By Since its birth in 2016, the real-time Instagram live feature has become so popular that it is almost impossible to imagine Instagram without it. Live streaming is now one of the must have’s and must be watched features that no Instagram user wishes to miss. However, there have been times when users experienced frustration using live stories and complained about the problems they faced.
As the Instagram live is a real-time and immediate feature, missing it can be of great pain, especially if your best friend is holding a Live on a special event of her life and you cannot join her, all because of some pesky bugs. But don’t worry! We have some quick solutions to help you fix Instagram problems. First, let’s see what challenges you might face when using live stories.
Why can’t I go live on Instagram
Recently many Instagram users report that they can’t go live on Instagram. The reason why you face problems using Instagram live is due to Instagram features, bugs, or phone bugs.
To join to an Instagram live video you should have two-person feature in your Instagram account.
As you see in the picture the username of each viewer is listed to choose from. If the viewer is able to join (they have the two-person feature rolled out to their Instagram account), their account name will be listed beneath their username. If you cannot use the two-person video, instead of their account name, it will read “Unable to join.”
Common issue you face while going live are:
- Unable to join
- You might be unable to see your friends’ Live streaming, or you see it with delay.
- You fail when going live.
- Your live video cannot be displayed for your friends.
- The live feature on your Instagram disappears altogether.
These are the most common issues you might face using Instagram live, but some people are also experiencing other problems. Here we want to fix them.
Fix Instagram live not working
There are a few tips to get the problem fixed. They include:
- Restart your application. Close the Instagram app and restart it again. Most of the times, this sets a lot of problems. But if restarting your application didn’t work, then see the next solution.
- Restart your phone. At more severe times, a phone refreshing will do. This will allow a new start to your Phone’s operating system, and most bugs are fixed this way. Plus, powering off your device ensures that the Instagram app has been closed completely. Again not working? Go to the next line.
- Log into your account on another device, If restarting your app nor your phone helped. If your account is working on another device correctly, the case is most likely that your phone is the main problem. In such a situation, you must repair the telephone through the original company’s agency or a phone hardware specialist.
- See if any update has been released for your device. Head to the App Store (for iOS) or Play Store (for Android) and look for the Instagram application if there are any updates to the app, download and install them. The new update may fix the bug.
- Uninstall Instagram from your phone and re-install it again, If none of the above solutions worked.
- Contact Instagram. If this final solution didn’t work, then your last resort is to contact Instagram and ask them to help you.
How to contact Instagram?
There are two ways to contact Instagram:
- Go to Instagram help center and look for the problem you are facing using Instagram live. Most of the times, similar problems have happened to other users, so Instagram has created a page to explain how to fix that problem. Enter the keyword “Instagram live” in the search box and see what solutions are provided for you by Instagram.
- On the application tap “Settings,” then “Help” and finally “Report a problem.” A window appears, and you should select the last option “Report a problem.” Next page is where you can name your problem and leave upload screenshot if necessary. Finally, tap “submit.”
There are times when Instagram is facing some issues on the server-side. So if Instagram live is not working look for news and updates on google to see if they have announced any question regarding that. If this is the case, then you have no other choice to wait until they announce the problem fixed.
How to download live Instagram videos?
Since people could go live on Instagram, it is been an issue for fans and followers to watch the live later or increasingly.
If you are using iPhone, you can use its record screen! Though, in many cases the screen goes black, when you record an Instagram video because of Instagram privacy setting.
You can still use any other screen recorder, to record all Instagram live video you are watching on your phone.
Instagram users can save the live videos on their Instagram feed for followers to watch later. However, many of them will not do this because of many concerns like their privacy. There are some other tools available that you can use to record the live video from mobile or desktop.
If you are using desktop there are many tools available like SnagIt screen recorder. You can install and start recording the screen while watching a live video.
If you are going to record the live video on mobile phone, you can also search the app for android. However, iOS users can use the free tool available on their iPhone.
How to record Instagram live videos on iPhone
- Go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls, then tap + next to Screen Recording.
- Back to the phone home, and Swipe up from the bottom. On iPhone X or later or iPad with iOS 12 or later, or iPad, swipe down from the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Press deeply on Recorder icon and wait for the three-second countdown.
- If you want to stop the recording, swipe up again and tap on the icon.
- It will save the video shortly to the galley (depends on the length of the video).
How to go live on Instagram on app?
To start a live video on Instagram:
- Open Instagram app
- Login to your account
- Tap + at the top or swipe right anywhere in Feed.
- Scroll to Live at the bottom, then tap Live icon (red waves).
- The number of viewers appears at the top of the screen and comments appear at the bottom.
- You can add a comment by tapping Comment at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap a comment and tap Pin Comment to pin it so that viewers can see it more easily.
- When you’re done, tap End in the top right then tap to confirm. From there, you can tap Save icon in the top left to save it to your camera roll, or share it to IGTV.
Keep in mind that comments, likes, etc. are not saved when you save a live video. It may take a minute for your live video to save to your phone, especially for longer videos.
How to manage your live Instagram video?
- To turn comments off, tap three-dot icon at the bottom, then tap Turn Off Commenting. Keep in mind that any keyword filters you’ve turned on will also apply to comments on your live video.
- To turn off requests to go live with you, tap three-dot icon at the bottom, then tap Turn Off Requests to Go Live.
- If you’re on an iOS device, you can tap rectangular gallery icon in the bottom right to add photos and videos from your camera roll to your live video. To stop displaying your photo or video, swipe right on your camera roll below and tap stop icon. Keep in mind that only you can see the photos and videos in your camera roll while you’re sharing a live video.
How to go live on Instagram from computer?
Indeed, you can only watch Instagram live from desktop. There are some tools available on the internet that claim you can go live on Instagram from their dashboard. However, many of these tools are no longer working because of Instagram limits (that does not allow third party apps provide such services).
But you watch live videos on laptop or desktop.
To watch live video from desktop:
- Open Instagram on a browser
- Login to your account by entering the username and password
- Once you logged in, right from dashboard on the right side you can see who are sharing live video
- Click on any live videos you want to watch
Done!
