We demonstrated the pretilt angle effect on the viewing angle properties of a single-domain fringe-field switching (FFS) liquid crystal (LC) mode. By performing the Póincare sphere analysis, we investigated, in detail, the origin of the viewing angle asymmetry that exists in the single-domain FFS LC mode both in the field-on and field-off states. Using this analysis, we confirmed that the pretilt angle reduces the viewing angle symmetry in the single-domain FFS LC mode. Finally, we examined the effect of a zero pretilt angle on the viewing angle symmetry by evaluating real single-domain FFS LC cells.