To fix the Instagram stories not working problem on your device, set your time and date to automatic, and delete the previously posted story from a computer.
If you have been seeing stories, and then you can’t load stories again. This is because of the wrong time and date, the Instagram music sticker, your device, or the Instagram app.
In this article, you’ll learn how to fix Instagram stories not showing on your phone. You’ll learn why are Instagram stories not loading.
ALSO READ: Instagram Music Not Working? 10 Ways To Fix The Problem (Solved)
What To Do When Instagram Stories Not Loading?
If you’re experiencing this problem on your iPhone, Android, or tablet, you need to first check if other people are seeing this error too.
Sometimes it may just be the Instagram stories are not showing up because of an incorrect date and time.
It may also be an app glitch, and if it is, you’ll have to wait for a few hours and the issue will fix itself.
And Instagram music stickers may also cause a glitch in your story timeline, so using them on your story might cause other people’s stories to not show up.
The Instagram music sticker is known to cause errors in the app. And if you’ve used it on one of your stories, it may glitch your story’s timeline, and stories won’t show up.
To fix it, you’ll need to set up your date and time to automatic
When the Instagram stories are not showing, you can try using the web instead.
The stories will show on the desktop version, then delete the stories that you just posted from your Instagram account.
If you use the Instagram music sticker and the story’s timeline is not showing, you can access Instagram from the web, and delete the story.
ALSO READ: Why Word Effects On Messenger Not Working? And How To Fix It
Why Are Instagram Stories Not Working?
The major reason why Instagram stories not showing is that you have used the wrong date and time on your device, or because of the Instagram music sticker.
This could also be that the Instagram server may be down on your location or a technical error in the app.
If you try to load stories on Instagram and the story won’t show, it means there is a problem somewhere.
You’ll face this issue when you try to view a story and it will just keep on buffering, trying to load it way out.
And sometimes, if you newly updated the app you may experience this problem because the app isn’t stable yet.
- Music sticker feature
- Wrong date and time
- Unstable internet connection
- Technical issue with the app
- Server problem
- A caching problem
ALSO READ: How To View Facebook Without An Account
How To Fix Instagram Stories Not Showing
Since you know the reason the Instagram stories not loading on your account, you can now fix it with this guide. In all, here’s the fix for Instagram stories not working.
Fix 1: Change Internet Provider
Another issue that may be causing the Instagram stories not to show is your internet provider, they maybe experience a break in their network coverage.
The best thing you got to do is to change your cellular network. Switch to another network and check if the Instagram stories will load.
You can also change to a Wi-Fi connection if you don’t have another SIM card available on your device.
If you were previously using Wi-Fi as your internet connection, change it to your mobile network.
It’ll fix the Instagram app, and your Instagram stories will begin to load again.
Fix 2: Set Date And Time To Automatic
If you were seeing the Instagram stories before on your account, and now for some reason, you can’t anymore.
It means that you change the date and time on your device, and this will disrupt the stories on your timeline.
Using the wrong date and time will not allow stories from people you follow to show up on the story’s timeline.
To fix Instagram stories from not showing up on your account, you’ll need to set the date and time to automatic.
This will sync the time and date to that of Instagram, and you’ll be able to view stories again on the app.
If you change the date and time before, now is the time to revert it to automatic.
To set up your date and time to automatic, you’ll have to do it from your phone settings. So if you’re using an Android or iPhone device here’s how to do it.
Go to your iPhone settings > Tap on General > Tap on Date & Time > Then toggle on “Set Automatically” to set your date and time.
Go to your Android settings > Tap System > Tap on Date & time > Toggle on ‘Use network-provided time” to set your date and time automatically.
Force close the Instagram app, and then open Instagram, and you’ll see stories again. To see how to refresh the Instagram app, go to Fix 4.
Fix 3: Delete Instagram Stories From PC
If you aren’t seeing your Instagram stories or other people’s stories after you’ve posted a story with the music sticker, then you’ll need to delete it.
So, if you used the music sticker on your stories, deleting it will allow the stories to show again on the timeline.
Music stickers on Instagram sometimes cause glitches, and this may restrict stories from loading up on the timeline.
To fix Instagram stories from not showing up on your timeline, you’ll need to delete all your stories using a computer.
To delete stories on your account that you’ve posted, go to your computer, and log in to your account.
Step 1: Open Instagram Web
On your computer, go to any of your web browsers and go to the Instagram website. Then log in to your account if you haven’t already.
Step 2: Tap Your Story
Once on the Instagram Home page, tap on your story, and it shows the last image you posted.
Step 3: Delete Stories
And then, tap on the three dots icon at the top-right-hand corner, and select Delete to delete your Instagram story.
If you have more than one story posted, repeat the steps to delete all of the stories, especially the one with the music sticker.
Once you have deleted all the stories from your page, you’ll now have to refresh the Instagram app. See the next step.
ALSO READ: How To View Someone Instagram Story Without Them Knowing
Fix 4: Refresh The Instagram App
If stories are not working, you can restart the Instagram app on your device, and it’ll help re-load the stories.
If you’re using an Android device, you can force stop the app and it will stop it from running in the background. Then open the app again.
The Instagram app must be open for you to be able to tap on the Force Stop button.
To the Force Stop app on Android, open your phone Settings > Tap on Apps & notifications > Tap on App info or See All [Num] apps > Then find Instagram app > And then tap on Force Stop.
You can also tap and hold the Instagram app on your Home Screen, then tap on the App info icon, and tap on Force Stop.
You can refresh the Instagram app on your iPhone, all you have to do is refresh the app in the background.
To restart the app on it, open your phone Settings > Find the Instagram app > Tap on Background App Refresh > Toggle on the background refresh.
Go to the iPhone App Drawer, and remove the app. After that, open the Instagram app again to load the stories, and the stories will be working. If it’s not, use the next fix.
Fix 5: Restart Your Phone
If Instagram stories are not working, you can reboot your phone to fix the problem.
Once you restart your device and open the Instagram app, the problem will be fixed, and you’ll be to view stories.
The Instagram app may just have a minor glitch causing the app to malfunction and not show stories as expected.
And restarting your iPhone or your Android device can fix the problem.
You can tap on the power button and tap on the restart option, or you can power it off and wait for a few minutes before turning it on.
On iPhone, you can soft or force restart your device. This will clear glitches and stop running apps in the background.
Fix 6: Log Out And Re-login
The most basic thing you can do if stories are not working on Instagram is to log out and log in back to your account.
If you sign out of your account and sign in back, it will allow stories to load from the Instagram server.
To sign out of your Instagram account on both Android and iPhone.
Open the app > Tap your profile icon at the bottom-right corner > Tap the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner > Tap on Settings > Scroll down to the bottom and tap Log out.
Wait for a few seconds, and then login back into your account. You’ll be able to see the stories working without any problem.
Fix 7: Clear Instagram App Cache
One of the best ways to fix any issue on apps is to clear the cache. If you’re using an Android device, and you’re facing a problem you can clear the app cache.
For iPhone users, you can’t directly clear cache on your iPhone app Settings or even from the Instagram app. Instagram doesn’t support the feature yet.
This feature isn’t available on the device, the only thing you can do here is to offload the app from your phone.
To fix Instagram stories not working, you need to clear the Instagram app cache.
For Android Device: Open Android Settings > Tap on Apps & notifications > Tap on App info > And then find the Instagram app > Tap on Storage & Cache > Tap on Clear Cache.
You can also access the apps from your Android Storage settings. Open Settings > Storage > Other Apps or Apps > Tap on Instagram > Tap on Storage & Cache > Tap Clear Cache.
Since you can’t directly clear cache on the Instagram app, or from the iPhone Settings, you’ll need to offload the app.
Open the iPhone Settings > And then tap on General > Tap iPhone Storage > Then find the Instagram app and open it > And tap on Offload App button.
After you’ve offloaded the app from your iPhone, you’ll need to reinstall it back from the Apple App Store by tapping on the app icon.
Then check the Instagram app after you’ve cleared the cache to see if stories are working again.
Fix 8: Install The Old Version of the Instagram App
If you recently updated the app, and the stories aren’t working properly, it could be that the new version has a bug.
What you need to do is to revert to the previous update. For Android devices, you can go to any third-party app store to see all the previous versions of the app.
You can see the previous version of the Android apps on third-party stores like Uptodown.
If you do this, the Instagram stories will begin working again. What you’ll need to do now is to wait for a stable update.
ALSO READ: Instagram Story Not Posting? 16 Ways To Fix It (SOLVED)
Fix 9: Update Instagram App
If you haven’t updated the Instagram app in a long time, updating the app now is a good time to fix the issues.
To update the Instagram app on your device, go to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, once you see an update, click on it to update right away.
The old version of the app may not be working properly. The update will fix the glitches and bugs in the previous version of the app.
Fix 10: Uninstall And Reinstall Instagram App
If you’ve tried updating the app and the Instagram stories are still not working.
You’ll need to delete the app from your device and wait for about 3 minutes before reinstalling it.
This will fix the problem on the app, and you’ll be able to use the app again to see stories on Instagram.
To uninstall the app from your phone.
Tap and hold the Instagram app, and you’ll see the uninstall option at the top, drag and drop and the app will be deleted, for Android.
For iPhone: Tap and hold the Instagram app, and on the small pop-up menu, tap on Delete App. The app will be removed from your device.
Once you’ve deleted the app from your phone, you’ll need to wait for about 3 minutes, then restart your phone before reinstalling the app.
ALSO READ: Instagram Tags Not Working? 10 Ways To Fix The Problem (Solved)
Fix 11: Wait For It To Be Resolved
If Instagram stories are not loading on your account, this can be an app-wide problem, or just for a specific location.
And since it’s a technical problem, there’s nothing you can do to solve the problem. All you can do is just wait.
If you are experiencing this issue, this could mean that Instagram may be down for that particular region, and you’ll not be able to do anything to fix it.
What you can do is wait for the Instagram team to resolve the issue and release an update for the app.
Conclusion
Instagram has many errors, and you should do everything you can to fix them. If stories are not working on Instagram.
The first thing you should do is check if the Instagram server is down and whether your internet connection is slow, and check if it date and time is correct.
You’ll also want to consider that using the music sticker feature on your stories may glitch the story’s timeline not show up.
This could also mean that the app has a technical issue, and all you can do is wait for a few hours and you’ll be able to load stories again.
To quickly fix the problem, you can change the network provider, and set the date and time to automatic. And delete recently posted stories from the desktop version.
With this guide, you can fix Instagram stories not loading, working or showing in your account.
ALSO READ: Instagram Stories Blurry? 11 Ways To Fix It
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see who views your Instagram story?
Yes, you can see who views your stories on Instagram. To see the person, open the story, and then tap on Activity in the lower-left corner of the screen to see them.
Why are my Instagram pictures not loading?
Your Instagram pictures not loading because Instagram is down, you have a poor internet connection, or the app has a technical problem. And you should change your internet provider, or use Wi-Fi. Instagram.
How do I add music to my Instagram story?
To add music to your Instagram story: Tap on the sticker icon at the top when you want to post a story, and then select any music from the library.
Why are my Instagram stories not loading?
Your Instagram stories not loading because Instagram is down, you have a poor internet connection, or the app has a technical problem. You have used the wrong date and time, or the Instagram music feature.
