Over the past few months, many Facebook users have reported an issue where their Facebook Watch feed suddenly starts showing only Reels.
This change can be frustrating if you enjoy watching regular videos in your feed and no longer have access to that content.
The good news is that in most cases, this issue can be fixed by making a few simple changes to your Facebook app or settings.
This guide will walk you through several troubleshooting tips to get your Facebook Watch feed back to normal.
Why Is Facebook Watch Only Showing Reels?
There are a few possible reasons why your Facebook Watch feed is dominated by Reels:
Facebook Is Pushing Reels
Reels are a popular, relatively new video format that Facebook is promoting heavily right now. As they try to compete with other apps focused on short video clips, they are putting a lot of emphasis on Reels across their platforms.
This means you may see more Reels than other videos in places like Watch as Facebook tries to get people to create and engage with that format.
Your Watch History Is Mostly Reels
Facebook personalizes the videos shown to you in Watch based on your viewing history and what you have liked/followed/engaged with in the past.
If most of your recent watch history happens to consist of Reels you’ve viewed, Facebook will take that as a signal you want to see more of them and will populate your feed primarily with Reels rather than a mix of video formats.
Your Video Preferences Are Set to Reels
In your Facebook app settings, there is an option to set video preferences specifically for Reels within Watch. If you have those preferences enabled, it will make Reels the focus rather than all videos.
A Bug or Glitch
In some cases, this issue is caused by some sort of bug or glitch rather than intentional settings or personalization.
Bugs can unexpectedly change options, override user preferences, or create issues displaying certain content types.
Fixes for Facebook Watch Showing Only Reels
If you want to return Facebook Watch to a more varied mix of video formats, here are some troubleshooting steps to resolve it only showing Reels:
1. Check for Updates
Make sure both the Facebook app and your device software are fully up to date. App updates often include fixes for bugs and issues like this.
Go to your device’s app store, search for Facebook, and see if any app updates are available. Also, check for system/iOS/Android updates and install those too.
Running the latest versions helps rule out any known fixed bugs causing problems.
2. Restart Your Device
One quick troubleshooting step is to restart your phone, tablet, or computer (whichever you use to access Facebook).
Closing down background processes and refreshing the device’s memory can help clear out temporary glitches or data conflicts that may interfere with Facebook’s working properly.
After your device fully reboots, reopen Facebook and check Watch to see if more video variety appears now.
3. Check Your Network Connection
Ensure that the device you are accessing Facebook from has a stable, high-speed internet connection at the moment.
Facebook Watch requires constant data streaming to display videos, and network issues can interfere with that and potentially limit video types shown.
Disconnect from Wi-Fi and try using mobile data, or vice versa, to see if that resolves any connection problems stopping certain videos from loading.
4. Log Out and Back Into Facebook
Logging out and then back into your Facebook account essentially refreshes your access which can reset settings, clear bugs, or override glitches affecting just your profile and experience.
To log out completely, go to the Settings & Privacy menu, scroll down and choose “Log Out.”
Then close the app fully and reopen it to log back into your account with your username/email and password.
Now when Facebook reloads your profile on that fresh login, check Watch and see if videos beyond Reels start appearing normally in your feed now.
5. Toggle Watch Video Preferences
Within Facebook’s Settings menu, you can manually configure some aspects of how you view videos in Watch.
Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Watch Preferences. In there, you will find the option to “Show More Reels” which is likely enabled by default.
Toggle it OFF, which should tell Facebook you do not necessarily want Reels prioritized over normal videos in your Watch feed.
While you’re in that menu, check any other video-related preferences to make sure nothing else is unintentionally customized to limit your Watch variety.
6. Clear Cache and App Data
Inside device and app storage are temporary caches and data that build up over time and clearing them out can eliminate problematic corrupted files.
To try this potential fix for Facebook only showing Reels:
- On mobile, go into your device’s Settings > Apps > Facebook > Storage. Choose to Clear Cache and Clear Data.
- On a computer, locate the Facebook app files and delete anything labeled cache, data or prefs.
Emptying the cache/data forces all Facebook files to freshly re-download next time which may reset broken Watch functionality.
7. Uninstall and Reinstall the App
A more extreme version of wiping cache/data is fully uninstalling and then re-downloading the Facebook app.
This can eliminate any corrupted code, cached files or bad settings that may remain even if you clear app data manually.
After a fresh app install, your account info and profiles will still be in place once you log back in. Hopefully with the reset, full video functionality will now be restored in Watch.
8. Disable Browser Extensions and Ad Blockers
If you primarily access Facebook via a web browser, try disabling any existing extensions and add-ons you have installed – especially ad blockers.
Sometimes browser extensions end up unexpectedly interfering with page functionality, so temporarily turning them off can eliminate that possibility.
Also try doing a round of Facebook Watch video viewing in a fresh incognito browser window which won’t have any extensions enabled at all.
9. Attempt Facebook Watch on a Different Device
See if you can replicate the experience of Facebook Watch only showing Reels on a secondary device, such as:
- Switching from desktop browser to mobile app or vice versa
- Accessing your account on a friend/family member’s device
- Using a second internet connection from another location
If Watch still only displays Reels on multiple setups, then you know the problem is tied specifically to your account.
But if Watch starts showing varied video types on another configuration, then something is likely misconfigured with your device/network/browser causing the limitation.
10. Check Content Restriction Settings
In both platform-wide Facebook settings and your local country/government policies, various content moderation options exist.
While rare, sometimes these restrictions can unintentionally filter out videos from Watch feeds erroneously.
Review settings for any filtering that may be enabled and selectively try disabling certain categories temporarily to see if videos then return to your Watch view as expected.
11. Update Browsers and Device Operating Systems
Make sure any web browsers used to access Facebook are running the absolute latest version updates. Developers regularly include bug fixes, patches for vulnerabilities, and compatibility improvements with sites like Facebook.
Similarly, update your device operating systems (like iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows) to the current releases. Core platform and security enhancements can resolve surprising tech issues across various apps.
Using outdated browser software or OS builds leaves potential for known flaws that could impair Facebook functionality until updating.
12. Disable Browser Extensions one by one
If disabling all browser add-ons at once did not resolve the issue, the next step is testing each extension individually.
Browsers like Chrome allow you to toggle extensions on/off selectively. Methodically disable one extension at a time while checking Facebook Watch in between to see if videos load properly again.
Once you identify any singular extension causing conflict, you know which one needs correcting or removing for Watch to display normally moving forward.
13. Use Facebook Watch in Incognito Mode
Many browsers give you the option to open a private “incognito” session which does not load any extensions, logged-in profiles, cache, cookies or site data.
Attempt to access Facebook Watch in a fresh incognito window and see if videos work there.
If Watch functions fine in incognito mode, that indicates something interfering with the default browser setup. Start disabling aspects of that normal configuration until you uncover what exactly that conflict is.
14. Double-Check Video Display Settings Within Facebook
Dig through the Settings menus for both your Facebook profile and the mobile app/website itself. Look for any customizations related to viewing videos.
Make sure no options are enabled that funnel only Reels or specific content categories into your Watch feed unless you expressly want that.
Toggle relevant settings off/on and select default or automatic options instead for the most inclusive mix of video possibilities to populate Watch moving forward.
15. Clear Your Facebook Watch History
As mentioned earlier, Facebook personalizes Watch partly based on your Watch History and what you have engaged with in the past.
If recently your views have skewed disproportionately towards Reels for some reason, try clearing your entire Watch History within Facebook.
With no historical data to draw from, Watch should theoretically return to a more generic video sampling aimed to appeal to broad tastes – including both short and long-form video posts.
16. Report the Issue to Facebook Directly
If no other troubleshooting suggestions have resolved the problem, use Facebook’s in-app “Help & Support” channel to report your Facebook Watch issues directly.
Explain in detail the problem of only seeing Reels, steps taken trying to fix it without success, key details around when/where the issue persists.
Notifying their customer service provides exact details they can use to potentially spot larger issues and escalate reports to engineering teams focused on that aspect of the platform’s functionality.
Conclusion
Troubleshooting problems like Facebook Watch only displaying Reels when you want to see other videos can be tedious.
But systematically trying different suggestions eventually helps narrow down what aspects of account settings, configurations, connections or cached data may lead to resolving it.
Patience and slowly eliminating variables is key. Hopefully among the wide range of fixes covered here, you’ve found the specific solution that works to restore full video variety for your personalized Watch feed.
Now you can get back to browsing Watch how it was intended – showing you a diverse mix of relevant and engaging video content from all across Facebook.
