If you’ve run into an error posting a photo, check out these troubleshooting tips.
Camera
I can’t upload photos
If you’re having trouble uploading photos, follow our troubleshooting steps. Keep in mind that you may not be able to upload photos in areas with a weak Wi-Fi or cellular signal.
If you have a strong signal and keep getting error messages after tapping Retry, check to see if uploads fail on both Wi-Fi and on your mobile data connection.
Some mobile carriers limit a customer’s data after they’ve used a certain amount of mobile data in a month. This can result in failed photo uploads to Instagram toward the end of the month. If this is happening to you, contact your service provider directly.
If you think you’ve encountered a technical problem with Instagram, learn how to report it to us.
Instagram is crashing when I try to upload a photo
If Instagram is crashing when you’re trying to upload a photo, it’s often because of memory issues on your phone. If you have apps running in the background, they could also be using up a lot of your phone’s memory and causing Instagram to crash.
Try turning off your phone and turning it on again to reset its memory. If restarting your phone doesn’t fix the crash issue, please report it and provide as much detail as possible, including your phone, operating system version, Instagram version and when the crashes occur most often.
My Instagram app freezes while processing a photo
If you’re using Instagram and you get stuck while processing a photo, please try force quitting the app.
Apple iOS
To force quit:
- Leave the Instagram app by pressing the Home btn on your phone. The Home btn is the physical btn at the bottom of your phone with the white square on it.
- Double-click the Home btn and a tray will pop up.
- Press and hold the Instagram icon for 5 seconds until the icon starts to shake.
- Tap the red minus btn that pops up on the Instagram icon. This will force quit the app, and you should be able to log in normally after that.
Android
To force quit:
- Leave the Instagram app.
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Tap Applications > Manage applications > Instagram > Force Stop.
Filter Screen
My app crashes when I apply a filter (Android)
We’re fixing an issue where the Android app crashes when people apply a filter and returns them to their Feed without uploading the photo. Or, the app crashes and returns people to their phone’s home screen when trying to apply a filter.
Some people have fixed this issue by increasing the camera resolution from their phone’s camera settings or by updating to the newest operating system available for their phone.
Keep in mind that some phones that are crashing don’t support OpenGL ES 2, which is needed to power Instagram’s filters. Phones that don’t support OpenGL ES 2 won’t be able to run Instagram properly. See if your phone supports OpenGL ES 2.
Information Screen
I’m not seeing any options when I try to add a location (Android)
If locations aren’t appearing when you upload a photo and then tap Name this Location, you’ll need to enable location for Instagram:
- Leave the Instagram app
- Open your phone’s Settings
- Tap Location services > Use GPS satellites or Use wireless networks
During Upload
Applying filter results in black image on Android phones
Some people using Instagram on Android phones are seeing black or gray squares instead of images. This usually happens after they’ve applied a filter to their photo. We’ve been working to fix this issue, and it has been resolved on some phones. Please visit the Google Play Store to update your app.
If your Android is still experiencing this issue and you’d like to provide further information to help us fix it, please fill out this form.
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