Instagram error library

When using a scheduling tool like Buffer, there will be instances when a social network refuses the post and replies with an error message. Find your error below and follow the troubleshooting steps to get back on track.

💡 Tip: Use Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search for your exact error message.

In this article:

Buffer lost authorization to post

Error messages:

  • "It looks like Buffer has lost the authorization to post to this account. Please reauthorize and try again. If the issue persists, please get in touch! Here are the steps to refresh your connection."
  • "It looks like Buffer has lost authorization to post on your behalf. No need to worry, though! Here are the steps to re-authorize Buffer."
  • "It looks like Buffer has lost the authorization to post to this social account. Please reauthorize and try again. If the issue persists, please get in touch!"

Why this happens: Buffer no longer has a valid access token for this channel. This usually means not all permissions were accepted when the Instagram channel was added, or the connection has expired.

What to do:

  1. Follow our guide on reauthorizing the connection between Buffer and Facebook or Instagram.
  2. Make sure all profiles, pages, and permissions are selected under Facebook > Edit settings.
  3. Head back to your Buffer.com dashboard, click Manage Channels, and refresh your channel.
  4. Retry your post.

Permission to post on your behalf

Error messages:

  • "Oh no! We're hitting an issue with our permission to post on your behalf. Please walk through the steps to reauthorize the Buffer app in Facebook, Grant Full Permission for All Pages, then retry this post."
  • "Yoiks! Buffer doesn't have permission to post on your behalf. Please try reauthorizing this account by clicking 'refresh' under settings."

Why this happens: Not all permissions were accepted when this Instagram channel was added to Buffer.

What to do:

  1. Follow our guide on reauthorizing the connection between Buffer and Facebook or Instagram.
  2. Make sure all profiles, pages, and permissions are selected under Facebook > Edit settings.
  3. Head back to your Buffer.com dashboard, click Manage Channels, and refresh your channel.
  4. Retry your post.

Not set up as a business or creator account

Error message: "Uh oh! It doesn't look like this is correctly set up as a business or creator account. Please ensure your account is configured correctly with automatic publishing by checking out our guide."

Why this happens: This error occurs when your Instagram account has been switched from a business or creator account to a personal account. Instagram's API doesn't support publishing to personal accounts.

What to do: Convert your Instagram account back to a business or creator account and retry your post.

Known Instagram bug — reconvert your account

Error message: "Oh, no! We ran into a known Instagram bug while sending this through. Would you mind trying the troubleshooting steps here?"

Why this happens: This is a known Instagram bug that can usually be resolved by reconverting your account from a personal account back to a professional account.

What to do: Switch your Instagram account to a personal profile and then reconvert it to a professional account, then retry your post.

Account temporarily restricted

Error message: "Whoops! It looks like your account may be temporarily restricted. Please login directly to the Instagram app, add your birthdate to Instagram. Head back to Buffer and Refresh your channel."

Why this happens: Instagram has temporarily restricted this account, usually due to a violation of Instagram's Community Guidelines or Terms of Use.

What to do:

  1. Log into your account in the Instagram app and follow any on-screen instructions to re-enable it.
  2. Once restored, head back to your Buffer.com dashboard, click Manage Channels, and refresh your channel.
  3. Retry your post.

Instagram anti-spam mechanism triggered

Error messages:

  • "Oops! We ran into issues publishing your post. Please edit the post, alter the text in the caption, re-name the video file, and create a brand new post."
  • "Oops! Please edit the post - alter the copy/text, re-name the video file, and create a brand new post."

Why this happens: Instagram's anti-spam mechanism was triggered. Instagram intentionally doesn't share the specific reason to prevent people from circumventing their system.

What to do:

  1. Copy the caption from the failed post.
  2. Create a new post in Buffer and paste the caption in.
  3. If the post includes a video, rename the video file to something simple like video1 and re-upload it to the new post.
  4. Review and adjust the following if applicable:
    • Edit the caption wording
    • Swap out or reduce hashtags
    • Remove any links from the caption (use your link in bio instead)
    • Replace or remove the attached image
  5. Send the new post and delete the failed one.

Media download timed out

Error message: "Error: Oops! A timeout occurred while downloading the media. Please create a new post and re-upload the attached media."

Why this happens: It took too long to download the media attached to the post and the request timed out.

What to do:

  1. Copy the caption from the failed post.
  2. Create a new post in Buffer and paste the caption in.
  3. Rename the video file to something simple like video1 and re-upload it to the new post.
  4. Send the new post and delete the failed one.

Instagram limiting this post

Error message: "Error: Oops! Instagram is limiting this post from being published. Please edit the post content and try again."

Why this happens: Instagram has put a temporary hold on publishing from this account via the API. This can be triggered by a combination of factors including too many hashtags, too many @ mentions, repeated use of the same hashtags or mentions across multiple posts, incorrect location data, or URL links in the caption.

What to do:

  1. Create a new post in Buffer.
  2. Reduce the number of hashtags and use fresh ones.
  3. Remove any URL links from the caption or first comment — Instagram treats these as spam.
  4. Wait 24 hours before attempting to publish again.

Tagged account is private or does not exist

Error message: "Oops, we couldn't share this image to Instagram because you tagged an account that is either private or does not exist. Would you be up for checking the tagged usernames to make sure they are all publicly accessible?"

Why this happens: One or more of the usernames tagged in the post is either private, doesn't exist, or contains a typo.

What to do: Review the tagged username(s) in your post, correct any typos, and make sure all tagged accounts are public before retrying.

Instagram API bug — retry the post

Error message: "So sorry this post hit an Instagram API bug that is being investigated. Retrying this post might sometimes do the trick."

Why this happens: The media wasn't ready for publishing when the post was sent.

What to do: Wait a few minutes and retry the failed post.

Daily posting limit reached

Error message: "The daily posting limit for this channel has been reached! Please try reducing the amount of times per day in your schedule and try again later."

Why this happens: Instagram allows a maximum of 25 posts within a 24-hour period. You've hit that limit.

What to do: Wait before publishing additional posts. For more details, see Instagram's Content Publishing Limitations.

Media file is too large or too long

Error message: "Oops! The size of the attached media is a bit too large, or it is too long if it's a video. Please remove the attached media, upload a smaller-sized one, then retry."

Why this happens: The image or video exceeds Instagram's file size or length limits. Images must be under 8MB.

What to do: Resize or compress the media, re-upload it to Buffer, and retry the post. For full video specs, see Instagram's video specifications.

Facebook requiring extra permissions to publish

Error message: "Yikes! Facebook is requiring some extra permissions in order to publish. Please complete the Page Publishing Authorization steps here."

Why this happens: Facebook requires admins of high-reach Pages to complete a Page Publishing Authorization process to verify authenticity before publishing is allowed.

What to do:

  1. Log into the Facebook profile with full Admin permissions for the Facebook Page linked to your Instagram account.
  2. Visit Facebook's Page Publishing Authorization page and follow the steps provided.
  3. Once complete, refresh your Instagram channel in Buffer and retry the failed post.

⚠️ If you've completed the steps above and still see this error:

  • Confirm you're logged in as a Facebook profile that's an Admin for the Page.
  • Make sure two-factor authentication is enabled for all Admins within Business Manager.
  • Refresh the channel in Buffer and try again.

No Instagram accounts connected to that Facebook account

Error message: "Whoops! We couldn't find any Instagram accounts connected to that Facebook account."

Why this happens: Buffer is missing certain permissions from the Facebook Page connected to your Instagram account.

What to do: Check that your Facebook account is set to Admin of the Facebook Page linked to Instagram and retry the connection.

Unsupported aspect ratio

Error message: "Instagram doesn't support all aspect ratios when posting through third-party tools. Crop your images to post automatically, or use Notify Me to finish posting on mobile."

Why this happens: The media attached to this post falls outside Instagram's accepted aspect ratio ranges.

What to do: Ensure your media meets Instagram's requirements before re-uploading to Buffer:

  • Images must be between 4:5 and 1.91:1
  • Stories and Reels should be 9:16

For more detail, see Instagram's accepted aspect ratio ranges.

Instagram is restricting this post

Error message: "Oops! Instagram is restricting this post from being published. Please edit the post content and try again."

Why this happens: Instagram considers the content to be spam and is blocking it from publishing.

What to do: Reach out to Instagram directly to resolve the issue, as this restriction is applied by Instagram and can't be overridden from Buffer's side.

Video format not supported

Error message: "Uh oh! The video you attached is in a format Instagram does not support. Please ensure the video is a .MP4 or .mov format and the bitrate is under 5 MBps. Re-upload the video and try again."

Why this happens: The video format, size, or bitrate isn't supported by Instagram.

What to do: Edit the video to meet Instagram's video specifications, re-upload it to Buffer, and retry the post. If the video already meets Instagram's requirements, try changing the thumbnail to the default thumbnail before retrying.

📝 Seeing a different error? Get in touch at hello@buffer.com and let us know the error message you see — we'll be happy to help!

Did this answer your question? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.