Messenger or Facebook Messenger is an application for instant messaging, sharing of photos, videos, audio, and group chats. It is available for Windows PC from the Microsoft Store. But sometimes, the Messenger app can stop working on Windows PC due to various reasons that prevent users from communicating with other people. If you encounter this problem, you can easily fix it with the simple methods that we will explain below:
1- Close the Messenger app completely using the task manager:
If Messenger suddenly crashes, try the following steps to close it completely using the Task Manager:
- Simultaneously click on the buttons (Ctrl, Shift and Esc) to open the Task Manager window.
- Right-click on the (Messenger) option and select (End Task).
- Try restarting Messenger.
2- Update your Windows operating system:
New OS updates may fix some application runtime issues. So, make sure that you update the Windows operating system on your computer to the latest version available by following the steps below:
- Click the (Win and I) button to open the settings menu.
- Select (Windows Update) Windows Update.
- Click the Check for Updates button.
- Windows will check for and install available updates. After the update is complete, try using the Messenger app again.
3- Use the troubleshooter:
The troubleshooter is a tool built into Windows that detects and fixes any problems that prevent the operating system from working properly. It can be used to fix the Messenger app crashing issue. This is how it's done:
- Open Settings on your computer.
- On the System tab, select Troubleshoot.
- Click Options (Other Troubleshooting).
- Next to the Windows Store app option, click the Run button.
- The tool will start identifying problems, which shouldn't take more than a minute, and when it finds one, it will either fix it or suggest steps to fix it yourself.
4- Check your computer's date and time:
Messenger may not work if the operating system date and time are wrong because it checks if the time and date are in sync with the computer's time and date, and if there is a difference, it stops working. In this case, you can solve the problem by changing the time and date in Windows by following these steps:
- Open Settings and tap Time & Language.
- Select (date and time) the date and time.
- Uncheck the option (Set time zone automatically) and then make sure the time zone is correct, if you haven't changed it.
- Select the option (Set time zone automatically) and click the (Sync now) button that appears in the (More settings) section.
- Then try to use Messenger on your computer.
5- Fix and reset the Messenger app:
If the above methods did not fix the Messenger crash issue, try the Repair or Reset feature as below:
- Open Settings and select Application(s) from the list on the left.
- Select (Installed Applications) and click on the three dots button that appears next to the (Messenger) option.
- Click on the "Advanced" option and then click on the "Repair" button.
After the repair process is complete, open the Messenger app on your computer and check if it is working properly. If that doesn't work, you'll need to reset the app, a process that will clear data stored in the app and restore default settings, but may help Messenger stop working.
To reset the Messenger app:
- Open Settings and select Application(s) from the list on the left.
- Select (Installed Applications) and click on the three dots button that appears next to the (Messenger) option.
- Click on the "Advanced" option and then click on the "Reset" button.