You probably recognize this: You were about to post something important or super fun, but Instagram does not work the way it is supposed to. Sometimes this is because of a temporary bug of Instagram. Often it can also be other Instagram problems.
I have listed the solutions for the 15 most common problems for you. This way, if a problem occurs, you will always have the answers you need at hand and you can quickly resume posting your favorite content on Instagram.
1) Instagram is not working
The first thing you will have to do is to check whether Instagram itself isn’t down. This does not happen often, but sometimes Instagram goes offline due to server problems. This also rarely happens to all users at the same time, but again, it can be caused by server problems. You can check whether it’s a server problem by going to the website https://downdetector.com and there you will have to type in ‘Instagram’. You will see if there is a problem with Instagram instantly.
2) There is no known malfunction, but Instagram is not working
I will give you two solutions that you can apply. In most cases, you will be able to solve the issue and get back to using Instagram.
- Restart your phone. Or turn off your phone completely. After turning it off, do not turn it on immediately. Wait for a minute, and then restart your device.
- Is Instagram still not working? The last thing that will help, is to delete the app from your device (to uninstall). After this, you can re-install the app again on your device. By the way, your account will remain intact and all your messages will be saved even if you uninstall and reinstall the app.
Ninja tip: Keep your sign-in information at hand as you will have to sign in again after reinstalling the application.
3) Instagram crashes while commenting on, or while drafting a post
Imagine you just wanted to post your draft, but Instagram has stopped working. Or you are just looking and commenting on others’ posts, and nothing is working anymore.
The first thing you will have to do is to check whether you can still reach other websites and online platforms. If these are also not functioning, then you will have to check your internet connection. Are the other platforms working, and is Instagram the only platform that is not working? Do you have multiple accounts on Instagram? Then try if you can sign in through a different account.
Do you only have one account? Then try to sign in on a different device. For example, through one of the browsers of your PC/laptop/tablet. If that works, then change something within your bio (for example a word) and save the change. After this, try whether the thing that you were doing (posting or commenting) is functioning again. You will likely be able to resume with using Instagram.
Ninja tip: Don’t forget to change back the changes you have done to your bio again 😉.
Does Instagram stop working when you are downloading an image? Then turn off your device completely, wait for a minute, and restart it again. Big chance is that you can continue and download the image now.
Do none of these solutions work while posting or while commenting on others’ posts? Then you will have to try to contact Instagram support with your problem (see tip 15).
4) I can’t sign into Instagram (anymore)
The first thing you will have to do is to type in your username and password again on the sign-in page. Delete the text that is already there (if you have saved your sign-in data) and type it again. A different solution is to log in on a different device. Usually, the sign-in problem will have been solved.
Have you connected your Instagram account to your Facebook account? When necessary, you can also reset your password for Instagram through Facebook: very useful!
5) I have problems with tagging someone on Instagram
Sometimes you will experience some problems while trying to tag people. You have just tagged someone in your photo, but after a while, it has disappeared. The tagged person may have deleted the tag from your post.
You can also delete a tag from a post yourself if you do not want it to be there. You can do this by tapping on the picture, and clicking on your name. Chose ‘More options’ and then ‘Delete me from this post’. Confirm this by clicking on ‘Delete’.
6) I can no longer add hashtags on Instagram
Are you a frequent user of hashtags? It can happen that you suddenly can no longer add hashtags to a post.
That’s because the maximum number of hashtags that can be added to a post is 30.
Instagram sees more hashtags as spam and wants to prevent this.
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7) My comment doesn’t get posted on Instagram
Sometimes posting a comment on Instagram just doesn’t work. This can have multiple reasons. It can be because you are very active in tagging people from your account and you comment a lot. Due to this, Instagram might see your comments as spam.
Not being able to post a comment can also be because you do one of the following things:
– Mention more than five usernames in a comment,
– Use more than 30 hashtags,
– Constantly use the same content for the comments.
In this case, you will have to delete something in order to place the comment.
Note: You are allowed to post 400-500 comments a day on Instagram.
8) I can no longer follow any accounts on Instagram
Do you want to follow someone, but it doesn’t work? Then you have probably reached the maximum number of accounts that you can follow on Instagram: namely 7500.
The most logical solution to this is to unfollow some accounts so that you can start following other accounts again.
9) My post on Instagram has suddenly been deleted
Some users ask themselves why Instagram delete certain posts. Or why an account has been deleted. This seems to be a (very troubling) bug from Instagram that you can do little about yourself, other than reporting it to Instagram (see tip 15).
10) I can no longer change anything on my Instagram profile
Have you experienced the problem where you can’t make changes to your Instagram account anymore? Like your username, name, phone number or profile picture? Often this is related to the other general problems occurring on Instagram and the solutions that have been mentioned before will help to solve this problem:
– There is a temporary malfunction on Instagram (see tip 1).
– Check your internet connection, restart your device or re-install the Instagram application (see tip 2).
– Check whether your application has to be updated to the newest version.
Ninja tip: When changing your username, it is important that you choose a name that doesn’t yet exist. You will also receive a message about this: choose a name that is not yet in use.
Does posting a new profile picture not work? Remember that the profile picture has to have the right format, namely PNG or JPG, and that the picture itself isn’t too big.
11) Instagram isn’t saving my bio after making changes
Your bio on Instagram has a maximum number of characters. That’s not that many: 150 characters. Do you also use emojis in your bio? Then know that the emojis also count as characters. Sometimes it can be that you are below the maximum number of characters, but because of emoji’s you will exceed th limit and Instagram does not save the bio.
Note: Spaces also count as characters for your bio.
12) I can’t switch between my private account and my business account
Sometimes you can no longer switch between accounts on Instagram. This can be annoying. There are a few solutions to this problem. Often this is related to other general problems that occur on Instagram and the solutions that have been mentioned before will help to solve this problem:
– There is a temporary malfunction on Instagram (see tip 1),
– Check your internet connection, restart your device or re-install the Instagram application (see tip 2),
– If these solutions do not work: check if one of your accounts is connected to Facebook. If that is the case, you will have to (temporarily) delete this connection. After doing this, the switching between accounts should work again.
13) I have problems with Instagram stories
There are multiple problems that can occur with Instagram stories. It is known that this happens most often with iPhone users. If you have an iPhone, turn off your phone completely in case of problems with stories (like freezing) and turn it on again after a minute. Often the problem has already been resolved after this.
Sometimes you can’t share someone else’s story. Or someone else can’t share yours. This is because the person who posted the story has not made it available for sharing.
You can find this setting in your profile. Via the menu at the top right, you can go to Settings => Privacy => Story. Scroll down to the option ‘Sharing’ and turn on the setting ‘Allow Resharing to Stories’.
14) I can no longer follow accounts on Instagram
Are you active on Instagram and do you follow quite a lot of accounts every day? It can happen that Instagram will stop you at some point. You are then no longer able to follow any extra accounts.
This is because Instagram has implemented a limit to the number of accounts that someone can follow in a day. That number is 200 accounts.
15) I want to report a problem on Instagram
Do the tips mentioned above not work? Then you will have to contact Instagram and report your problem. You can do this in the following way. Go to the account settings at the top right.
There you can click on ‘Help’, which shows you the option of selecting ‘Help Center’.
This directs you to a different window on Instagram where you will find the option ‘Login & Troubleshooting’.
Click on this option and click on ‘Something is not working’. Fill in the form and let Instagram know exactly what’s going on.
So much for my solutions to Instagram problems. From now on, you don’t have to get annoyed anymore. You can take immediate action by trying the solutions. Good luck!
Want more nifty Instagram tricks? Join my course 365 Days of Instagram Success. You’ll love it!
