If your Instagram app is crashing each time you try opening it, chances are that your problem can be attributed to one of three reasons: a defective update that has been sent to your device; a storage conflict on your phone; or a temporary outage of Instagram services. These three reasonings will determine whether or not clearing your phone’s Instagram cache will make any difference. Users who experience the same crashing will usually describe their experience during specific timeframes based upon their specific phones and Operating System versions. Those problems typically happen immediately after an update, and do not occur nearly as often across all phones.
The advice given everywhere (restart, clear cache, uninstall/reinstall) treats the three causes the same way, which is the problem. Uninstalling/Reinstalling an application erases any Instagram drafts on your device and does not fix the issue if the cause of your crashing exists within the application itself. A large number of people in a Reddit thread are reporting experiencing a similar issue on the same iOS versions, and the majority of them find that uninstalling/reinstalling brings back the same crash for a large number of them. Therefore, before you delete your draft, figure out which type of crash you are actually having.
Is Instagram Down, or Is It Just You?
The first thing you should do, when troubleshooting Instagram crashes, is to rule out the simplest explanation for why the crashes are occurring. To do that you should check to see if the issue is happening to just you or to everyone else too. This is why Instagram has structured their troubleshooting page in this particular order: Restart your phone and then check your connection. A weak Wi-Fi or mobile network signal may make it look like the app has crashed when in fact it cannot load anything. So, if the app opens fine over Wi-Fi but won’t load over your mobile data; or vice versa; then this is not a crash. It is simply a connectivity issue that is masquerading as what we call “a crash”.
If, after restarting your phone and switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data, you still can’t open the app; try a different network altogether; or simply ask someone else with the same Wi-Fi connection if they can open Instagram. If all of the above fail; and neither you nor someone near you can access the app from your respective locations, then most likely the issue is on Instagram’s end and there’s nothing locally you can do to correct it. In contrast, if your friend can access the app on their phone using the same version, then this means that the issue is specifically with your device; either because of your copy of the app; or due to something in your phone’s storage/settings.
Recognizing specific signatures is important because they can identify a different cause than a plain crash. On Android, a broken app typically manifests itself as a system dialogue reporting that Instagram has crashed—Android’s own detection of the crash being reported—not a separate issue on top of that. On iPhone, there is no equivalent dialogue when an app crashes; instead, the app either immediately closes without ever being seen or may not be immediately evident due to the speed with which it closes and reopens as from the home screen. Neither signature provides any explanation for how or why these issues occur, but being aware of what you’re dealing with prevents you from wasting time trying to fix something based on the wrong platform.
Why a New Instagram Update Can Break the App on Your Phone
The reasons for Instagram crashing are not necessarily all the same but when a crash occurs just after an update, it is important to get a better understanding of the crash since you may need to change some settings. However, if your crash happens immediately after an update, most likely the cause of the crash is that there is a problem with the update and not a problem with your phone. Each app update comes as a complete package (i.e., the “build”), and if there is an error within that build that only manifests itself on certain types of devices or at certain versions of the operating system, then every user who has downloaded that same build will experience the same error at the same time, whereas users that have upgraded their devices or users that have not yet upgraded their devices will continue to use the app without any issues.
One example of how this crash occurred can be seen in a thread from a group of iPhone users discussing the Instagram app after an update. When looking at the crash occurrence in this thread, the majority of crashes were experienced by older iPhone models using the same iOS version. Users of newer iPhone models did not experience any problems using the same app after updating to the same version. Additionally, one user made an already worse situation worse by deleting and reinstalling the app to attempt to clear temporary files/cache and ended up with an unusable (not launching) application, because a new copy of an old build still has the same error as before. There was no resolution of the crash until Instagram provided a follow-up update, at which time users in the same thread confirmed that their apps were now functioning properly.
A tech report covering that same update ran its own quick check on a newer iPhone with a current iOS build and found no crash at all, while people stuck on older, unsupported iOS versions were locked out entirely. That’s the piece Instagram’s own troubleshooting page doesn’t mention: an update can be perfectly fine for most phones and still be broken for yours, and no amount of restarting or reinstalling changes what’s inside the build until Instagram patches it.
When Google released a pre-release version of an app, they had a statement available for anyone who tested the app stating: “early access and beta applications may be less stable than most apps. The application may have bugs or may not work properly on certain features.” Therefore, it is critical to check whether or not you are testing a beta version of the app, as it might contain code that has not yet been validated against all of the many potential combinations of devices.
Check Your Update Channel Before You Change Anything
If you’ve been to this point because Instagram has been crashing endlessly, with crashes patterned after the previous step (crashing upon receiving an update, but working fine for all other users on a similar model), you should next check your installed version of Instagram against what all other users are using. Some Instagram users may not realise that they have been running an early build of Instagram by accidentally accepting a beta invite through the Play Store or TestFlight.
If you have an Android phone, open the Play Store and tap on your profile icon; in the next screen, tap Manage apps & devices, then Beta. If you see Instagram in the “You’re a Beta Tester” section, click on Leave to remove yourself from the early builds. Google’s instructions state that by leaving and uninstalling a beta app, you may lose “your progress and any customizations you made to the app” and that returning to the public version requires that you uninstall the beta version and then reinstall from the Play Store. If you have not verified what you may lose before proceeding with your uninstall, you should avoid this step until you do so.
The behavior of Instagram on an iPhone differs from its behavior on Android regarding how the app gets checked for updates. iOS does this through Apple’s TestFlight application instead of relying on the App Store. In the case of Instagram, if you have received a tester invitation and it appears in your TestFlight app, you will have accepted that invitation at some point. Each beta version of the app will only function for a limited time before it can no longer be launched. To leave this testing setup, you will need to visit the “Testing” section of the app in Apple’s TestFlight and click “Stop Testing”. Once you leave testing, you can only access Instagram via the App Store. Neither the App Store nor TestFlight considers this a standard procedure for installing new apps and testing them. As outlined in the previous section of this article, any app built specifically for testing can be expected to fail occasionally, and if you find yourself on a tester version of the app by mistake, no amount of space clearing on your regular app will resolve the issue if the bug is only present on the tester version.
What Clearing Instagram’s Cache and Storage Actually Do on Android
If you are sure that your Android device is not running on a beta version, and you have confirmed there is no problem with the build you are using, it’s time to try one option that could help you out: Clearing the cache for Instagram. Just to make sure you are aware: Cache and Storage are two different buttons that do not serve the same function. It is important to understand that confusing those two settings can either waste your time or cost you more money than you expect to lose.
Cache is always going to be temporary. This is the collection of tiny files kept by Instagram, which allows the app to avoid re-downloading the same images and data each time a user opens up Instagram. By clearing cached files, you are erasing these files, but not the login credentials, account settings, or saved items associated with that account. [Google’s own guidance] regarding the troubleshooting process for applications describes clearing cache as a way to “free up temporary space within the app,” and identifies it as simply a “temporary fix” for your application issues, which is exactly how to think of it here. There are often either three different places within the Menu System where you may find an option to clear the cache from your Instagram account: In Settings, followed by Apps, and finally selecting Instagram from the list of installed applications, choosing Storage & Cache, and selecting Clear Cache. However, there may be slight variations in the wording used among manufacturers.
Clearing storage is a completely different procedure than clearing cache. By clearing storage, you are returning Instagram back to its initial install. When you do this, it will have you signed out of your account, and any settings that were saved in Instagram during that installation will revert back to the way they were when the app was installed for the first time. Google doesn’t provide a one sentence definition of what the differences are between cache and storage; however, the way that Google organizes troubleshooting steps shows the clear difference between the two: clearing cache and data come well before the uninstall option, and Google’s uninstall step includes an alert stating that “Any data saved in this app will be deleted.” This is also true for when you clear storage because both processes will reset your app to the original settings and do not just clean up from your current session but return everything back to a, “clean slate.” So, before you make the decision to clear storage, try clearing cache first. Only clear storage if clearing cache does not fix your crash. If you do decide to clear storage, understand that you will have to log back into your account again when you do.
Another point to keep in mind: A note from Google states that the settings for these types of items might be located in different areas depending on the device manufacturer’s location and Android version. Therefore, you might need to search through the app’s settings to find these two actions (Clear Cache and Clear Storage) in your Android device.
What a Reinstall Deletes — Drafts, Photos, and Everything Else
It’s important to settle the question of what actually stays on Instagram (as opposed to what disappears) before removing any material from your account. This question is surprisingly debated even by experienced users of Instagram. A recent thread on r/InstagramMarketing is an example of this confusion. In that thread, two different posters argued over whether or not drafts are lost once you open the app. One poster thought drafts were deleted at the time they are accessed, while another poster thought that drafts weren’t deleted until they uninstalled/reinstalled the app and deleted/reinstalled them. The poster who created the thread didn’t know which answer to trust. Instagram’s documentation clears things up as to how drafts actually work — these two things (accessing the app and uninstalling the app) are not the same.
According to Instagram, drafts (the unfinished posts, reels, and captions you have saved) only exist on the devices you have created them on; drafts cannot be accessed on any other device (even if you log into your account). Instagram says so directly, stating that uninstalling Instagram will result in the loss of any drafts. What this means is your drafts (that is, anything that you created/posted before you uninstalled Instagram) were never stored on Instagram’s servers, so there won’t be an account copy of your drafts to go back to after uninstalling the app. When you uninstall the app, everything that you hadn’t posted will be lost.
When you delete/reinstall Instagram, your account, your posts, your followers and your profile are all unaffected once you log back into your account. Instagram publishes troubleshooting instructions on how to resolve account issues where it states “when you delete and re-enter Instagram, your photographs and profile information will remain intact.” All the content you’ve created for your account is stored on Instagram’s servers and not just on the app on your mobile device. That means that you can simply login to your account after reinstalling the application and all of your posts and followers will appear as before. What you cannot recover after reinstalling is a draft you created because drafts are saved locally on your device and do not save to Instagram’s servers until you post them.
The two apps deviate somewhat in their definition of a non-destructive install. If you are an iPhone user and you offload an app versus deleting it, Apple’s documentation defines offloading an app as having an “automatic” capability of removing unused applications and yet keeping your data for that app to retain the application’s icon on your Home Screen with a small cloud icon to reinstall the app. [Apple’s own guide states] In contrast, deleting an application is a destructive process. Apple’s documentation indicates that deleting an application “eliminates” the application as well as all of the application’s data from your iPhone. However, anything the application may have stored in iCloud will remain even after you delete it. For Android devices, an offload option does not exist. The solution closest to a non-destructive process is clearing the cache of the application; therefore, a different set of step instructions will need to be provided for Android and for iPhone.
Here’s how the four actions actually compare, once you line up what each one keeps against what it costs:
| Action | Platform | What it removes | What survives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear cache | Android | Temporary files only | Login, drafts, settings |
| Clear storage | Android | App reset to fresh install | Account and posts (server-side); drafts and local settings do not survive |
| Offload | iPhone | The app itself | Login, drafts, and data — restored when reinstalled |
| Delete | iPhone and Android | The app and its on-device data | Account, posts, and anything already stored in iCloud; drafts do not survive |
In each of the four rows, there is one consistency: Any information associated with your Instagram account (i.e., your profile information, all of your posts and your list of followers) should automatically reload into your account when you log back in. Information that has solely existed on your mobile device (such as drafts) will not upload back into your account. This is why it is imperative to review your drafts prior to engaging in any action on this side of the table that could result in data loss, rather than after.
The Step-by-Step Fix, in the Right Order, for iPhone and Android
Having checked the update channel and established the drafts question, we can now order the ways to install on each platform according to their respective documents — first, using a non-destructive method before any data is deleted, and doing so once all costs are known and/or provided to do so.
On Android
- Restart your phone. This clears background processes that can look exactly like an app crash.
- Check your connection on both Wi-Fi and mobile data — a weak signal can prevent the app from loading at all.
- Update Instagram from the Play Store if an update is available; a fix may already be waiting.
- Go to Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Instagram ▸ Storage & cache and tap Clear cache. This clears temporary files without touching your login or drafts.
- If the crash continues, tap Clear storage instead. This signs you out and resets Instagram to a fresh install, so only take this step once you’ve accepted that trade-off.
- If clearing storage doesn’t help, check whether any drafts you care about are still saved in the app, then uninstall Instagram from Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Instagram ▸ Uninstall and reinstall it from the Play Store.
On iPhone
For an iPhone where the app keeps crashing on iPhone specifically, even after the update-channel check, this is the order that follows Apple’s own documentation.
- Restart your phone, for the same reason as above.
- Check your connection on both Wi-Fi and mobile data.
- Update Instagram from the App Store if an update is available.
- Go to Settings ▸ General ▸ iPhone Storage ▸ Instagram and tap Offload App. This removes the app while keeping your data, and tapping the icon’s cloud symbol reinstalls it with everything intact.
- If offloading doesn’t fix it, check your drafts before going further. Once you’re sure nothing unfinished is worth keeping, tap and hold the Instagram icon, tap Remove App, then Delete App to remove it and its data completely.
- Reinstall from the App Store and log back in. Your account, photos, and profile will be exactly as you left them; anything you hadn’t posted yet will not be.
If either of these sequences reaches the end while the current public build has been freshly installed, it provides you with a good deal of information. This provides evidence pointing to an issue with the app’s build rather than an issue with your device, and the next section discusses this evidence.
When the Reinstall Changes Nothing
You can infer from a clean install of the latest public build of the app that your device does not have the issue that caused the app version to crash. When you reach that point, there are a few things you should definitely rule out, and there are other things you should focus on instead of simply reinstalling the same app again.
Do not perform a full factory reset. This is an overly expensive way to go about fixing your problem, and a factory reset will not remove any of the Instagram-app specific files from your phone, nor will it change a single line of code within the app itself. Do not worry about clearing your phone’s other applications’ cache (the Play Store and any associated Google Play services), they only solve issues related to downloading and installing applications, not crashes occurring in an already installed/currently updated app. The cache clearing for the Play Store and the Google Play services function independently of one another, so time spent performing that task is time that is not spent addressing the true solution to your problem.
What’s actually worth doing is telling Instagram what’s happening, with enough detail that the report is useful. From your profile, Instagram’s own reporting tool walks you through Settings, then Help, then Report a Problem — and including your phone model, your OS version, and exactly what you were doing when it crashed gives Instagram’s team something to reproduce, rather than one more generic “it crashes” report buried in a pile of identical ones. Recurring crash waves tied to a specific update have, in the past, cleared up through a follow-up release rather than anything a single reader could do locally — the crash wave covered earlier resolved for affected users only once Instagram shipped a fix, not because anyone found a workaround.
During this wait period, users should consider checking Instagram via a web browser, as visits to Instagram on a web browser will confirm whether the Instagram account or content is functioning correctly or having server-side problems. The web version will not rely on the application installed on the user’s mobile device for connectivity.
Before You Tap Delete
There are many reasons that Instagram may not work properly at times. These can include things like bugs introduced in recent updates to Instagram, problems with the beta version of the app that you may have downloaded, problems with your local storage, or very brief service outage with Instagram. Reinstalling Instagram may fix one of these four issues, but it won’t fix the other three. You should save drafts before deleting the app, since these drafts will be gone for good if you delete the app. Everything that Instagram keeps on its server can be restored when you log back into the app, but there is no way to recover a draft that was kept only on your device.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use Instagram through a browser while the app keeps crashing?
Instagram.com functions separately from the app on your mobile device meaning that even if the app keeps crashing, your Instagram.com experience will remain intact, allowing you to continue using the website for now whilst you wait for updates regarding the app. It doesn’t fix the crashed app but does assure you that there is nothing wrong with your account or anything else you’ve posted so you can be confident while you wait.
What if a fix works for a few minutes and then Instagram starts crashing again?
If you see the same pattern, it’s a sign that you didn’t really fix the problem but just covered it up for a limited time (e.g., clearing the cache/fresh install). A short-term fix will not last, and the bug will ultimately be back. The implication is that it’s likely a build problem as opposed to a device issue because if it were a true device issue, it would not become dormant on its own.
Does updating Instagram delete saved drafts the same way reinstalling does?
When you update Instagram, it doesn’t remove your app storage and therefore most drafts are OK after an update since the update only changes the code of the app. However, the only method indicated by Instagram to lose drafts is to uninstall the app, as when uninstalling it deletes all stored data (including draft data) from the device’s memory.
