So, you’re about to send a super important message on Instagram, and what happens? It doesn’t go through. You don’t panic. You retry sending your DM (direct message) again, but it still doesn’t work. So now you’re starting to panic. How will you ever comment on that scrumptious-looking plate of barbecued ribs or write a jealous message as you fume over someone getting a job promotion?
The good news is that you can still do all that after you do a few specific things. Don’t worry; you can go back to sending DM messages to the people who post your favorite cat pictures in no time.
How to Troubleshoot DM Messaging Issues and Fix Failed to Send Message Error on Instagram App
Here’s a brief synopsis of things you can try to troubleshoot and fix the issue if you are unable to send DM messages on your Instagram account:
- Connect to your Wi-Fi or your mobile carrier
- Reboot your device
- Update the Instagram app to make sure it’s up to date
- Try logging out and logging back in
- Force the app to stop and restart it
- Delete the Instagram app and reinstall it
- Check to see if there’s a problem with Instagram
Connect to your Wi-Fi or your mobile carrier
If you’re at home and connected to your Wi-Fi, try disconnecting it and using your mobile data. There could be a problem with your router, or you may be experiencing an internet outage. Check other apps on your mobile device or any device connected to the Wi-Fi.
If you’re at home and using mobile data and you’re having problems, try connecting to the Wi-Fi. The failed to send message error is that there’s an issue with the cell phone tower you’re connected to. People in rural areas tend to have more difficulty with their cellular service, so if you’re living out in the sticks, try connecting via WiFi and see if that helps.
Reboot your mobile device
It might sound overly simplistic, but rebooting your mobile device solves many problems. If you’re a heavy user, there are all kinds of fragments of who knows what floating around in your memory and sometimes, it needs cleared out.
You should reboot your mobile phone often, but it’s something that a lot of people seem to overlook. Try giving your phone a reboot and see if that solves the problem. Sometimes your device needs to be cleared out, and the only way to do it is by rebooting it.
Update the Instagram app to make sure it’s up to date
How long has it been since you’ve updated your Instagram app? If you’re like most people, it’s been far too long since you’ve taken the time out to update. Updating the apps on your mobile device is something you should do at least once per week.
Updating is super easy, just go to the app store on your device and check to see if there are any updates. If you haven’t updated in weeks or months, you can be sure that you’ll need to update Instagram. You might want to connect to your Wi-Fi so that you don’t use up any of your mobile data while updating the app.
Try logging out and logging back in
Why does this work? Who knows. Sometimes you have to log out and back in to get the app to work. This method of fixing the failed-to-send message error is like figuring out where your lost socks go. You know there’s somewhere, but just where is anyone’s guess.
Just simply log out of the Instagram app and log back in. Hopefully, you remember your password or have it stored somewhere safe. If not, you might skip this and see if the other methods work.
Force the app to stop and restart it
It’s not unheard of for an app to go haywire. If you can’t tame the app, stop it and restart it. Back in the day, programs used to crash all the time on computers. These days it’s far less common for apps to crash on phones or computers, but it still happens, and the remedy is to force the app to stop and restart it.
Delete the Instagram app and reinstall it
Deleting the app and reinstalling it might help. Why? Sometimes apps get buggy, and they need to be wiped clean. The files are corrupt; you need to get rid of everything and start over. The good news is you don’t need to do anything other than delete it and reinstall it.
The entire process is painless, and you’ll get through it in minutes. You’ll need your login credentials because all of that will be erased when you delete the app. Consider this a last-ditch effort because you’ll delete everything along with the app if you go this route.
Check to see if there’s a problem with Instagram
The easiest way to do this is by going to services like downforeveryoneorjustme.com. However, just because the site says that Instagram isn’t down doesn’t mean everything is in the clear. There still could be issues with Instagram that are causing the problems even if the site is still up.
Twitter is a great place to check if anyone has any problems. You can rest assured that if Instagram is experiencing a hiccup in its service, it will trend on Twitter. If you notice people talking about Instagram being down, you’re not the only one experiencing problems.
Check on another device if all else fails
If you’ve done all this and nothing seems to work, check another device and see if you can reach Instagram. Go on your computer or ask someone if they can use Instagram on their device. If Instagram is running properly and it’s a problem only for you, and none of these solutions work, take your device to where you bought it and have them look.
Almost everyone reading this can solve their problem with one of these solutions. Hopefully, if you’re experiencing difficulties, you’ll get back to using Instagram and enjoying looking at pictures of what people ate for supper in no time.
