How to Fix Black Messages on Instagram?

Why I am seeing the black strip instead of the text message, How to Fix Black Messages on Instagram, I’m not able to see the DMs which I have received on the platform –

Instagram is one of the popular photo and video-sharing social media platforms owned by Meta. It has millions of active users around the world.

These days, users are facing a problem of “Black Messages or DMs on Instagram”. This means users are only seeing a black strip in place of the text message on the chats.

So, if you are also one of those who are facing the problem of Black DMs, you just need to read the article till the end as we have added some best ways to fix the issue.

Table of Contents

How to Fix Black Messages or DMs on Instagram?

If you are seeing the black strip in place of the text message then you are not alone as many users are facing the same problem on their accounts. In this article, we have listed the ways to fix the issue.

Restart Your Device

The first way to fix the problem is to restart your device as restarting a smartphone fixes most of the issues a user faced. If you are seeing the black strip instead of messages on Instagram then you need to restart your smartphone.

So, Restart your device and see if the problem is resolved or not. To restart your Android phone, simply hold the Power button and follow the on-screen instruction to restart your device.

If restarting your device does not resolve the error then move to the next solution.

Clear Cache Data to Fix Black Messages on Instagram

Another way to fix the issue is to clear the cache files. Clearing the Cache data of an app fixes most of the problems a user faced on it. Here’s how you can clear the cached files of Instagram on an Android phone.

Tap and hold the Instagram app icon then click on the ‘i’ icon.
Here, you will see Clear Data or Mange Storage or Storage Usage, tap on it.
Finally, tap on Clear Cache to clear cache data.

However, iOS users don’t have an option to clear the cache data. Instead, they have an Offload App feature that removes all the temporary files and reinstalls the app. Here’s how you can do it on your iPhone.

Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Navigate to General >> iPhone Storage.
Here, you will see Instagram, click on it.
Now, tap on the Offload app option.
Confirm it by tapping on Offload again.
Finally, click on the Reinstall app option.
Once Offloaded, your issue should be fixed.

Force Stop the App

Force closing an app also fixes most of the problems a user faced on it. Here’s how you can Force Stop the Instagram app on an Android device.

Press and hold the Instagram icon.
Click on the ‘i’ icon to open App Info.
Here, you will see a Force Stop option, tap on it.
Wait for a few seconds then restart the app to see whether it’s working or not.

If you are an iOS user, here’s how you can force close the Instagram app.

On the home screen of the iPhone, Swipe up from the bottom and hold.
Swipe up the Instagram app window to remove it.
Reopen the app and check whether the camera is working or not.

Update the Instagram App

You can also try updating the Instagram app on your device as updates come with Bug fixes and improvements. Here’s how you can update the app on your device.

Open the Google Play Store or App Store on your smartphone.
Type Instagram in the search box and hit enter.
Click on the Update button if there is any update available to download the latest version of the app.
Once updated, your issue should be fixed.

Enable Dark Mode to Fix Black Messages on Instagram

Some users have reported that they are able to see the messages by turning ON the dark mode in the application. Here’s the dedicated article on how you can enable the dark mode for Instagram on your device.

Check If Instagram is down

If you are not able to see the messages or DMs on Instagram, it’s most likely because it’s down. So, check whether Instagram servers are down or not. There are chances that the messaging feature is down. Here’s how you can check if it’s down or not.

Open a browser and head over to an outage detector website (e.g, Downdetector or IsTheServiceDown)
Once opened, search for Instagram.
Here, Check the spike in the graph. A huge spike on the graph means a lot of users are experiencing an error on Instagram and it’s most likely down.
If the Instagram servers are down, wait for some time as it can take a few hours for Instagram to resolve the issue.

Conclusion: Black Messages on Instagram

So, these are the ways by which you can fix the black messages or DMs problem on Instagram. We hope the article helped you in fixing the issue you are getting on your device.

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