Once again, you can try this method as below to check if running-out-of-space is a problem for you:

1. Go to Settings, and then Storage. Check the storage must be 100 – 200MB at least.
2. You can start deleting the apps you no longer need. It might a lot of time to decide which app to delete but again, we’re talking about WhatsApp.

5. Recheck Gmail Account Status (valid or hacked)

We all know how Gmail and WhatsApp are connected. In order to run the device flawlessly, it’s always recommended to enter the Gmail address. So in case (we hope it doesn’t), your WhatsApp not working, or WhatsApp stopped working, the reason can be related to your Gmail account. Either the account has been hacked, deleted, or no longer exists and that results in WhatsApp problems.

So follow the below process to check Gmail account status:

Go to Settings > Accounts > Select the Gmail/Google Account and tap on “Remove”.

Now once you have removed it, add the same account again and log in.

Follow this by checking if your WhatsApp has started working properly again.

6. WhatsApp Incompatibility with your Phone

In case you started getting this error (WhatsApp not working, WhatsApp stopped working, WhatsApp not connecting, WhatsApp notifications not working) recently, then the problem is not with WhatsApp. This continuous stopping or not-working issue might be the outcome of phone compatibility.

WhatsApp update on Supported Devices on Android “For Android versions 2.3.7 and older, you can no longer create new accounts, nor reverify existing accounts. However, you’ll be able to continue using WhatsApp until February 1, 2020.”

WhatsApp update on Supported Devices on iOS “WhatsApp for iPhone requires iOS 9 or later. On iOS 8, you can no longer create new accounts or reverify existing accounts. If WhatsApp is currently active on your iOS 8 device, you’ll be able to use it until February 1, 2020.”

Now, in this case, we have two options:

1. Either you upgrade the version you are currently using and if your device isn’t compatible then get a new one (which you will need anyway)
2. Go and search for “GBWhatsApp”. It’s an app that kind-of looks like WhatsApp where you get a bit different customizations and functionalities compared to WhatsApp.

You can either get it on the Play Store or else search for GBWhatsApp on Google (just like all of us do for the answers we are looking for).

You can search for a GBWhatsApp apk file and download it on your phone to check if it’s working.

Wrapping Up

Apparently WhatsApp is the most used app on Android as well as iPhone on a daily basis and we can’t expect it to have glitches. But since we have more than a couple of billion users online in one go, these errors might occur. So to get rid of this irritating situation, use these fixes and check if any of them works out for you.