These are hours that relentlessly trying to send messages on Whatsapp but, for some strange reason, you can not get in touch with your friends, using the well-known instant messaging application. Before you can panic and think about some kind of cataclysm, let’s try to understand why WhatsApp does not work and what to do to solve this situation. Before giving you all the explanations and indications of the case, however, it is good that you take into account a given: sometimes you may have some problems using WhatsApp. However, in most cases it is possible to deal with this in a simple and fast way. If it is therefore your intention to find out why WhatsApp does not work, and consequently what to do to fix it, I suggest you concentrate on reading the following lines.

In this guide, in fact, I will provide you with a series of useful guidelines to keep in mind when WhatsApp does not work. Do not worry, these are very simple procedures to carry out and for which it is not necessary to be experts in computer science, computers and / or telephony.

So take a few minutes of free time, stop wondering why WhatsApp does not work and concentrate on reading this guide. I am sure that at the end of this tutorial you will wonder how you had not thought about it before. Let it bet? I wish you a good read.

How to check the Internet connection

If you’re wondering why WhatsApp does not work, the first thing you can do to try and get back to using the famous messaging application regularly is to make sure that your cellular or Wi-Fi data connection is active on your smartphone and that it is fully functional.

In fact, do not forget that WhatsApp relies on the Internet to allow you to send and receive messages, images, videos and other multimedia content. For this reason, if WhatsApp does not work very probably the most obvious cause could be that you are not connected to the Internet, or because you have a data connection or Wi-Fi at the time not working (maybe due to a disservice) or a connection not at the maximum of its potential.

The first thing you need to do, following this logical talk, is therefore to check if your smartphone is regularly connected to the Internet. How to do? Well, first, take a look at the icons at the top of your device screen. If your smartphone is connected to the Internet completely correctly, you should see one or more icons represented by the following cleats, which indicate that you have established a Wi-Fi connection or a 3G or LTE cellular data connection, for example.

In case these icons are not present, you can make a further important check. Access the Settings section of your device (usually there is an application that has the symbol of a gear) and look for the voice Wi-Fi, Mobile or Connections (note that the items may vary depending on the type of smartphone in use) to activate the Internet connection.

After verifying that the connection is active, make sure that it is working properly. So I suggest you to press the icon of the web browser that you usually use on your smartphone and type www.howtodofor.com in the address bar. If you can properly view my website as you usually do, then you do not have any problems with your Internet connection.

As a last check on Internet connection problems I suggest you to perform a speed test. If you have never heard of this feature, just know that it is a test that can analyze your Wi-Fi and cellular Internet connection. In case of a WhatsApp malfunction this type of analysis will be useful to understand if the application disruption is due to an unjustified and sudden slowness of your Internet connection. To learn more about the subject and find out what is the best speed test I recommend you use to verify this, read my guide dedicated to the topic.

Remove and install the app again

Another good solution to try to get the WhatsApp application to run on a regular basis is to uninstall and reinstall the application. In fact, let’s put the case you’re asking why WhatsApp does not work and you’ve verified that your Internet connection is up and running. Since the problem does not depend on the connection to the Internet, most likely the problems encountered are attributable to one or more files of the application that are corrupt. Do not worry, it’s nothing so serious: in this case, what I suggest you do is remove and download WhatsApp again. This is a solution that can be useful to resume using the application as usual.

However, to uninstall WhatsApp press and hold the application icon from the main app screen of your device. At this point, depending on the model of smartphone and the operating system installed in it (for example, Android or iOS), you should see an X, the Uninstall or the word Delete. Paige on (in some cases it may be required to drag the icon up to the words Uninstall or Delete) and the application will be uninstalled. On Android, know that you can also perform the uninstallation of an application through the Google PlayStore. Just locate the application from the virtual store of Android and then press the Uninstall button.

After removing the app, you will need to install it again. Then start the iOS App Store or Android PlayStore or, more generally, the default virtual store available on your device, look for the WhatsApp application in the search engine and download it again. On Android, perform the operation by pressing the Install / Accept button. From the iPhone, however, from the moment the application was already installed, press the button with the symbol of a cloud with the arrow down to download the app quickly from the memory of iCloud.

When the download is complete, try to start WhatsApp to verify the correct operation of the application: you will only have to tap the Open button or start the application of WhatsApp by tapping on its icon from the main screen of your device.

If you want to know more about it, or if you’re having problems performing the reinstallation process, I suggest you read my guide on how to reinstall WhatsApp.

Turn off and on the smartphone

If you can not send or receive messages on WhatsApp it is usually sufficient to switch off and access your smartphone again. Sometimes it can happen that something not specified is jammed. In this case, restarting the device in use may be the best if not the simplest solution to deal with the problem we are examining.

If, after restarting the smartphone, the problems continue and you are still wondering “why does not WhatsApp work?” Probably the reason is due to the fact that recently the SIM has been changed to the device.

You need to know that WhatsApp works only with a number for each device. In this regard, I suggest you click here to consult the appropriate official FAQ page of WhatsApp to perform the most suitable procedure for your smartphone to solve the problem.

How to perform the initial verification of WhatsApp

If despite all the tests made you continue to have problems sending and / or receiving messages on WhatsApp, the problem could be related to the failure to complete the initial verification process. In order to use WhatsApp it is necessary to register the app to your phone.

To cope with this you just delete and reinstall WhatsApp and be able to carry out the initial verification procedure by chance. You will be sent a confirmation SMS that you will have to type in the SMS verification screen which will open immediately after starting the application. On the screen in question be sure to type in your mobile phone number preceded by the area code (+44 for UK).

Alternatively you can choose the option that concerns the verification by voice call and in this case you will receive a phone call that will indicate the code to be typed which will allow you to carry out the verification procedure.

How to check the status of WhatsApp servers

If despite all continue to ask why it does not work WhatsApp, perhaps the fault of all this is due to a malfunction of the application servers. Sometimes it happens that WhatsApp does not work for problems related to the servers of the service. When this happens the messages are neither sent nor received and the user, I’m sorry to tell you, you can not do anything to resolve the situation if not wait for the application development team to intervene to solve the problem.

To ensure that the failure of WhatsApp does not involve only you, but also other users, I suggest you click here to check on Twitter for any messages posted containing the hashtag #WhatsAppDown.

Users of the social network in fact using this hashatag frequently if there were any problems with the application to indicate to others that the servers of WhatsApp are down and that it is a collective malfunction. If among the tweets there is one or more indicating a malfunction of WhatsApp, it is clear that the problem is not only about you, but it is a problem related to the application. In this case you just have to wait for everything to turn out for the best and in a short time.