Social media posts or stories run rampant with content every day. Some people post snippets or send snaps from everyday life, and others occasionally participate. With Instagram being a lead runner in this show, you can view these life fragments when your friends or people you follow upload posts or stories.
In this article, we will point out nine reasons why a story becomes unavailable and the solutions you can follow to fix the same.
An Instagram story remains uploaded for 24 hours, beyond which it disappears automatically. If you open a story at the exact 24 hours from when it was posted, you might find a black screen that says the story is no longer available. You can also check their profile to see if they have added the story you missed to their highlights.
With a short lifespan (the story’s not yours), one might encounter that a story can disappear due to many reasons, and some of them are:
Also read: How to change your age on Instagram?
The story has been deleted
The story may not be visible as the person who posted it has taken it down.
Solution: In this case, you could ask this person the reason for taking it down or dismiss it since stories are very transient and temporary.
You are blocked or restricted
If you are blocked, you will not be able to see their stories or their posts. However, if, due to a glitch, you can see their name and a pink ring around it, but on opening their story, it shows a black screen with the story unavailable, it can only mean that you are blocked.
You may also see this message if they have reposted a story by a person who has blocked you.
Solution: In this case, you could ask this person the reason for taking it down or dismiss it since stories are very transient and temporary.
Story is hidden
If one of your followers or friends has decided to hide their story from you, then you will not be able to view any story they post. However, if they hide you after uploading their story, you might see a faint pink ring around their profile photo in the carousel. In addition, if you cannot view this story on their highlights, they might have hidden you.
You may also see this message if they have reposted a story by someone who has hidden their stories from you.
Solution: In this case, you could ask this person the reason for hiding it or you could dismiss it since stories are transient and temporary.
Story was taken down for violating Instagram’s policy
A story may not be available if its contents violate Instagram’s guidelines. Stories get taken down frequently. However, Instagram’s AI may not make the right judgement on every story.
A story may also be taken down if some people have reported it for certain reasons.
Solution: If you feel that a story has been taken down by mistake, you contact Instagram’s support.
The poster’s profile is private
If someone decides to switch their profile to private from public, this message may appear in their stories. For example, if you are on someone’s public profile that you are not following but cannot view their stories, it might be because they have switched their profile to private. If you have been following them and can see the pink ring
Solution: You can send a follow request to view their stories again.
Also read: How to see drafts on Instagram? How to delete them?
Instagram is down
If you keep encountering this problem with a few stories, then it Instagram’s servers are probably down, or some routine maintenance work is in progress.
Solution: It will probably be back to normal in some time. You can also check the status of Instagram’s servers on Downdetector.
Slow internet connection
This problem may occur if you don’t have a stable internet connection. Due to this, you may not be able to view stories or posts, and even reels will not play smoothly.
Solution: You can try moving around to see if you can get a good signal or switch on and off your Wi-Fi.
Caching issues
You may have some corrupt files or bugs in the Instagram app, which might affect some features. You can get rid of the app’s cache in your phone settings.
Solution: You can follow the steps given below to clear the cache from the app to remove unnecessary files:
- Open Settings and tap on Apps and notifications.
- Search for Instagram.
- Tap on the Instagram app.
- Tap on the Storage and cache option.
- Tap on Clear cache.
Outdated app
The story may not be available if you are on the old version of Instagram. Ensure your Instagram app is updated on your Android or iOS device.
Solution: You can visit the Play Store for Android and The App Store for iOS. There are always new updates, so you can keep your app fresh and running with new features. You can also uninstall and reinstall the app if the black screen is showing up for every story.
Also read: How long can a story be on Instagram?
