What Should You Do If Instagram Gives You an ‘Unknown Error’?

If you have a network with a billion users every month and half of them use it every day, it’s hard to keep everything running smoothly. While it offers users a wealth of options to showcase their lives online, Instagram is not immune to bugs.

You may have come across the following pop-up message:

It occurs completely randomly and prevents you from logging into your account. You can also see this when trying to refresh your feed.

Let’s dive deeper into this issue and see what you can do to fix it.

Why Does the Error Appear?

As the message states, this error occurs because Instagram’s servers are unable to communicate with your device. Logically, the first thing you’ll want to do is check if you have a stable connection to the internet.

See if your device is connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data. If it’s on Wi-Fi, check if you’re close enough to the router. In some cases, Instagram won’t respond because your connection is too weak. If that’s not the case, try restarting your router. The good old “remove and reinsert” method should do the trick.

If you have mobile data, the easiest way to fix any network issues, including this one, is to toggle Airplane Mode on and off. On most Android phones, you can do this by pulling down the notification bar and tapping the Airplane icon. You can find the same icon on the iPhone by pulling up the Control Center from the bottom of your screen.

The above methods should do the trick in most cases. But if they don’t, you don’t have to worry because you have a few more options at your disposal.

Clear Cache and Data of Instagram

When you use Instagram, it stores temporary files and data to make everything run more smoothly. The problem occurs when the data gets corrupted which can cause different errors. It also takes up your storage and can grow much larger than the app itself.

If you are an Android user, you can clear cache and data by following these steps:

1. go Settings >
2. Faucet All Appsfind later Instagram.
3. Tap . Clear Cache and clear data
4. Force Stop
   

If you have an iPhone, things look a little different. There is no option to clear cache and data, so you have to delete Instagram completely.

Here’s how:

1. go Adjustment > general.
2. Faucet iPhone Storage and scroll down until you see Instagram.
3. Tap . Delete App Press the button below and confirm.
   

When you download Instagram again, you will now have a new app with no cash or data. This should fix any internal errors and allow you to log back in.

update Instagram

If you are using an outdated version of Instagram, you can expect all sorts of errors to appear. Like any other app, it receives regular updates with bug fixes, security patches and many other features that the app needs for normal operation.

Also, both iOS and Android receive frequent updates. If your Instagram version isn’t the latest, this may be why you’re getting the “unknown network error” message.

Fortunately, this is a quick fix. All you have to do is launch the App Store or Google Play Store, go to the update section and check for available updates for Instagram. You will get the latest version available and the error should be resolved.

Change Your Date and Time

Strangely enough, some users found that changing the date on your phone fixed the Instagram network error. While the link here isn’t exactly clear, it’s worth a try in case nothing else works.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. go Settings > Date and timeand set it to Automatic if not already.
2. Go back and try logging into Instagram.
3. If it doesn’t work, go back Date and time menu and set Manual.
4. Change the date to four years in the future and then try running Instagram again.

Whether it works or not, don’t forget to go back and set your date and time to default.

Quick Fix

As you can see, there are several ways to fix the “unknown error” error, and they’re all pretty simple. You should be able to log back into your account shortly. However, the error is likely to return after a while. Some users have complained about taking it quite regularly, so it pays to memorize these tips. Until Instagram completely fixes this issue, they are your safest bet.

Have you encountered this problem before? If you have any other tips to solve this, go ahead and drop them in the comments below.