Why Doesn't My Instagram Account Have Close Friends?

Who is there by your side to help you make lemonades from the lemons life tosses at you? Most often, it’s our best friends! They are our emotional rock, our biggest cheerleaders, supporting us from the sidelines. Now, Instagram has introduced the Close Friends feature to celebrate your bond with your besties in the form of the Close Friends feature.

You no longer have to shout out your most fun or intimate moments to your 1000 Instagram followers! Rather, compile a short list of all your pals who are close friends and share it with them.

Instagram’s close friends feature has become incredibly popular, but some questions annoy users, too, and we’re here to discuss one of them. Some users question why their Instagram accounts don’t have Close Friends. We’re here to discuss this in detail, so let’s get started!

Why Doesn’t My Instagram Account Have Close Friends?

To be clear, you can use your Close Friends feature without enabling it. It’s automatically visible on your Instagram.

All you need to do is look for people you want to actively put on this list. Your list is essentially empty if you haven’t added any friends!

Here’s how you add people to your close friends list:

Step 1: Visit the Instagram app on your phone and ensure you’re signed in.

Step 2: Tap on Your Story at the screen’s top left area.

Step 3: Once there, spot and tap the Gear icon in the upper right corner.

Step 4: Is the Story option visible to you on the next page? Give it a click.

Step 5: Navigate to the Close Friends tab next. Under it, there must be a (number) people option. Press it to proceed.

Step 6: Select people to keep in your Close friends list.

To do so, scroll and select the users or use the search bar at the top to enter and choose their names.

Step 7: Click on the Done button to confirm.

Tip: Instagram doesn’t send notifications when you edit your close friends list. Besides, you’re the only person who can see your list! So, feel free to add or delete members as needed!

All the friends you’ve selected will appear on your Close friends list. You should immediately add your closest friends to the list now that you know how easy it is to do so! Your list of close friends will appear right away.

However, if you can’t follow the steps above, your Instagram doesn’t have Close friends for some reason. Why is that the case? We’ll find out the reasons and fixes to get the feature soon on your app!

Your Instagram needs update

2018 saw the launch of Instagram’s Close Friends feature, which came about eight years after the app’s official social media debut. Many users initially complained that they couldn’t see this feature on their accounts, which made sense given that it was still under trial at the time.

Eventually, the feature debuted on every user’s Instagram app once they updated their phones. Fast forward to 2023; we think an upgrade will solve the issue if the feature is still not visible to you.

There’s a little chance you haven’t updated your back for so many years, but let’s not take a chance and give it a go to see whether this straightforward strategy benefits you.

Here’s how to go about it:

Step 1: Launch the Google Play Store or App Store on your respective devices.

Step 2: Once you’re there, type in Instagram and tap on the results.

Step 3: An Update option must be available if your app needs one. Press the option to update Instagram.

Once the update is successfully installed, visit Instagram to see whether the Close Friends option appears.

Have you tried to log off Instagram?

Sometimes, the best course of action is to log out of the app for a while. Your account gets a bit extra time to work out any issues it may be having.

You may log back in after a few minutes or so, so you don’t have to stay logged out for a long period of time. Try this approach and see if you find the Close Friends list back to where it belongs. If not, you must use the alternative techniques listed below.

It’s high time you reinstall the app

Have you ever wondered if it would be wiser to reinstall the Instagram app to recover the list of your Close Friends? Whenever one of our apps begins acting strangely, our first action is to delete and reinstall it.

Why not use the same strategy for your Instagram account? Who knows, it might work.

You can uninstall Instagram in two different ways. Open the Instagram app from the menu on your phone, then press and hold it. Confirm by tapping the Uninstall option located at the top.

Alternatively, search for Instagram in the Google Play or App stores, then select the uninstall option. Once you confirm the action, the app will be deleted. You can reinstall the app on your respective stores by searching for it and hitting the install option.

Is your Instagram server causing the issue?

Instagram servers are notorious for unexpectedly going down. Your app may stop operating briefly when you’re navigating and watching reels.

However, avid users know to head over to Twitter and confirm it when, a few minutes later, #Instagramdown starts to trend. People start updating their other social media with this trend, and you know the app has crashed yet again.

If so, there isn’t a strategy or method we can recommend to you. To view the Close friends list again, wait for the app to return to normal.

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Why Doesn’t My Instagram Account Have Close Friends?