Not too long ago from now, there was a time when everyone preferred calls over messages because it took lesser effort and was a more wholesome experience. But slowly and steadily, as our lives got busier, we started to rely more heavily on messages as a primary mode of communication. An important reason behind it was that two parties involved in the conversation were rarely free at the same time. Moreover, messages were also easier to keep track of. This is perhaps why all social media platforms have been providing messaging services for much longer than calling services.
Instagram is one such platform as well. While it offers both calling and messaging services today, the latter was introduced earlier and is used more widely than the former. Our topic of discussion revolves around messaging on Instagram as well. But instead of outlining their importance, we’ll now delve into a common problem many Instagrammers around the globe are facing nowadays.
Have you ever received a message notification on Instagram, but found nothing when you opened the app? If you have, you’re one of the countless users who have been going through something similar lately.
In today’s blog, we’ll carefully examine all possibilities that could be causing this error on Instagram and discuss how you could fix them moving forward. Let’s get started, shall we?
#1. Is your internet connectivity working alright?
We understand that this possibility might seem absurd to some users, but believe us when we say this, poor connectivity is at the root of these problems 7 out of 10 times. And even if that’s not the case with you, what’s the harm in ruling it out?
It’ll take you less than a minute to swipe down on your smartphone to show your Quick Settings menu and check if you’re connected to the internet. If you’re using WiFi, make sure that it’s working at an optimum speed.
Was everything fine with the connectivity? Then let’s move forward!
#2. The sender of the message could’ve unsent it.
The unsent message feature that was creating hype on several social media platforms made its entry on Instagram last year. And ever since its introduction, it has allegedly saved many Instagrammers from trouble.
If you send someone a drunk text or are venting out in a moment of weakness, and later realize you don’t want them to see it, what will you do about it? Unsend it.
So, if a direct message has suddenly disappeared from your DMs section, it could be possible that its sender decided to delete it. Now, you might be wondering if there was a way to, at least, find out who sent the message, if not its content. But can that be done on Instagram? Unfortunately, not.
The very logic behind the unsend feature is to undo your action of sending that message in the first place. So, if it left behind a trace, wouldn’t that defeat its whole purpose?
In other words, if someone has indeed sent you a message that they unsent later on, there’s no way for you to confirm who it was.
#3. The sender could have sent you a disappearing message.
The concept of disappearing messages is fairly new to Instagram. But if you’re an avid Instagrammer, we’re sure you’d be familiar with it by now. These are basically the Snap version on Instagram and disappear as soon as they’ve been opened by the recipient.
Is that what happened to you? A DM you received disappeared right after you checked it? Then you’re a victim of disappearing messages. And if you’re wondering how it can be fixed, it’s quite simple. You already know who’s the sender of the message; just tell them to resend it or ask them what it was about.
#4. Is your chat in Vanish Mode?
Are you familiar with Vanish Mode on Instagram? It’s a mode used in DMs that, when activated, will delete every message exchanged between the users as soon as both parties see it. Simply put, it’s the long-term chat version of disappearing messages.
Turning it on is also notoriously simple. If you swipe up on your chat screen, it’ll automatically turn on theVanish Mode. This mode also has a darker appearance, so you’d easily be able to tell the difference. And if the Vanish Mode is indeed causing your messages to disappear, here’s how you can fix it:
Step 1: Open the particular chat, and tap on the username of the second party on the top-left corner of your screen.
Step 2: Upon doing so, you’ll find yourself on the Details tab of the chat. Here, placed right below Theme would be Vanish modewith a toggle switch next to it.
If the mode is enabled, you’ll find this switch blue and turned on.
To turn it off, you need to swipe left on it until it turns grey. That’s it!
#5. The sender could’ve deactivated their account.
There are two ways of going off-grid on Instagram: you can either disable your account (if it’s a temporary thing) or deactivate it permanently. In either case, when a user opts for these actions, any new message they’ve sent to other users will automatically disappear.
So, if the sender of this message has done the same, it could have led to the disappearance of this message from your DMs.
And while there’s no fix for it (since it’s their action that caused it), if you want to know who they might be, check your Following list and see if you can find out who has gone missing recently. They could probably be the sender.
#6. The sender could have blocked you.
Another way messages disappear from your DMs is when the sender chooses to block you. Yes, we know it might sound bizarre to you, but such things happen all the time. You might not always have a clue as to why someone dislikes you, or wants to cut all ties with you.
Again, there’s no to find out who blocked you recently because Instagram doesn’t send out notifications about it.
However, if you have a suspicion about who this person could be, simply look up their profile on the app. If you find a grey User not found button on their profile, it could mean you’ve been blocked. It could also mean that their account is disabled; so if you know them outside of Instagram and are close with them, it’s best to ask them about it upfront.
#7. It’s a glitch from Instagram’s end.
If, after going through all the possible reasons listed above, you feel like your situation doesn’t match any of them, here’s our last guess: it could be a glitch on Instagram’s end.
Glitches on Instagram’s servers have been pretty common lately, so it’s completely plausible for something like this to happen to you as well. If you think this is the case, wait for at least a couple of hours and re-launch the app to check if the message has returned.
If not, you can reach out to Instagram Customer Support via mail or over call and explain your problem. They’d be able to help you much better than us in this case.
The bottom line
With this, we’ve reached the end of our blog. Our topic of discussion today revolved around the possible issues that could result in your DMs disappearing on Instagram. We explored seven different possibilities above, and have provided the fixes in every case possible.
Is there any other Instagram-related issue you’d like us to solve? Tell us about it in the comments below, and we’ll be back with its solution soon!
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