Quick Answer
Pressing “Force Stop” on WhatsApp temporarily stops the app from running on your device. This can help resolve issues if WhatsApp is frozen or unresponsive. However, force stopping the app can also have negative effects:
- You may miss messages until you restart WhatsApp.
- It can cause bugs or crashes within the app.
- You may need to re-register your phone number.
Unless WhatsApp is totally frozen, it’s better to just close the app normally. Force stopping should only be a last resort if the app is totally unresponsive.
What Happens When You Force Stop an App?
When you “Force Stop” an app on Android, you’re forcibly closing it and preventing it from running in the background. Specifically:
- The app’s processes and services are stopped.
- It’s removed from your phone’s RAM (memory).
- Any background tasks, notifications or updates are halted.
- The app closes and goes into a stopped state.
Essentially, you’re immediately closing the app and all its processes, as if you had swiped it away from the recent apps list.
Force stopping is more “aggressive” than normally closing an app. It terminates processes that may still be running or stalled in the background after closing normally.
What Happens When You Force Stop WhatsApp
Here is what generally happens when you force stop WhatsApp specifically:
- All WhatsApp processes are terminated, including any that are frozen or stalled.
- WhatsApp is removed from your phone’s RAM.
- You stop receiving WhatsApp notifications and messages.
- Background data transfers, syncing, and location sharing halt.
- The app closes entirely.
In effect, WhatsApp is completely shut down when force stopped. It cannot run in the background, update, or send notifications until reopened.
You May Miss Messages
One of the main effects of force stopping WhatsApp is that you’ll stop receiving messages and notifications until you restart it.
Unlike normal closing, force stopping completely halts all of WhatsApp’s background processes and services. This means incoming messages won’t be collected or pushed to you until the app is running again.
So you may come back after force stopping WhatsApp to find a flood of missed calls and messages that were sent while it was force closed.
Chats and Data Remain Intact
Your conversations, contacts, media, and account details will remain intact after force stopping WhatsApp. The app just goes into a paused state.
As soon as you reopen WhatsApp, your chats and data will sync and restore as normal. Force stopping does not delete or erase anything.
You May Need to Re-Verify Your Number
One potential side effect of force stopping is needing to re-verify your phone number when you restart WhatsApp.
This can happen because force stopping may interrupt the continuous connection WhatsApp maintains with your number. Re-verifying allows WhatsApp to reconnect your account.
Why Would You Force Stop WhatsApp?
The main reasons to force stop WhatsApp include:
- The app is totally frozen and won’t close normally.
- It’s causing your phone to run slowly.
- It’s displaying errors and crashing frequently.
- You want to immediately pause notifications.
- You need to abruptly stop data usage or syncing.
Basically, if WhatsApp is severely glitching, force stopping provides a “hard reset” to resolve the issues.
Frozen or Unresponsive App
If WhatsApp freezes up completely and you can’t close it normally, force stopping may be the only way to close the app. This abruptly terminates all stalled processes.
Slow or Buggy Performance
In some cases, WhatsApp may start draining resources and slowing down your phone. If it’s becoming unusable due to lag or glitches, force stopping WhatsApp will provide a fresh start.
Immediately Stop Notifications
If you need WhatsApp notifications to stop right away – like at night or during work – force stopping provides an instant off switch. All notifications will halt until you restart it.
Potential Issues With Force Stopping Apps
While force stopping can provide temporary relief from app issues, there are also some potential downsides:
- Missed messages and interruptions in conversations.
- Possible data loss or file corruption.
- Require re-registering your phone number.
- Cause bugs, freezes, or crashes in the app.
- Disrupt intended background behavior.
Force stopping cuts off an app abruptly, before it has a chance to finish tasks and shut down normally. This increases risks of data loss, account issues, and glitches.
Unless WhatsApp is completely frozen, it’s safer to just close it normally via your recent apps list. Only force stop as a last resort for serious issues.
Potential Issue | Description |
---|---|
Missed Messages | You may miss messages until you restart WhatsApp after force stopping. |
Data Corruption | Force stopping could interrupt a data transfer and cause file damage or loss. |
Re-register Number | You may need to re-verify your phone number after force stopping WhatsApp before using it again. |
App Instability | Abruptly force stopping can lead to more freezing, crashing, or bugs within WhatsApp. |
How to Normally Close WhatsApp
To avoid issues, it’s better to close WhatsApp normally whenever possible:
- Open your recent apps list. On Android, swipe up from the bottom and hold.
- Locate the WhatsApp app preview.
- Swipe up on the WhatsApp preview to close it.
Closing WhatsApp this way allows it to shut down properly. Background services, notifications, and processes can finish before the app is removed from memory.
You should only force stop WhatsApp if this normal method isn’t working and the app is totally frozen.
How to Force Stop WhatsApp on Android
If you do need to force stop WhatsApp, here are the steps on Android:
- Open your Settings app.
- Tap Apps or Application Manager.
- Select WhatsApp.
- Tap Force Stop. Confirm if prompted.
WhatsApp will now be completely stopped. To restart it, simply open WhatsApp again from your home screen or app drawer.
Note that you may need to re-verify your phone number when opening WhatsApp after force stopping. Just follow the on-screen prompts.
Fixing WhatsApp Freezing Without Force Stopping
Before force stopping as a last resort, there are other ways you can try thawing a frozen WhatsApp app:
- Restart your phone – This resets all apps and services.
- Clear WhatsApp cache – This wipes temporary data that may be corrupted.
- Uninstall/reinstall WhatsApp – This does a clean re-installation of the app.
- Check for WhatsApp updates – An update may fix freezing issues.
- Free up storage space – Low storage can cause apps to freeze.
If you try these other troubleshooting steps first, you may avoid having to force stop WhatsApp altogether.
Restart Your Phone
Restarting your Android device essentially resets all currently running apps and services. This can force frozen processes within WhatsApp to start fresh.
To restart an Android:
- Hold down the Power button for a few seconds.
- Tap Restart when prompted.
- Allow your phone to restart completely.
Upon restarting, open WhatsApp again normally to see if the issue is resolved.
Clear WhatsApp Cache
Clearing the WhatsApp cache wipes out any corrupted temporary data that could be contributing to freezing issues:
- Open Settings > Apps > WhatsApp.
- Tap Storage.
- Tap Clear Cache. Confirm if prompted.
With the cache cleared, reopen WhatsApp to see if performance improves.
Re-Install WhatsApp
Uninstalling and re-installing WhatsApp essentially gives you a clean slate:
- Backup your WhatsApp messages if desired.
- Uninstall WhatsApp.
- Reboot your phone.
- Re-download WhatsApp from the Play Store.
- Restore your chat history when prompted.
This removes any corrupted files associated with WhatsApp and starts you fresh.
Check for App Updates
An updated version of WhatsApp may contain bug fixes for freezing issues:
- Open the Play Store.
- Pull down to refresh your installed apps list.
- If an Update button appears on WhatsApp, tap it.
- Install the latest WhatsApp update.
Updating ensures you’re running the latest optimized version of WhatsApp on your device.
Free Up Storage Space
If your phone is nearly out of storage, it can cause poor performance and freezing in apps like WhatsApp:
- Delete old photos/videos.
- Remove unneeded downloads.
- Offload unused apps.
- Transfer files to cloud storage or a computer.
Freeing up internal storage gives WhatsApp breathing room to function properly.
Conclusion
Pressing “Force Stop” on WhatsApp completely stops the app and all its processes/services. This can help if it’s frozen, but may cause you to miss messages and encounter other issues.
Try restarting your phone, updating WhatsApp, or freeing up storage to fix freezing problems first before force stopping. Only use it as a last resort if WhatsApp is completely unresponsive.
When possible, close WhatsApp normally by swiping it away in your recent apps list. This allows it to shut down properly before stopping background tasks and notifications.