[Updated] WhatsApp Web not working or loading slowly after recent update? You're not alone

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on March 04, 2022) follows:

WhatsApp is the most widely used instant messaging service in the world. In 2014, Facebook (now Meta) bought the service.

For some years now, Facebook/Meta has been increasing the list of tools and features on WhatsApp. One of the new features was the option to use WhatsApp through a web browser on a PC or laptop.

However, some WhatsApp Web users are facing issues since the most recent update. Problems range from slow loading to getting stuck while loading messages (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).

Some WhatsApp Web users are unable to use the service as it gets stuck on the message loading screen. On some occasions, users have to wait hours for messages to load, according to reports.

My phone died and I was literally forced to use this version, and man… it sucks. It just stopped on 1% on the downloading messages screen, and has been there for almost 2 hours. My internet is not good, but it isn’t terrible, the old web version worked just fine, but this version is lazy and awful.
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If WhatsApp Web completes the loading screen, some cannot see the old messages. In this case, they receive a ‘Use WhatsApp on your phone to see older messages’ error.

For other users, the service is even constantly losing connection, preventing it from working.

The version of WhatsApp Web affected by the problems is 2.2.4 according to reports. Also, users who have updated the service are unable to downgrade to a previous version.

Made the huge mistake of updating to this new feature where I can “now send and receive messages without keeping your phone online”. I preferred the old one because it was faster and felt more secure as it was linked to my phone. Made the mistake of pressing the button to update to this version and now I can’t revert – there’s nowhere anywhere that will let me go back to the old version.
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However, some suggest that WhatsApp Web is showing fewer problems on the Firefox browser. The initial loading of messages is fast in Firefox according to reports, but there are login issues from time to time.

I use it on Firefox, but while it loads fast the first time, I’m forced to take a picture of the QR code every time I re-start the browser because it will refuse to load for a second time. And each time I do that, Whatsapp believes it is a new linked device.
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It’s worth pointing out that a new update is reportedly available (1, 2). If the update is available for you, you can install it and let us know if it resolved the issues.

There is still no official acknowledgment of these issues from WhatsApp. We will update this story once new developments on the matter emerge.

01:23 pm (IST): If WhatsApp web isn’t working for you right now, find solace in the fact that you aren’t the only one having issues.

WhatsApp is currently down on all platforms and not just WhatsApp web. More on that here.

07:17 pm (IST): According to a Meta spokesperson, the recent outage with WhatsApp has now been resolved. More on that here.

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