We’ve seen this occur to almost all devices while in some instances, issues only occur when you are uploading a high-quality video. In some rare cases, you are not able to edit reels that you saved as a draft.
1. Force Close Instagram and Clear its Cache
This issue might occur when your application is in an error state or its internal modules aren’t operating as expected. In such a case, force closing the Instagram app and clearing its cache may resolve the issue. Do note that on an iPhone, you would have to restart your phone, as force-closing the application doesn’t clear the cache. If the issue has started to occur after traveling to another country, you may have to wait for 2 to 3 weeks until the feature returns to normal (if reels are supported in that country).
2. Update Instagram to the Latest Version
You might be able to resolve this issue by updating the app to the latest version. The incompatibility between your outdated app and IG servers might cause problems. The outdated version might also have bugs which are fixed in the newer one. Updating the application can solve all these problems.
3. Update your Device’s OS
We can also solve issues with reels by updating the device’s OS to the latest build. An outdated OS may make the web requests of Instagram incompatible with the app’s servers and thus cause various issues. In this case, updating the device’s OS to the latest build may resolve the Instagram issue. Before proceeding, connect the Android phone to a Wi-Fi network and ensure that a phone’s backup is created.
4. Change Your Instagram Profile Category
You may also solve problems with the reel module by changing your profile category on Instagram. The reels feature may not work properly if Instagram servers are failing to verify your profile category due to a glitch. In such a case, changing your Instagram profile category and then reverting it will resolve the issue.
5. Delete and Restore the Reels on the Instagram App
There are instances where after posting a reel, the audio becomes unavailable, the reel becomes inverted, or the profile grid option is missing. In such a case, deleting the reels and restoring them can solve the glitch.
6. Re-log into the Instagram App
Reels is an account and location-based feature, not a device-based feature. Due to a temporary authorization glitch, Instagram servers may fail to properly serve the reels feature to the app on your phone. In this scenario, re-logging into the Instagram app can resolve the reels issue. Note: All the reels in your drafts will be lost.
8. Reinstall the Instagram App
If none of the above methods works, we can be sure that your installation is incomplete or has issues within it. This can usually occur during the update process of the application. In this scenario, reinstalling the Instagram app may solve issues with the reels module. For the demonstration, we will go through the process of reinstalling the Instagram app on an Android phone. Before moving ahead, make sure that you have access to the Instagram credentials to re-log into Instagram. If that fails to rectify the problem, check if the Reels feature works properly on another account on Instagram. If that does not do the trick, you may install an older version of Instagram to check if reels are working normally in that version. However, we strongly recommend against installing an older Instagram version due to security/privacy concerns. You may use a browser extension (like Insist) or an Android emulator to view/upload reels on Instagram till the problem is rectified with the phone app.
