Over the past few years that Instagram has been in existence, the social media app has reached a considerable part of the world. Especially after the social media giant Facebook (now Meta) acquired the photo and video sharing app, its user base skyrocketed. Unfortunately, with this increased reach comes a downside. Users experience some annoyance when using the app, and one of the most unpleasant is the Instagram couldn’t refresh feed error.
When you get this notification, you may be stuck on how to move forward. This is particularly so if you do not know the exact cause of the problem. We have written this post to provide you with some solutions when Instagram can’t refresh your feed.
Table of Contents
Why is My Instagram Not Working?
Before we get to the solutions, we need to examine the problem. The problem is your Instagram is not refreshing, and the cause could be anything. It could be the app, network, or a mistake you have made. In this section, we will explain some of the reasons for Instagram not working on your phone.
You may have violated the Instagram community guidelines
The Meta team that is also in charge of Instagram is always working on making their apps serve the users better. To promote a safe space where people can communicate freely, the developers have created several community guidelines. If you break any of these rules, you may experience your Instagram not working.
Used a third-party app
Instagram is very strict with the way it allows other apps to relate with it. Therefore, if you use a third-party app to like or comment on posts on Instagram, you may experience your Instagram not loading. You can also experience this error if you use automation tools with your Instagram. Instagram does this to limit bots and fake accounts on the platform.
Poor internet connection
Anytime your Instagram can’t refresh the feed, the first thing you should check is your network connection. If the WiFi is overloaded or your data balance is low, you may experience a delay in Instagram loading. This may also be the case if you are in an environment with unstable access to the Internet.
Instagram is outdated
If it has been a while since you updated Instagram, you should head to the App Store or Play Store to check if there are any new updates available. These updates usually contain important fixes for bugs and glitches, so it’s necessary to keep the app always updated.
Incorrect date and time
Instagram synchronizes the date and time on your device with the app. Therefore, if the date and time on your phone are incorrect, it will affect how Instagram works on your phone. These effects could include feed not refreshing, stories not loading, and similar problems.
How to Fix the “Couldn’t Refresh Feed” Error on Instagram
If you face any of the problems listed above that make your Instagram fail to work properly, you do not have to worry. These problems are easy to solve, and we will teach you how to go about them. Now, follow through as we enumerate ten ways to fix the Instagram couldn’t load error and see which works for you.
- Check Your Internet Connection
- Check If You’ve Violated Instagram’s Community Guidelines
- Fix Your Phone’s Date and Time
- Instagram May Be Down
- Log Out and Sign In Again
- Clear Instagram Cache on Android
- Update Instagram
- Restart Your Device
- Reinstall Instagram
- Contact the Instagram Support Team
1. Check Your Internet Connection
We have mentioned above that the first thing you should do when you get an Instagram not refreshing error is to check your internet connection. If your connection is poor, Instagram will not load. The reason for this is simple. Posts on Instagram are usually photos or videos, which normally require stable internet connections to load. Therefore, check if your internet is working properly by visiting other websites such as YouTube.
2. Check If You’ve Violated Instagram’s Community Guidelines
Instagram has a set of community guidelines that regulate the use of the app. These guidelines are put in place to protect the rights of all the users of the platform. They usually include rules against abuse, hate speech, fake news, graphic and sexual content, and more. You should check to see if you have violated any of these rules. Here’s how:
1. Open Instagram and tap on your icon in the bottom right corner to open your page.
2. Tap on the menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
3. Go to Help.
4. Tap on Support Requests.
5. Go to Violations.
If you have violated any of the Instagram guidelines, then you will view the posts that have received a violation warning. You can then go ahead and remove those posts in order to get your Instagram account back to normal.
3. Fix Your Phone’s Date and Time
If your phone’s date and time are not correct or in sync with Instagram, it can cause Instagram to display errors when refreshing the feed.
To solve this, go to your phone’s date and time settings to correct it. You can change the date and time manually or use network-provided time. This way, your date and time setting will be updated to whatever time zone you are at any time.
4. Instagram May Be Down
In some cases, the issue could be with Instagram’s servers. If that is the case, you have to wait for a while until the app is back up and running. These kinds of glitches usually take less than 24 hours to fix, after which you should be able to use Instagram properly again.
To check if Instagram is down, you can check from their social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. You can also check Downdetector; a platform that allows you to check if a service is down.
5. Log Out and Sign In Again
If your Instagram is not loading, you should try logging out of your account and signing in again. To do this:
- Open Instagram Settings and scroll to the end.
- Tap on Log Out.
- You can choose whether Instagram should remember your login info or not.
- Confirm your action by clicking on Log Out.
Then, you can restart your phone and sign in to Instagram again.
6. Clear Instagram Cache on Android
If your Instagram still refuses to refresh the feed after trying all the options above, you should clear your cache. To do this:
- Go to Settings on your phone.
- Go to Apps and tap on Instagram.
- Go to Storage, then tap on Clear cache.
7. Update Instagram
If your version of Instagram is old, you have to consider updating it as that could be the reason for the error. Most updates contain bug fixes and improvements, hence the reason why it’s important to always update to the latest available version.
To update Instagram, simply open the App Store or Play Store, search for Instagram, and tap the Update button.
8. Restart Your Device
This should be one of the first few things you try. Whenever an app such as Instagram malfunctions, you should restart your phone and see if it changes anything. It should, but you should try one of the other solutions on this list if it doesn’t.
9. Reinstall Instagram
If your Instagram is not loading despite trying some of the solutions in this post, you should consider deleting the app. Then, you can reinstall it and see if it goes back to working perfectly.
10. Contact Instagram Support
While they do not always respond on time, you can contact the Instagram support team.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap on Help.
- Select Report a Problem.
- Select Something Isn’t Working.
- Now describe the problem and tap the Send button to forward the issue to Instagram’s team.
