How to Fix “Session Expired” Error on Facebook

One of the most prevalent issues associated with Facebook is the notorious ‘Session Expired‘ error. This problem is confirmed to occur on Android, iOS, PC, and Mac. In this article, we’ll look at the various reasons why this problem occurs and what you can do to fix it.

What are Facebook sessions?

Sessions are used to keep you logged in to your favorite websites and services. They were initially developed to time out so that someone else couldn’t access any of your sensitive data. Facebook uses sessions in much the same way but generally reserves them for 3rd party apps and other third-party services – You aren’t supposed to see this error when utilizing the native Facebook applications.

Utilizing sessions is a good thing since it helps keep your account safe and conserves battery life on your mobile device.

Every few minutes for so, Facebook will check the validity of your session and if it determines that you’ve been idle for too long, it will disconnect and you’ll get the ‘Facebook Session Expired’ error.

What is causing the ‘Facebook Session Expired’ Error?

In every case where you see this error popping up, it’s because Facebook failed to retrieve the cached information stored on your computer (or mobile device) for your current session. This might happen for a couple of different reasons:

Another instance of Facebook being cleared on the same device – You can expect to get this error in a situation where you were signed in to the same Facebook account on a different app from the same device. This typically happens on Mobile devices and can be fixed by logging out and back into your Facebook account.
You manually logged out of Facebook on another device – Keep in mind that Facebook uses one single authentication token per account. This means that if you manually signed out from an account, you will be disconnected from any other account.
You were forced out of your Facebook account due to a technical reason – DNS-related inconsistency might also be responsible for causing the ‘session expired’ error with Facebook in a situation where the cached data ends up being cleared manually.
Browser cache issue – If you’re experiencing this issue while browsing Facebook from a browser, you should investigate for a potential inconsistency affecting the cache of your browser. In this case, clearing the cache should take care of the issue.
You manually cleared the app cache of your mobile device – In case you manually cleared the entire app cache on your mobile device, you will be disconnected from Facebook and Messenger too as the authentication token will be cleared too.

Now that we went through every reason why you might end up seeing the ‘session expired’ error on Facebook, let’s go over a series of fixes that other affected users have successfully used to ensure the problem doesn’t repeat in the future.

1. Log out and into Facebook again

If you’re seeing the “Facebook session expired” notification pop up, follow the instructions in the error message. You’ll need to enter your Facebook account name and password to log back in. If you dismiss the notification, it may continue to appear.

Do this and see if the problem is now fixed. In case you’re continuously seeing the “Facebook session expired” error despite attempting to sign back in, close the app (or browser page) entirely and open it once again before attempting to log in again.

If this quick fix didn’t allow you to fix the problem and you’re experiencing this issue on a mobile app, move down to the next method below.

2. Update your Facebook App

If you’ve already tried the method above and it didn’t fix the issue for you, the next thing you can do is make sure your Facebook app is up to date on your mobile device (Android or iOS).

Head to your phone’s app store, be it the Google Play Store or App Store, and make sure you have the latest version of the Facebook app installed. Oftentimes, simply updating the app can fix any issues you’re having, like with the Facebook session keeps expiring issue.

If you’re looking for specific instructions on updating the Facebook App on Android or IOS, follow one of the sub-guides below:

Update the Facebook App or Android

The timing of when Android will automatically update your apps varies depending on factors such as whether you’re using mobile data or Wi-Fi, and if your phone is set to battery-saving mode.

If there’s an update available for the app that’s causing the ‘session expired’ error in Facebook, you can install it manually by going to the Manage Apps & devices menu.

For step-by-step instructions on how to do this on Android, check out the guide below:

Note: The steps in the guide will be the same regardless of whether you’re using a smartphone or tablet. But the instructions might a little different if you’re not using the stock version of Android.

From the main page of your Android, open the Google Play Store app.
Once you’re inside the app, tap on the profile icon in the top-right corner.
A context menu will appear – from here, tap on Manage Apps & Device.
In the Manage apps & device menu, tap on the Manage tab, then select the Updates available filter.
Find the Facebook app from the list that just appeared.
If there is a pending update for Facebook, hit the Update button and wait for it to install.
Once the installation of the update is complete, open the application again and see if the issue has been resolved.

Update the Facebook App or iOS

Apple is a lot more strict about updates than Android. Ultimately, it’s up to you if you want auto-updating enabled or not. If app auto-updating is off on your iOS device and the app that’s causing the disallowed_useragent error has a pending update, follow these instructions to install it:

Note: The instructions below will work for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

From the home screen of your iOS device, find and tap on the App Store icon.
Once the App Store is open, locate and tap on your Apple profile icon at the top of the screen to bring up the App Store settings menu.
In the context menu that just opened, scroll down to the Available Updates section.
Click on the Update button associated with the Facebook app.
Once the update is installed, open up the application again and see if the problem has been fixed.

If you already tried updating the Facebook app and you’re still getting constant ‘session expired’ errors with the Facebook app, move down to the next method below.

3. Clear Cache and Data (Android and iOS)

It turns out that there’s another issue that might ultimately cause the ‘session expired’ error with the Facebook app is an inconsistency with the cache files associated with the Facebook app.

This problem is caused by a corrupted authentication cache file, which prevents the user from connecting and validating the current session. Several affected Facebook users have reported that simply cleaning the cache and data on their mobile devices fixed the problem for them.

Depending on the mobile platform you’re using when encountering this issue, follow one of the sub-guides below to learn how to clear the cache and data for the Facebook app:

Clear the Cache and data of Facebook on Android

If you’re experiencing this issue on an Android mobile device, you need to access the Apps section and start by tapping on Force Stop in order to force close the app.

After you do this, you can access the Storage menu and clean the cache and temporary data of the Facebook app without worrying about potential interference.

Follow the instructions below to do this:

To access the settings menu on your phone, tap on Settings from the home screen of your Android device.
Then, search for the Apps section and click on it.
Inside the Apps menu, locate the Facebook app and tap on it to access it, then click on Force Stop to force the app to close.
After you forced the app to close, access the Storage menu. Clean the cache by pressing the button, then clean the data for Facebook app.
Before entering the game, go to Play Store and check if there are any available updates for the game. If there are any available updates, install them and wait until the operation is complete.
After you checked and installed any pending updates, restart your phone before opening the Facebook app again. This should fix the problem.

Clear the Cache and data of Facebook on iOS

If you’re experiencing this issue on an iOS device, you need to access the Settings menu of your iPad or iPhone and go under Storage. From the iPhone / iPad storage menu, locate the entry associated with the Facebook app and clean the cache and storage data.

Follow the instructions below for the complete steps on how to do this:

To fix the problem, access the Settings menu, then click on General.
Then go to iPhone Storage, search for the Facebook app, and access it.
From the context menu that just appeared, press the Offload app button.
At the next prompt, confirm it and wait until the operation is complete.
Reboot your phone, then open the Facebook app again and see if the problem is now fixed.

4. Remove or Disable Extensions (PC and Mac Only)

If you’re experiencing the ‘session expired’ error while accessing Facebook from a web browser and you have more than one browser extension or add-in enabled, that might be the reason for the error.

To figure out which extension is causing the ‘session expired error’, disable your extensions one at a time until you identify the culprit. This is applicable to every major browser including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Edge, and every other Chromium-based browser.

Note: The instructions for disabling your extension or add-in from your browser will be different depending on your browser.

To make it easier, we’ve put together a series of sub-guides that will walk you through the process of disabling extensions on every major browser out there.

Follow the sub-guide below that’s applicable to the web browser that you’re using on PC:

Disable extensions on Google Chrome

Chrome is the only main browser that designates its extensions as extensions. Every other 3rd party browser refers to the optional updates that you can install as add-ons. Furthermore, the instructions for disabling extensions on Chrome differ from most of its competitors.

To disable an extension on Chrome, follow these steps:

Start by opening the Google Chrome browser in your desktop device and click on the action button (three-dot icon) located at the top-left section of the screen.
From the context menu that just appeared, click on More tools, then click on Extensions.
Select the available extensions and disable the one that you believe might be causing the problem with the Facebook web app.
After the extension has been disabled, reload the Facebook page and check to see if the ‘session expired’ issue has been resolved
Note: Our suggestion is to disable all installed extensions until you manage to identify which one is causing the issue.

Disable extensions on Mozilla Firefox

Unlike Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox is built on a proprietary framework. This means that the instructions for disabling potentially problematic extensions that might conflict with Facebook are entirely different.

To disable add-ons that might cause the ‘session expired’ error in Facebook on Mozilla Firefox, follow the instructions below:

Click on the menu button in the top-right corner of your Mozilla Firefox screen.
A content menu will appear with several menu items to choose from. Select Add-ons and Themes from the context.
From the Add-ons and Themes menu, select Extensions.
Once you locate the extensions menu, disable the extension that might be causing the interference with Facebook by unchecking the toggle next to it.
After the extension is disabled, reload the Facebook page and see if you still get the ‘session expired’ error.

Disable extensions on Opera

Opera calls its extensions (addons) plugins, and the directions for disabling them are unique and more complicated than any other browser.

To learn how to do so, follow the instructions below:

In order to disable a plugin in Opera, you will need to first open your Opera browser and enter one of the following addresses into the navigation tab at the top of the page:
```
opera://plugins (for legacy Opera versions)

opera://settings/content/flash (for older Opera versions)

opera://extensions (for newer Opera versions)
```
Once you have pressed Enter, this will take you to the plugins page.
Once you are on the extensions page, you will be able to see all of the plugins that are currently installed and activated.
If you wish to disable an extension, simply click on the “Disable” button located below it.
You can also use the toggle button on the right side of the extension to enable or disable it.
Once you have reloaded the page that was previously throwing up the ‘session expired’ error on Facebook and see if the problem is now fixed.
Note: If disabling the first extension or plugin made no difference, continue disabling the remaining ones until you finally manage to identify the app that is conflicting with the Facebook app.
If at any point you want to re-enable a plugin or extension, click on the “Enable” button located below it.

Disable extensions on Edge Browser

The latest Microsoft Edge versions are based on Chromium, which means it uses the same framework as Chrome.
If you’re seeing the ‘session expired’ error every time you visit Facebook.com, it might be caused by an installed extension.

Here’s how to disable extensions that could be causing the problem:

Launch Microsoft Edge as you normally would.
From the home page, click on the action button in the top-right corner of the browser window.
A context menu will appear. When you see it, click on “Extensions” from this menu.
This will bring up a list of extensions that you can scroll through to find the one you’re looking for.
Cycle through the list of enabled extensions and target the one you suspect it’s conflicting with the Facebook web app.
To disable the extension, simply disable the toggle next to it.
Once the extension is disabled, open the Facebook web app once again and see if the problem is now fixed.

If you’re still experiencing the same ‘session expired’ error despite the fact that you disabled the problematic extensions, move down to the next method below.

5. Restart your device

If you’ve come this far without a resolution, one thing you can try regardless of the device where you’re experiencing this issue is to simply restart your desktop or mobile device.

Just a simple restart should do the trick in case you’re experiencing the ‘session expired’ error on Facebook due to a glitch affecting the auth cookie.

Several affected users have confirmed that this operation allowed them to finally access the social media platform without being constantly booted out by the ‘session expired’ error.

If you already tried this fix or it didn’t have any effect for you, move down to the next method below.

6. Reinstall the Facebook App (mobile devices only)

If none of the methods above fixed the ‘session expired’ issue with Facebook, your next step would be to try and reinstall the Facebook app in order to clear any potentially corrupted data that might cause this problem.

Important: This method will only work if you’re experiencing the issue on mobile devices (Android and iOS).

Depending on the platform where you’re encountering the issue (Android or iOS), proceed by following one of the sub-guides below to reinstall the Facebook app completely and clearing up the temporary files to see if that fixes the issue.

Note: Instructions for doing so will be different depending on your platform of choice. To cover both scenarios, we’ve created guides with instructions for each platform.

Reinstall the Facebook App on Android

Android has the all core functionality across every devices, but certain OEM reskins might make the steps below slightly different than the default experience on the stock version of Android:

To uninstall the Facebook app on your Android phone or tablet, first open the Google Play Store application.
Once you’re inside the app store, use the action menu on the left to select My apps & games.
Next, tap on Library from the menu that just appeared.
From the My apps & games menu, select the Installed tab at the top.
Then, scroll down through the list of installed applications and tap on the Facebook app.
At the next menu, click on Uninstall and wait for the operation to complete.
After the application is uninstalled, return to the Google Play store and reinstall the Facebook app.
Launch the app once again and see if the problem is now fixed.

Reinstall the Facebook App on iOS

To uninstall the Facebook app on your iOS device, begin by tapping and holding on the icon until it starts jiggling.
Once the Facebook icon is jiggling, press the small X button in the upper left corner to start the uninstallation process.
After you have uninstalled the app, press the Home button on your device to exit deletion mode.
Now, open up the App Store and search for Facebook.
Next, follow the on-screen prompts to reinstall the app.
Finally, once the app gets reinstalled, launch the Facebook app and see if the problem is fixed.