Having trouble with Instagram notifications? Here are some tricks to get back to displaying the social app's notifications
What would Instagram look like without notifications? Probably a lot less populated and a lot less alive, since since its inception the image social has focused a lot on notifications to keep its users glued to the app. A winning policy, since for many Instagram is now part of everyday life.
Sometimes, however, Instagram notifications don't work as they should. If we have the Instagram app open in the background, while we're doing something else on Facebook or any other app, it can happen that the notification system doesn't work properly. This happens on both Android and iOS versions of the Instagram app, but luckily there are several tricks we can put in place to solve the problem and get back to having Instagram notifications working perfectly.
Restart Phone
If Instagram notifications don't work, the first suggestion might be to restart the phone. It happens that some service in the background crashes and blocks notifications from other applications and, in this case, the most convenient and quickest thing to do is just to restart the smartphone.
Logout of Instagram (and back)
Logging out of the Instagram account can be useful to solve a problem of missing notifications. In this case, the catch is in our profile or in the Instagram app and not in some other app installed on the smartphone. Exiting and re-entering can solve the problem.
Update Instagram app
It can also happen that the Instagram app has a bug that prevents you from receiving notifications from time to time. That's why it's a good idea to go to the App Store or the Play Store to look for a more updated version of our Instagram app for iOS or Android.
Disable "Do Not Disturb" mode
Both iOS and Android have a "Do Not Disturb" mode, to be activated during business meetings or events during which you ask for your smartphones to remain silent. This mode, among other things, removes all sound from notifications from all apps, including Instagram. So check if Do Not Disturb mode is enabled on your phone.
Check the notifications settings in the Instagram app
Even more trivially, if you're not getting Instagram notifications it could also be because they're disabled within the app. Go to Settings > Notifications and check if they're not paused. From the same screen you can also choose which notifications you want to receive and which you don't.
Repeat the check from another smartphone
Be aware that the notification settings work at the Instagram account level and not at the individual app and device level. So if you don't get notifications, but everything is fine in your smartphone, the cause could be found in the settings of a second device with which you access Instagram. The settings on one device override the settings on the other device.
Check the app's notifications from the operating system
Both Android and iOS allow you to change the notification options of each app from the system settings. So, it could be that even if your app is well set, notifications are blocked at a lower level: that of the operating system. Take a look at the Notifications section of your phone's settings to make sure everything is set up properly.
Disable Power Saving
As with Do Not Disturb mode, Power Saving mode can also block app notifications. In this case, though, you should not receive notifications only when your phone's battery is about to run out.
Enable Background App Refresh and Clear App Cache
There are then two cases, one specific to iOS and the other to Android, where app notifications can go haywire. On iOS, make sure you've enabled the Update Background App feature (found under Settings > General > Update Background App), otherwise apps that are in the background may not update. On Android, on the other hand, try clearing the app cache, which sometimes creates more than one hiccup.