With the creation of Facebook Chat, which later became Facebook Messenger, this social engagement and the instant messaging app became an instant hit among chat platforms. This app allows users to exchange not only text messages, but also photos, videos, and so on. In order to elevate Messenger’s features, Facebook decided to make the phone’s contacts available as well. This allows users to make voice or video calls directly within the app. However, errors are inevitable when it comes to software. The users recently started to face the error where their Facebook Messenger contacts not showing up on the app. Let’s learn how to fix Facebook messenger contacts list not showing issue and add contacts to Messenger app.

How to Fix Facebook Messenger Contacts Not Showing

Here, you will get to know about the solutions to fix Facebook Messenger contacts not showing issue in detail.

How to Add Contacts to Messenger App

Messenger is a communication tool that establishes a bridge between a user and their Facebook friends for easy and seamless connecting and messaging. Other than in a form of website, Facebook and Messenger both are available as an app for PCs and mobile devices as well.

1. Launch the Messenger app on your Android or iOS.

2. Hit the chat icon in the bottom-left of the screen.

3. Tap on the gear icon.

4. Scroll and navigate to the Phone contacts option.

5. Tap on Upload contacts and TURN ON the option. This will sync messenger contacts to Android.

These steps will connect you to the ones whose number is saved on your device used and the one has a Facebook account, if not on your friend list.

Also Read: How to Unblock Someone on Facebook Messenger

What Order Does Facebook Arrange Messenger Contacts List?

Contacts are sorted in Facebook Messenger automatically according to factors picked up by Facebook’s algorithms. The Facebook Messenger app allows you to communicate with friends outside your friend list and to view their stories. The contacts on the Facebook Messenger app on your phone can be accessed through the Chats tab, People tab, and by clicking on the miniature contacts icon in the upper right corner of the screen. The ordering of contacts on these tabs can be different. These are the factors that determine in which Facebook Messenger contacts list order appears.

• Alphabetical order: In the contact book located in the upper right corner of the people tab, the arrangement is alphabetized. So, the order in which these contacts are displayed to you is based on how they’ve been saved on your phone.
• Chat frequency: The sequence of chats/contacts in the Chats tab is based on recent communications. This means the person you last contacted via Messenger would appear first, and those you contacted a long time ago would appear somewhere at the bottom. People with whom you have not communicated via text on Messenger are not shown on the list.
• Active Users: People active at the time you use the app appear on the People tab on Messenger. However, it displays the contacts in an order depending on your frequency of interaction with the other user. The user you interact most with appears first. 
• Profile visits and interactions: Profile interactions include regular visiting and interacting with someone’s profile, watching stories, and engaging with posts. The people who you have the most interaction with on Facebook and are connected to Messenger as well, the names of them will appear on the People tab.

Reasons Facebook Messenger Contacts Not Showing

The following could be the reasons Facebook Messenger is having trouble with displaying contacts:

• Technical Glitch: If Facebook Messenger does not display your phone’s contacts, it might be a technical glitch in the app or the server.
• Storage Issues: Low storage devices often tend to face issues in proper loading of files and discourage smooth functioning of an app.
• Unavailable on Messenger: If a contact you are searching for or a contact from your phone is not shown on the Messenger app, that could possibly indicate that the person is not on Facebook or Messenger.
• Incorrect Search: This can be said when either you are searching for the profile with an incorrect username or the contact you that is not being shown is connected to Facebook and Messenger with a different number.

Ways to Fix Facebook Messenger Contacts Not Showing

If you have the upload contacts option turned on and still are not able to see contacts on Messenger, these are a few methods you can perform to fix the error.

Method 1: Relaunch Messenger App

Sometimes it is nothing but a glitch, a minor throttle of your device that might cause the error. To fix this, you can just shut your app and launch it again on your device.

Method 2: Restart Device

It might not be an issue with the Messenger app or any other reason but a glitch in the device’s optimization. Restart your device and you will be good to go.

1. First, press and hold your smartphone’s Power and volume down buttons.

2. Now, tap on Restart to restart your device.

Also Read: How to See Archived Messages on Facebook Messenger

Method 3: Wait for Server Uptime

If you are facing Facebook Messenger contacts not showing error, many times it could be caused because the Facebook Messenger servers are down at that time. Check Downdetector for any such data. Wait until they restore it. Check for any official statement from Facebook on the official Messenger Twitter handle or on Meta Newsroom Twitter handle. Wait until the bug is resolved if you find any kind of news update from the company.

Method 4: Troubleshoot Internet Connection

If you have flickering and poor internet connection there are chances of improper loading of data over the app. Slow internet connections also exacerbate these issues in the process of sync messenger contacts to Android and iOS as well. To resolve this issue read out our guide on How to boost internet speed on Android.

Also Read: How to Fix Facebook Messenger Problems

Method 5: Update Messenger App

If there is a bug in your app that is the root of the error, updating it may resolve the issue as the developers provide updates to the app with bugs fixed and more security patches.

1. Launch Google Play Store on your Android smartphone.

2. In the search bar, type Messenger.

3. Tap on Update.

Now check if the error is resolved.

Method 6: Clear Messenger Cache

Cache files are temporary files that get created automatically while a user downloads and uses an app, thereby conducting different activities over the app. These temporary files can be cleared to fix Facebook Messenger contacts not showing on the device.

1. Launch settings on your Android phone.

2. Scroll down and select Apps.

3. Scroll to navigate and select Messenger app.

4. Tap on Storage.

5. Tap on Clear Cache to clear the cache data.

Also Read: Top 10 Ways to Fix Error Loading Media in Facebook Messenger

Method 7: Reinstall Messenger App

Sometimes downloading an app might not have been a complete and smoother process and even though your app used to work fine, it might be a cause later to Facebook Messenger contacts not showing issue on your phone. We would recommend you uninstall the app once and then reinstall it. This will give the app a chance to get optimized again as well as for the files to download uninterruptedly.

Note: Settings on different phones might not be the exactly same and vary with brands, but would be closely similar. The following methods were tried on Samsung S20FE 5G (Android 13 One UI 5).

Follow the first 3 steps from the above Method 5.

1. Press Uninstall.

2. Re-install directly from the Google Play Store.

3. Log in and check if Facebook messenger contacts list not showing problem is resolved.

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With this, we come to the end of this article. We hope that with the help of this guide you were able to learn How to fix Facebook Messenger contacts not showing issue on your device. If you have any queries or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.