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How to Fix 8 Common Facebook Frustrations

by Chelsey B. Coombs on March 25, 2016

Facebook Annoyances

We’ve all got annoying Facebook friends…you know, the ones who post about politics five times a day, or tag you in unflattering photos or won’t stop sending you Candy Crush invitations? And we've all been frustrated by autoplay videos and irrelevant ads. Fortunately, there are solutions to these and other Facebook frustrations, so you can get back to "♥"ing the time you spend on Facebook. 

Block (or limit) News Feed Posts

There are some people or pages on Facebook whose posts you just don’t want to see (Uncle Mike, I appreciate your interest in doomsday preparation, but no need to share it with all). But ‘unfriending’ people to get rid of their posts is harsh, and might even harm your relationship. Luckily, you can just ‘unfollow’ people to say sayonara to their posts-- and they won’t even know.

On the desktop, click the downward facing arrow at the top right of the blue bar, then select “News Feed Preferences.”

Downward Facing Arrow

Next, click “Unfollow people to hide their posts,” and select the friend or page whose posts are just too much.

Unfollow People to Hide Posts

And if one particular post is the last straw, you can also click on the downward facing arrow at the top right corner of any individual post, then ‘Unfollow’ the page or person. (If you change your mind later, you have the option of reconnecting with the people you ‘unfollowed.')

Unfollow Facebook Friend

On mobile, press “More” in the bottom right-hand corner of the app, then select “News Feed Preferences.” Next, select “Unfollow People to Hide Their Posts,” then ‘unfollow’ all of the pages or people you would like.

Mobile Facebook

To just pare down the number of their posts you see in your news feed (rather than getting rid of them altogether), click on the downward grey arrow at the top right of any of their posts on both desktop and mobile. You’ll then be able to select “Hide Post: See fewer posts like this” to alleviate the problem.

Prioritizing the Top of Your Feed

Facebook’s algorithm can be really useful, leading you to posts and statuses that you might not have seen otherwise in the cacophony of the never-ending News Feed. Unfortunately, the algorithm doesn’t always get it right. You don’t want to miss your brother’s baby taking his first steps, do you? To make sure you don’t miss any of his posts, on the desktop, click the blue down arrow and select “News Feed Preferences.” Then click “Prioritize who to see first.” Choose the pages and people whose posts you love, and they’ll be at the top of your News Feed every time you log in.

On mobile, press “More” in the bottom right-hand corner of the app, then select “News Feed Preferences.” Press “Prioritize Who to See First,” then make your picks. You’ll never miss an update again!

Hiding Likes on Facebook

I really like playing the Kendall and Kylie game, but as someone who doesn’t want to publicly admit to a Kardashian-Jenner clan obsession, I don’t want any of my Facebook friends to see that I liked the game’s official page. While you have to be on a desktop, it’s easy to edit who can see the pages you’ve liked, although there are some caveats.

Head to your profile page, then find the “About” button that lives right below your cover photo and to the right of your profile picture. Any music, movies, books, TV shows and other pages you’ve liked will be arranged in groupings. At the upper right hand corner of each grouping, select the pencil button that says “Manage.” Then select “Edit Privacy.” You can then determine who you want to see the movies, games, interests and other pages that you’ve liked. You can’t hide that you’ve liked individual pages, but you can hide certain groupings.

Hiding Likes on Facebook

Stop Irritating App Notifications

It’s the red badge of annoyance, and it seems like it will never go away. Every time you log in, FarmVille or the Kim Kardashian game remind you that it’s been a year since you last played. Why don’t you take a turn now? Not today, and not ever.

To turn off those app notifications on a desktop, venture up to the downward facing arrow at the top right-hand corner of the page, select Settings, then Apps. From there, you will be able to see all of the apps that you have authorized to use your account. Hover over the offending app, then press the pencil, or “Edit Settings,” button. Then, select “No” from the option that says “This app can: send you notifications.”

App Notifications

Mobile users will go about this in a similar way. From the Facebook mobile app, press the “More” tab in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Scroll down to select “Settings,” then “Account Settings.” In the next screen, click Apps, then “Platform.” You will then be able to choose whether you want apps and games to send you notifications.

And if your friend keeps trying to ask you to send her corn in Farmville, go to Settings, then Blocking and scroll down to Block app invites. You can add friends whose invites you never want to see again.

Blocking (Some) Targeted Ads

Ads make the Facebook world go round, and the company has become better and better at targeting advertisements tailored to your interests. But this raises plenty of privacy and security concerns. If you don’t want to download an ad blocker to block them entirely, you can adjust some of your ad settings in Facebook.

If there is a particular ad you find offensive or that you don’t want to see anymore, you can press the “X” or the down arrow at the top right of the ad on both desktop and mobile to remove yourself from the audiences that ad is targeting.

For a more global approach, desktop users can click the downward arrow at the top right-hand corner of the screen, then choose “Settings” and “Ads.” You can then choose whether or not you want Facebook to use your online habits to serve you ads, as well as manage your ad preferences.

Mobile users can click the “More” button, then click “Ads.” From there, you can adjust your preferences just like a desktop user would.

Stop Videos that Start Playing Automatically

Advertisers pay the big bucks to have their videos in front of a Facebook audience, and Facebook now autoplays them in your feed. This “feature” can be a huge data suck, so if you’re leery of getting charged for using extra data, you’ll definitely want to turn this off.

Click the down arrow at the top right-hand corner of your screen on desktop, then choose “Settings.” From the left-hand column, choose “Videos,” then choose whether you want the Auto-Play Videos default setting on or off.

Similarly, mobile users should press “More” at the bottom right-hand corner of the app, then “Settings,” then “Videos and Photos.” You can then choose whether you want videos to autoplay using data and Wi-Fi, on Wi-Fi connections only or never. In my opinion, never is a pretty good policy.

Keep Your Newsfeed in Chronological Order

When you log into Facebook, the Newsfeed automatically orders the posts you see according to its own algorithms. This can be helpful if you want to see what Facebook thinks you should see, but many of us liked pages or friended people to see their posts as they happen. That’s where the browser extension Social Fixer comes in handy. If you use Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Opera on desktop, you can download the extension and just let it work. While Facebook has tried many times to cripple Social Fixer, and some of the features don’t work anymore, the chronological Newsfeed option is still up and running.

Make It Harder to Be Tagged in Photos

Facebook users can tag their friends in any photo they post, whether it be a good or bad one. That could prove to be problematic if the wrong person sees that photo. Thankfully, there are some options if you want to take that unattractive holiday office party picture you were tagged in and banish it to the social media graveyard in the sky.

If you’re on a desktop, click the downward facing arrow at the top right corner of the page, then select “Settings,” then “Timeline and Tagging.” From here, you can choose whether you want to review a friend’s post or photo before it appears on Facebook, who you want to enable to see the posts and photos you’re tagged in, and who can receive tag suggestions if a face in a photo looks like you.

To get to the same page on the Facebook mobile app, press “More” on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, “Settings,” “Account Settings,” and then “Timeline and Tagging.” Thank goodness that picture won’t follow you around for the rest of time. 

[Facebook reactions via Facebook; Illustrations by Chelsey B Coombs/Techlicious]


Topics

Facebook, Tips & How-Tos, Privacy, Tech 101


Discussion loading

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From Louise on October 10, 2017 :: 3:44 pm


The whole page on Facebook is so Tiny, I can not read any of it. How do I fix it? thank you.

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From GME on August 31, 2022 :: 8:27 pm


Go to your browser settings and increase the zoom settings.

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From Birte on September 06, 2022 :: 11:38 am


Hi Louise!

If you press Ctrl and at the same time press + your screen will be bigger
To go back to normal size, choose Ctrl and -

It’s very simple, once you get going smile

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From Jenna Havard on October 16, 2017 :: 7:56 pm


For the last 4days my facebook most recent and top stories havnt added any new posts from my friends ivhave on here all im seeing is the same constant posts daily

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From Coleen L Odaniell on April 18, 2018 :: 8:50 am


After numerous tries. I’m ready to throw tablet and phone away !

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From April Ott on July 01, 2018 :: 11:36 pm


When I try to add photos or videos to my page, the page freezes. It won’t allow me to “say something about” the photo or post it. I have to discard it or the page stays frozen. Tried all I know to do. Any advice?

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From Mary on December 06, 2020 :: 8:18 pm


I can’t get the gray shade that comes over the
Film to move I think it’s frozen. What can I do?

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From Clarecartersmail@gmail.com on March 05, 2023 :: 10:55 am


Did you ever figure out a solution?
I’m going through this frustration right now :(

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From Annette Lynch on January 05, 2019 :: 4:09 pm


I am not able to comment or reply to anyone’s post.
I was told there is supposed to be a blue arrow on my page in order to do so.  I do not have that blue arrow.  Please, how can I fix this?

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From Mike Pinsker on March 09, 2021 :: 1:59 am


Only on my Windows-based Computer No one in my admin team,including myself can Comment or Reply ( I am the only admin in my Group. Phones, tablets, I-Pad are all OK: only Computers are the problem.

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From Josh Kirschner on March 09, 2021 :: 11:12 am


Can you describe the issue in more detail? Is it an issue commenting in your Facebook group or anywhere on Facebook with your Windows PC? If the latter, what version of Windows are you running and which browser? Is there any security software or settings your company has set up on your PCs that would block javascript or similar types of security protections?

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From Mike Pinsker on March 09, 2021 :: 10:52 pm


The issue is only in my own group-only., in re security SW have had the same protection for years -without issue for many years but I will querie them to see if they can help. Note- there is another adminirc2xwho have the same issue.. my moderators all have the same problem -again only on their computer

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From Pratap Roy on January 20, 2019 :: 5:12 am


my lick bottom r not working

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From Paul McCue on July 02, 2019 :: 6:26 pm


tried everything… only thing that worked is if she makes her posts public which she doesn’t want to do

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From scott on October 11, 2019 :: 8:23 pm


My timeline isn’t loading. Header loads and nothing below. I’ve done all the usual suggestions. Cleaned temp files. tried many browsers. Ugh. Page loads on mobile. My personal page loads. But my fan page is the problem.

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From Roy Minton on March 25, 2020 :: 3:44 pm


When I post a comment I can’t send the comment. Any help would be appreciated.

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From Josh Kirschner on March 26, 2020 :: 10:00 am


Hi Roy, I’m not following what the issue is that you’re facing. Are you saying you can’t make comments on other people’s posts? All posts? Some posts? Or is it something else you’re having trouble with?

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From Steven C. McKinstry on May 05, 2020 :: 7:23 pm


All of a sudden I no longer have access to the facebook group that I admin: the 8 Track Band Story

Further, the left panel of all FB pages is missing.

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From Brenda on January 29, 2021 :: 5:03 pm


Did you get into your Facebook group that you are the administrator?  If so how?  I haven’t been able to get into mine for 4 days

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From Polly Royster on June 02, 2020 :: 9:42 am


Need your expertise please.  Whenever I “like” something or make a comment and post, FB automatically scrolls me back to the top of the page. This is so annoying and I can’t figure out why it’s doing that!  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

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From Josh Kirschner on June 02, 2020 :: 1:31 pm


Is this on your phone or desktop? What browser are you using (or is it phone app)?

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From Bob Ward on February 18, 2022 :: 4:55 am


desktop google

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From Connie M Bock on June 02, 2020 :: 3:04 pm


My games are running really slow whick makes them almost impossible to play.  One game doesn’t work at all (Canasta hand and foot).  Really bummed about all this.

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From Ann Martin on August 23, 2020 :: 9:09 pm


I see 3 posts, then a gray blank screen, then 3 more post.  How can I stop the blank gray screen?

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From Josh Kirschner on August 24, 2020 :: 11:44 pm


Are you using an ad blocker? It sounds like what might happen if you are using an ad blocker and it’s blocking the in-feed ads on Facebook.

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From Anthony Barr on October 05, 2020 :: 5:14 pm


they use to show you pic .and your back now your screw if you change your password ..there’s a phone number i don’t even use on there ..bullcrap ..been trying and trying frustrating madness..facebook is starting suck for real

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From Gerald Johnson on November 11, 2020 :: 12:43 pm


Stuck with a particular music video. Can’t discontinue it and return to facebook. What must I do to get back to viewing regular facebook?

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From CanVamp420 on November 16, 2020 :: 11:31 am


Hey there, maybe you can help me. Sometimes when reading a news article, or science or whatever thats NOT on, or through, facebook, in order to post a comment on the site it asks me to login to FB to post. Ive tried several times on several sites, and it never works. I simply cannot seem to post. Its starting to really fruatrate me. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for your time smile

CanVamp420

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From Josh Kirschner on November 16, 2020 :: 12:40 pm


Can you be more specific about what error you are getting or what happens when you try to use the Facebook login for commenting?

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From Isabelle Mantell on November 25, 2020 :: 11:31 am


I follow many groups and ‘save as’ a lot of photographs/memes I like. I can scroll down and down, saving dozens of images - and in many groups I use the forward/back arrows to see what other pics I might like. BUT FREQUENTLY (once or twice a day) when I click off the picture I am on, instead of returning me to where I was in my newsfeed - it takes me right back to the very beginning with a new set of posts. This is frustrating if I have found a new group or person I think I’d like to follow as instead of returning me to my feed and that post (so I can then follow), I instead get taken back to the start and the person/group I had hoped to follow is now nowhere to be seen. How does this happen (on laptop) and how do I prevent it from happening again? It is SO frustrating!!

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From Paul Lavery on November 26, 2020 :: 4:27 pm


People you my know disappeared 6weeks I have tried a number things changed lauguage change Web browser went settings to enable tool can you help thanks

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From Paul Lavery on March 19, 2021 :: 2:03 pm


People you may know feature has disappeared over five months I have tried alot approachs different Web browser allso privacy settings and tried to public and friends of friends change my language remove my app and set up again if I delete my facebook account and set up a new facebook account with different email would that help I have tried contacting Facebook on so many occasions but no avail can you please help thanks

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From Josh Kirschner on March 19, 2021 :: 4:46 pm


If you go to your Friends in your Facebook profile, there is a option at the top to “Find friends”. If you click on that, you will see a section for “People you may know.” You can also get to that page directly by following this link while logged in: https://www.facebook.com/friends.

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From Kristine G on December 22, 2020 :: 6:46 pm


I’ve been on FB for about 10 years. In the last 3 days, nothing I post is visible to anyone else. I can IM and see everyone else’s feed. I don’t think I change my settings. How do I fix this?
Thanks!

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From Josh Kirschner on December 22, 2020 :: 6:55 pm


First, check the privacy settings on your posts to make sure you didn’t limit it to “only me” or something similar. If the post privacy looks correct, it may be that your friends just aren’t seeing your posts very often because of the way Facebook is prioritizing things in their feeds. If they visit your profile page, can they see the posts there? If so, it is likely the Facebook news feed algorithm in play.

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From Wanda Foster on April 30, 2021 :: 11:37 am


People can’t see my posts, and I can’t see theres. I feel invisible suddenly.

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From Anthony Barr on December 22, 2020 :: 7:11 pm


It has a black lion

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From Louis Anthony Chitty, III on January 23, 2021 :: 10:28 pm


My FB account has been disabled, supposedly because I am under 13! I am 74 years old and have had this account for more than 13 years, I believe (as you get older, you’re often not sure of how long you’ve had an account).

I’ve tried to contact FB to no avail because they want me to log on to FB to get a URL and other info—which is impossible since the account is disabled. I was able to send a photo of my driver ‘s license, which FB acknowledges receipt of by virtue of a statement from FB that I see when I try to sign on. It says that they have received my info—but that comment has been there for weeks—and I am still locked out of the account.

HELP!!! And I thank you in advance,

Louis A. Chitty, III

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From Josh Kirschner on January 25, 2021 :: 6:28 pm


I am assuming that Facebook determined you were under 13 because the birthdate you had listed in Facebook was wrong. Unfortunately, now that the account is disabled, there is not much more you can do other than contacting Facebook (which you did) and hope they respond. I’m guessing that re-activating people who pretend to be a minor (even if this was not your intention) is not high on their priority list, given the various nefarious reasons people may want to do that.

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From Dodi Palmer on March 09, 2021 :: 8:00 pm


There is one person I frequently search for to read her posts and watch her videos. Suddenly in the last week I can’t return to my news feed and it treats her page like it’s mine. Any ideas?

Thanks.

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From Donna Moody on March 19, 2021 :: 1:37 pm


My Facebook app is updated but I don’t have the choose layout when posing photos. I’ve tried everything but nothing has worked. I have logged out, deleted app, turned phone off, turned phone back on and reinstalled app but still don’t have choose layout. Hope you can help.

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From Josh Kirschner on March 21, 2021 :: 9:58 pm


Can you clarify what you mean when you say “layout”? What are you trying to to do with your photos that you’re not seeing?

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From Donna Moody on March 22, 2021 :: 7:34 pm


When you post pictures you can s choose 3 or more pictures and then at the bottom it has 4 different layouts that you can choose from. It is suppose to be on there with the updated version of Facebook but I don’t have it and can’t figure out why or how I can get it.

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From Josh Kirschner on March 23, 2021 :: 2:09 pm


For Android, in the Facebook app menu if you go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > About (scroll to the bottom), what version does it say you are running? If you are using iOS, what version of iOS do you have on your device?

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From Donna Moody on March 27, 2021 :: 1:01 pm


I don’t have choose layout when posting pictures. You asked what IOS I was using. It’s 14.4.2.

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From Josh Kirschner on April 02, 2021 :: 9:29 am


Hi Donna,

What version of the Facebook app do you have (If you go to Settings > Facebook and scroll to the bottom)?

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From Donna Moody on April 06, 2021 :: 4:44 pm


Facebook version is 312.0

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From Josh Kirschner on April 07, 2021 :: 9:24 am


It seems like you have the latest version of the app, though you can always try to update it to make sure. Unfortunately, I don’t have any other solution for you. Facebook was rolling this feature out gradually to users and it is possible they still haven’t rolled it out to you yet. It’s not unusual for Facebook to have very long rollout periods. You likely will just have to wait and hope it shows up at some point.

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From Kelly O'Brien on March 20, 2021 :: 9:51 am


I seem to be having all sorts of issues.  It started with posts of articles posting, then, when I would return to Face Book, it would sometimes be posted twice, or display the article as ready to post.  Then, I started having issues with my background changing from yellow background with laughing emogies to just yellow, then, now, just white.  Later, after I have been off, I’ll see the posts correctly displayed, but not just after I type something.  Then, Stories have been glitching.  Other people’s stories are flickering space holders.  When viewing stories, get grey screen with a spinning wheel.  Now YouTube or other TV apps, such as Distro TV are only showing a black, blank screen, but the audio plays, and they work fine, if I watch without going through Face Book.  Video, on my posted or viewed video having this problem, unless I expand by tapping the square.  Other videos are fine, such as other friends’ posts or, for example Chills videos, etc.  I thought the problem was related to the Android System Webview not updating glitch, which I finally got to work.  The problems seemed to go away, for a day, but now they are back.  Also, Messenger, a separate app, now having problems, sending more than 1 picture or screen shot, at a time.  Should I just uninstall then reinstall or clear cash, or what?  Been on FB almost 1 year.  Sorry about the long winded grocery list.  Thanks. 🤔

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From Sandra on March 21, 2021 :: 9:18 am


My FB spacing is messed up.  I can’t post anything because I cannot get my cursor to the POST button.  I cannot send on Messenger because the space that allows input is below where I can get my cursor.  And sometimes even the right hand arrows that allow one to move up and down page are completely missing.  I have been, essentially, “muted.”  I started having “space” problems (have to keep my Zoom to 67-80 per cent to se most pages (even non-FB) since Microsoft sent through that major update about (3-6?) months ago.  I have gone down to even 50% zoom and that still doesn’t bring my SAVE button into view.  Can you help?

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From Josh Kirschner on March 21, 2021 :: 10:02 pm


This sounds like a general issue with your display resolution settings. What resolution is your display set to (Setting > System > Display) and what is the native resolution of your screen?

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From Sandra on April 02, 2021 :: 7:41 pm


Not only could I not find which version of Facebook I am using (which you suggested) by looking in Setings for Google Chrome, the version was not there in Settings for Facebook either.  Then my email won’t sent you my answer because it sees your letter as spam.  Geez.  As far as I know, I have the latest version of Facebook.  It downloaded whether I wanted it or not (I didn’t, since I didn’t like the new version>)  Hope this helps.

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