If there is one thing that has launched Instagram to stardom as one of the most important social media platforms, it is its feed endless. As we all know, the feed from Instagram is the content that loads on your screen when you open the app to see what your friends are saying, crushes and relatives. When you open the app, the platform sorts all the stories and posts from the people you follow, so you can start using the social network by liking, leaving comments, or even sending private messages.
Is Instagram down or is it me?
RIGHT NOW: Yes, Instagram is down today September 22 due to a global problem that is affecting all users in the world. At this time, the only thing you can do is wait and continue reading this article with the recommendations.
At any rate sometimes he feed Instagram stops loading, so you will stop seeing new content from other people. The typical error will appear. "Couldn't refresh feed". The origin of this problem can be very varied, so we are going to leave you a list with all the possible solutions so that you can find the error that prevents you from updating your chronology and, thus, that you can continue using the social network without impediments.
The first thing to check is if it really is a problem that originates from your phone or from Instagram itself. If it happens too many times and your phone fails to load the feed, it may not be your fault. The instagram servers They are not titanium, and they too can experience unforeseen events or be temporarily in out-of-service maintenance. If the rest of the apps load normally and you have Internet access, it may be due to this. To clear up doubts, we recommend that you go to Downdetector, a website that is responsible for recording in real time, with the support of user feedback, problems, outages, errors and specific failures in a good number of online services and that is widely used as a query method when a social network it does not work.
To obtain information on the status of the servers, access the web and write the name of the platform (in this case Instagram, of course) and you will see how the last 24 hours. You will also have access to a map to find out (if there are reports) in which parts of the world it is failing and even what type of failures the app is throwing: if it is a problem when logging in, if it is an exclusive matter of a malfunction of the application, etc.
If a problem is reported, the only solution will be to wait and, by the way, wonder what you did with your free time before Instagram existed.
Instagram does not let you enter or update: possible solutions
After ruling out that it is a global problem, it's time to get your hands on other possible sources of errors. Below we leave you a good list of potential causes that could be making the social network not work well on your phone, as well as its corresponding solution to try to fix it on your own.
Solution 1: Check your Internet connection
Like all the apps of social media, Instagram will only work on mobile as long as you have one good internet connection. If your phone can't refresh the Instagram feed, the main culprit will almost certainly be your internet connection. This can be due to a number of factors: an erratic router, poor signal between the router and the devices, or even a problem with the Internet company itself affecting its ISP servers.
If you are under the umbrella of a Wi-Fi network and your feed does not load, try turning off the connection on your mobile and momentarily pull the data plan. If it works now, you've found the problem. This is your router, and most often you have to call your company or try to configure it if you have enough knowledge to navigate through its configuration menus.
Solution 2: Sign out and sign back in
The problem loading content on your feed could also be due to a temporary problem with your Instagram account. When updating or changing details of the app, developers sometimes inadvertently make mistakes that affect a large part of the users.
To log out, go to the menu in the upper right frame. Then open the Settings menu with the gear icon. Go to the bottom and press 'Sign off' (Log Out in English). Once outside, you can log in again with your username and password. In many cases, your problem will have been solved.
Solution 3: Make sure your phone has the correct time and date
If your mobile phone does not automatically regulate the time and day it is on, the Instagram application will not be able to load Instagram and many other applications, including the web browser. This is because the system clock is a fundamental part when it comes to interact with encryption systems that are used on the Internet. Only devices with the correct time can validate certificates, so if you have the wrong date on your mobile, it is possible that you stop receiving content.
To solve it, go to Settings> System on your mobile and activate the option of automatic time. Thereafter the phone will set the date by checking external servers. You will always have the device with the correct time and this problem will not happen to you again. Surely it never crossed your mind that something so simple could complicate things so much.
Solution 4: Update the Instagram app
If you're using Instagram on an older device, one way to fix problems with your feed It goes through updating the app to its latest version from Google Play or the App Store. When using the latest version of Instagram, bugs and problems we had when looking at the posts and stories of our feed can be resolved. To upgrade, do the following:
- On iPhone: Go to App Store > Updates, search for Instagram and tap on 'Update'. Wait a few seconds for the download to complete and the application to be applied. Update.
- On Android: Go to the Google Play app, go to 'My apps'. Then look for the one on Instagram. Next, hit 'update'. Once this is done, wait a few seconds for the process to finish.
If this doesn't work, you can try to completely uninstall the app and reinstall it from scratch. It seems a somewhat abrupt method, but sometimes it works wonders. In this case, remember that you will have to log in to the app again.
Solution 5: Reconfigure mobile data usage
To avoid surprises with the phone bill, both iOS and Android are designed so that no app consumes too much number of megabytes and gigabytes of your data flat rate. This can cause the system itself to prevent some applications from loading correctly. If Instagram isn't working well on your mobile even when you have mobile data turned on, you may simply have limited access to the amount of data the device can consume. To fix it, go to Settings>Applications>Instagram and change the permissions of the app so that there are no limitations when we navigate with 4G or 5G.
Solution 6: Reconfigure APN access
Another widespread error is a failure in the configuration of the APN file of your mobile phone. The APN is a file that has the necessary data so that your phone can connect to your operator's network. If Instagram works for you with Wi-Fi but not with data, it may be due to this. Sometimes, your operator may make some changes that should be reflected in this file - especially if you use a virtual mobile operator or one that works by leasing the network to other larger companies. It is quite common that a carrier makes some changes and the APN is not updated correctly. When this problem occurs, we have Internet on our phone, but only partially, as we will explain in detail a little later.
Ok, but where are we going? How is this fixed? Well, it has its science. First of all, you need to locate the location of the APN on your device. In each mobile brand it can be in one place, but it is usually in Settings > Sim and Network. Then, with the list open, you must search Google for the data that your operator's file should have. If you have a person nearby who uses the same operator as you and their phone works fine, compare the file to see where the differences are. The operators also have a system so that our mobile automatically downloads a new APN file. You just have to enter a website or send an SMS. Of course, we warn you that it does not always work. The foolproof method is to do the process by hand.
We recommend that you try first for the automatic method —in each operator it is different, but with a Google search you will have it easily. If it doesn't work for you, try comparing with another person or go to a phone store to get a hand. However, it is relatively easy to detect that you have a misconfigured APN. When this problem occurs, it is normal for your mobile to say that it has NETWORK. WhatsApp messages will reach you, but other services like Instagram or YouTube will tell you that you have no connection.
Solution 7: Try a VPN
Sometimes you can't see your timeline because someone is blocking your device's access to Instagram's servers. It could be because your work Wi-Fi network is configured to block it, your ISP rejects certain packets, or your country prevents you from accessing the social network—it may seem retrograde, but there are.
The VPN are simply used for dodge this block. Instead of connecting directly to the Internet, we will use an intermediate computer placed in another point on the planet. The connection between our device and that computer is encrypted, so nothing and no one can block us from accessing Instagram or any other service we want to use, since the restrictions we were suffering from up to that moment will no longer apply.
A very simple way to find out if your access to Instagram is being limited using a VPN is use the service for a while and then turn off the VPN to return to our local connection. If the problem reappears, mystery solved.
Solution 8: Check available memory
like all apps Instagram needs storage space in the local memory of the system to save the data login, the cache and others to be able to function normally. If your device is running low on that available space (on the drive itself, not in RAM), Instagram won't be able to store cache and other essential data locally to build your feed.
To check how much free memory space your device has left, go to Settings>Storage. If you actually have very few megabytes left, uninstall an app that you no longer use or delete photos and videos from the gallery that you already have saved on a hard drive or in the cloud.
Solution 9: Clear Instagram cache
An easy way to find space for new content is clear instagram temporary cache. Thus, by deleting the content already uploaded, we will have a place available to see new publications. Android mobile users can find out how much an app is being used by long-pressing the app icon and clicking Application Information. If it doesn't work for you, you can also force clean the application data - the option will be next to the one to clean the cache. Of course, if you do, you will have to log back into Instagram once you reopen the application.
Solution 10: Turn on background data
As a general rule, almost all applications on a mobile phone use data (3G, 4G or 5G) in the background that allows them to stay active even if we are not using them, which makes it easier for us (in this case Instagram) to receive in real time notifications of new publications of profiles that we follow or the arrival of direct messages to our inbox. If you want to check that everything is in order, proceed to activate that mobile data in the background to see that everything arrives as it should, which could make it easier for you to have the entire feed completely updated when you open the app.
To do so, you must execute the following steps on your Android mobile (iOS does not have similar functions):
- Access the Phone Settings.
- Look for the Application Manager.
- From the entire list, find Instagram.
- Open your settings.
- Access the section of Use of data.
- Now you have to find background data and activate that function.
Solution 11: Make sure your account hasn't been locked
If the internet connection is good, it's not news that Instagram's servers are down, and you've already tried everything else, there's a chance that Instagram has canceled your account on the social network. If the company believes that you have violated the terms of use or your conduct has negatively affected other users of the platform, they can block your access to the content of your feed so you will not be able to access the timeline (or any other part of the social network).
To ensure this point, the first thing you should do is check the email account that is associated with your Instagram profile. If your account has been limited, the Instagram team most likely notified you via email. Another way to do it is to search for our profile from another account, preferably from a different mobile device. If the profile is not there, for sure, it is under ban.
Be careful, they can not only ban you for breaking the rules. There are many cases of expulsions from this network that are achieved by making massive reports, especially by verified accounts. If this is your case, do not hesitate to contact the Instagram team to explain your case and recover access to your account.
Solution 12: Check Instagram on the web
If your mobile phone absolutely refuses to connect to the Instagram servers, you can always login via web client of Instagram with your username and password. At least, you will be able to rule out if it is a failure in your mobile or if it is something generalized in your account. If you can access from the browser, definitely something is wrong with your smartphone.