Instagram is one of the most used apps on our smartphones. We use it as part of our daily lives in a way that it is a platform wherein we store our photos and other life happenings.
Unfortunately, there have been issues with regard to it because some Samsung Galaxy S21 users experience Instagram not working & crashing issues whenever they use it on their smartphones. Some of them have even posted on forums with the hope of finding solutions. However, there is only limited information on how to fix this.
This has made us dig up the internet, the Samsung community, and even the Samsung S21 smartphone of our team member, Andrew, to take a look at the Instagram app and test if there are any crashes or sudden lagging issues. Thanks to his Galaxy S21, we have found a few solutions to get rid of this issue that has recently stirred the Samsung community.
Is your Samsung S21 Instagram not working, too? Are you looking for a way to fix it without ending up resetting your smartphone (like others who couldn’t read this guide)? If yes, then this guide is for you!
Note: This guide is also applicable to other Samsung Galaxy S21 models (S21+, S21Fe, and S21 Ultra).
Why is your Samsung S21 Instagram not working or keeps crashing?
If an app doesn’t work or keeps crashing when you open it, it is most likely a bug or temporary glitch within the app that is causing the issue. The same goes for the Instagram app.
Also, when you updated the Instagram app recently, and it started not to work after that, the update must have a problem.
Another reason why the Instagram app doesn’t work properly is its cache. The cache holds the data that oftentimes require when you use Instagram. If this data gets corrupted or outdated, it will crash without giving any error or a reason.
Not only the Instagram app but the Android system can also cause the app to crash. It is because of the same reason, bugs within the system and outdated/corrupted system cache.
Now, you should have a clear idea about this issue in one of your fave apps, Instagram. Let’s get to action and troubleshoot the problem.
How to fix Instagram not working/crashing on your Samsung S21
First, we will tell you how to troubleshoot the Instagram app for possible issues (as mentioned earlier), then you can follow the rest of the solutions to fix bugs/glitches within the Android system.
Let’s get started.
Fix 01: Restart your device
If you haven’t tried yet, you can restart your Samsung S21 to fix random glitches that cause the Instagram app not to work.
Make sure you have saved all your work before restarting the device.
Tip: There is another way to restart your device instead of using the power menu.
- Press and hold the power and volume down buttons for a few seconds.
Fix 02: Log out from Instagram
When you surf through Instagram, sometimes the process of the app can get stuck or stop suddenly. Since you are still logged in, the app can keep crashing until you log out from your account.
Therefore,
- Tap on the account icon at the bottom right corner
- Tap on the menu icon
- Tap on Settings
- Scroll down and tap on Log out
Fix 03: Clear Instagram’s app data
As we mentioned earlier, a corrupted or outdated cache can cause Instagram to crash. However, if you clear only the cache, it might not work (most of the time). It is because if the data of the Instagram app is corrupted too, after you clear the cache, Instagram will rebuild the same cache like before.
If you have saved any media files from Instagram, copy them somewhere in your device’s storage, then proceed to delete the app data by following the steps below.
- Open Settings
- Go to Apps
- Tap on Instagram
- Tap on Force stop
- Tap on Storage or Manage storage
- Tap on Clear data
- Restart the device
After you restart your Galaxy S21, open the Instagram, log in to your account and see if the solution worked.
Fix 04: Update the Instagram app
If there is a permanent bug in the current version of Instagram on your Samsung S21, then nothing will work to fix the crashing issue except updating the app to its latest version.
Why? Because when such issue arise, the Instagram app sends a report (if possible) to its developers, then they release bug fixes and patches addressing the issue.
Therefore, all you have to do is to check for app updates and, if available, install it.
- Open Google Play Store
- Tap on your account icon
- Tap on Manage apps and device
- Go to the Manage tab
- Scroll down and see if the Instagram app is on the list
- If so, tap on it
- Tap on Update
Once you update the Instagram app, it is better to clear its cache to remove any outdated data. Here is how you can do that.
- Go to Settings, then Apps
- Tap on Instagram
- Tap on Force stop
- Tap on Storage or Manage storage
- Tap on Clear cache
- Restart the app
Fix 05: Log into Instagram on a browser
Sometimes, the Instagram service can go down (server error), in that case, you have to wait until the developers fix the issue on their end.
But how will you know if Instagram is down? Well, that is by trying to log into your account by using a browser.
You can use any browser app installed on your Samsung S21.
- Open the browser
- Search for Instagram and tap on the search result
- Tap on login and make sure it is working
Fix 06: Update device software
To fix Android system issues that causes Instagram to act up, you can check for system updates and install them.
Tip: See our Samsung Galaxy S21 software update tracker
To do that, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
- Tap on Software update
- Tap on three dots at the top right corner
- Tap on Download and install
Once you finish that, your Galaxy S21 will start looking for any software update, and if there is any update available, it will notify you. If it does, you can proceed to installing the update. Make sure you have charged your device before installing the update.
Fix 07: Clear cache
System-wide cache usually doesn’t affect the Instagram app to crash. However, there can be rare scenarios that it can cause this problem.
If none of the above solutions worked, you can clear the system cache of your Samsung Galaxy S21 using the recovery mode. Here is how:
- Turn off your device
- Press and hold the power button and volume up button together until your device boot into recovery mode
- Navigate to “Wipe cache partition” (Use volume down key), then press the power button
- Confirm the wipe cache by selecting Yes and pressing the power button again
Once the cache is cleared, you will see the recovery menu again. Navigate to “Reboot device now”, and press the power button to restart your device. Then, open Instagram to see if it worked.
Conclusion
We hope this guide helped you fix the Instagram not working/crashing issue on your Samsung Galaxy S21.
If you have any questions or need help regarding this guide, leave a comment below.
Have a nice day!
More guides for your Samsung Galaxy S21
- Samsung S21 Adaptive Brightness Not Working? Fix it Now!
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- Bixby Keeps Popping Up on Samsung S20/S21 – How to Stop It
- Samsung S21 Voice-to-Text Not Working: Here’s What to Do
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