Today we will see what to do if the Instagram app crashes abnormally on Android. The number of people using Instagram is growing every day all over the world, and one of the most popular ways to access the social network is through the smartphone app of the same name. The phone in fact, is the best way to be able to quickly take photos and to be able to share images with others and with the smartphone app, everything is ready to be shared with other users who make use of the social platform. However, the Instagram app, just like it might happen with other apps, might crash when trying to log in or it might close unexpectedly while being used. If you’ve been experiencing these problems lately and it’s become impossible for you to use the Instagram app, you might want to read on, because in this tutorial we’ve collected a list of solutions to the problem that will explain what to do step by step if Instagram crashes on Android.
Restart your smartphone
If the Instagram app for Android crashes unexpectedly, the first thing I recommend you do is to proceed with a restart of the phone. Then, if you’re having trouble with Instagram locking and closing when you’re using it, press the physical power button on the device in question, then click Restart and once the phone has been properly restarted, check if the problem with Instagram locking still persists.
Update Instagram to its latest released version
Sometimes sudden Instagram crashes might occur due to a bug that is present in the application. The problem in this case, could be solved very easily if there is a new update with the bug found that has been corrected by the developers. So I suggest you do the following in order to update Instagram to its latest version:
- Access the Google Play Store app
- Then click on the circular profile icon that is located in the upper right corner of the screen, next to the search bar
- Now go to Manage app and device
- Check to see if Instagram needs a new update and if so, tap the Update button. I recommend updating any other apps that need a new update as well. You can also reach the Instagram app from the Play Store, then tap the Update button if there is a new update.
- Once you’ve installed the latest Instagram update, you should restart your Android phone, then check if everything now works without any sudden app freezes.
Turn off your phone’s power saving mode
If you’ve turned on power saving on your Android smartphone with the aim of saving the energy consumed by your phone’s battery, you may encounter crashes when making use of the Instagram app. In order to ascertain whether the cause of the crashes you experience with Instagram depends on battery power saving or not, you can try turning off this feature. You can turn off power saving on Android very easily by going to the Settings on your device, then tapping on the Battery item. You should see the Battery Power Saving Mode item with the appropriate switch active, go ahead and disable it. Alternatively, you can disable Battery Saver Mode from Quick Settings which you can find by lowering the Notifications Panel and then tapping on the icon with a battery typically drawn on it.
log out of Instagram
Sometimes Instagram might crash because there is some problem affecting your account’s session. So in that case you should log out of your Instagram account and log back in again to be able to fix the problem you’re experiencing with using the app. Here are all the steps you need to follow in order to disconnect and reconnect to Instagram with your account:
- Login to the Instagram app and press on the circular icon in the bottom left corner that allows you to access the content of your account
- Press on the gear icon located in the top left of the screen
- Tap on the Exit option
- Once you’ve logged out of your profile, log back in with your Instagram account by entering your login credentials, then check if you still experience sudden application crashes
Clear your Instagram cache
If you still haven’t solved the problem you’re experiencing with the Instagram app crashing on Android, another solution I recommend you follow is to clear the files that are present inside the Instagram app cache. Instagram for Android, just like other apps, does in fact have a Cache folder, but the files inside of it could be corrupted and lead to abnormal app behavior, including sudden crashes. These files can be deleted very quickly and can recreate themselves with the use of the app, while your account, settings, photos, etc., all will remain unchanged as Instagram’s cache files serve more to make the app faster than anything else. Only the temporary files then will be removed when you clear the cache, while no significant data will be lost. With that said, let’s see how to clear the cache for the Instagram app for Android (the steps you’ll find below might be slightly different depending on the interface and version of Android you’re using):
- Go to Settings on your Android smartphone
- Then go to Apps and Notifications or App Management depending on the item you are shown.
- Go to All apps and from this screen you will see a list with all the apps you have installed on your device
- Now search for the Instagram app by scrolling through the apps or search for it by using the search bar at the top of the window
- Then go to Storage and press the Clear Cache button.
- Check now if the problems with Instagram have been solved or if you are still experiencing interruptions. In the last case, go to the next solution
Clear Instagram data
If clearing Instagram’s cache didn’t solve the problem you encountered with the app and it keeps crashing, the solution I suggest you try now is to delete Instagram’s data. You have to know, however, that clearing Instagram app data (as well as any other app) is different from clearing the cache, in fact if the app data is removed, the user will be disconnected from the app and all settings will be reset, just as if you had re-installed the app from scratch on your smartphone. Erasing Instagram data can help if the app crashes abnormally as the app is reset and if any file was corrupted and caused the app to crash, it will be restored. To clear Instagram app data, all you have to do is repeat the steps you just saw above to be able to clear the cache, but instead of hitting the Clear Cache button, you’ll have to hit the Clear Data button. Once you’ve cleared your Instagram app data, re-enter your credentials to access your profile and if necessary, proceed with setting the settings as they were previously.
Reinstall Instagram on your smartphone
If deleting Instagram’s data wasn’t enough, then I suggest you try directly deleting the Instagram app from your smartphone, then check if the abnormal crashes still occur after reinstalling the app from scratch. It might happen that the Instagram app’s files are so corrupted that they prevent it from working properly, which is why the only possible solution might be to delete it and reinstall it. As with deleting data, deleting the Instagram app from your phone will also cause you to lose your saved settings and you’ll have to sign in again with your account credentials. To be able to delete Instagram from Android, go to your phone’s Home screen, then search for Instagram and hold down its icon with your finger to drag it to the trash, or alternatively connect to the Instagram page found on the Play Store and press the Uninstall button. Then proceed with a fresh installation of the Instagram app and enter all the data required to access your account. Check now if you still experience crashes while using Instagram.
Install an older version of Instagram
Instagram might be malfunctioning and crashing when you use it due to a bug in its latest released version, and if neither updating nor uninstalling the app has fixed the problem, if you really need to use the app urgently, you can try installing a previous version of it, with which you didn’t experience any crash. The Play Store doesn’t have a download list for older versions of apps for security reasons, but you can still find them in alternative markets. Here are the steps to install a previous version of Instagram:
- First, you need to uninstall the Instagram app by following the steps that were described in the solution above this one
- Now, since the Instagram APK file will not be downloaded from the Google Play Store, you’ll need to enable the installation of apps that come from unknown origins in order to proceed with its installation on your phone. Once you have enabled Unknown Origins on your Android smartphone, you can then proceed with installing the Instagram APK file on your device
- From your phone’s browser, go to ApkMirror.com and visit the Instagram app page. Once inside, search and download the APK file of the currently installed version of Instagram, with which you are sure that you didn’t experience any freezes and interruptions while using it. If with the previous version of Instagram to the one currently installed did not find malfunctions, then proceed with its search in the list that is shown on the page
- Now download the Instagram app to your phone and start its installation on your device
- Now enter the credentials to access your Instagram account and see if the app still crashes or not
What to do if the app keeps crashing
If you’ve come this far and you’ve already tried all the solutions that have been described in this guide, but the Instagram app keeps crashing on your Android smartphone, I suggest you then wait for the next update of the app and see if with that, once downloaded and installed on your phone, you can solve it. In the meantime, if you really need to access Instagram, you can still do it via browser by accessing Instagram.com or alternatively you can install the app Instagram Lite to access Instagram content from your Android smartphone.
Conclusions
Instagram isn’t usually an app that gives problems with crashes when opening it and interruptions when using it, but it’s not exempt from this and you might experience these abnormal application crashes. I hope that the solutions listed in this guide will help you solve the problem and that Instagram will work again without crashing. Until the next guide.
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