Fix: Instagram Notifications Not Working on iPhone

Looking for a way to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone? If you feel you’ve been missing out on IG notifications or something isn’t working right, you definitely want to get it resolved ASAP! 

After all, getting notifications from Instagram is a great way to stay in touch with the right users, see the content you love, as well as know when a client, follower, or target audience member sends you messages or interacts with your content. 

We’ve had some trouble in the past with Instagram notifications not working on iPhone, so this is the post for you. We’re going to give you 12 comprehensive methods to solve any issues and restore your notifications. 

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms on a global scale, but that doesn’t absolve it from having its own tech issues every once in a while. Same goes for Apple — the iPhone is certainly one of the biggest smartphones ever invented, but it still glitches out every now and then. 

Let’s get started in figuring out how to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone. Onward and upward! 

How to Fix Notifications Not Working on iPhone 

Quick response times and engagements are of the utmost importance these days on Instagram, so if you’re missing your notifications, that’s no good. Here we’ll help you to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. 

If you’re not getting notifications on iPhone, follow the below steps. Here’s a summary of what’ to come: 

  • Check the Notifications setting on the Instagram app to make sure that you have your notifications turned on and you’re getting the correct ones. Navigate to Profile > Settings > Notifications. 
  • Ensure you update your Instagram app and have the most current version. 
  • Restart your phone 
  • Clear your Instagram cache 
  • Ensure you have enough storage on your iPhone 
  • Check your iPhone notification settings. 

How to Turn on Instagram Notifications from the App

  1. Open Instagram and log into your account 
  2. Tap the Profile icon in the bottom-right corner 
  3. Tap Settings 
  4. Check the notification settings that you want to be activated and make sure that they’re configured to your liking 

How to Turn on Instagram Notifications from iPhone 

  1. Tap Settings on your phone (gray cog icon) 
  2. Find the Notifications setting (red icon with bell and dot) 
  3. Scroll through the listed apps to find Instagram 
  4. Toggle on Allow Notifications 
  5. Set your notification preferences to your liking 

Now that we’ve got an overview, we’ll go through some troubleshooting options for how to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone. 

Method 1: Restart Your Device 

Restart iPhone

One of the best ways to fix any problems that you’ve having on iOS is to restart your device. 

  1. In order to do so on newer iPhone models, you’ll need to press the power button on the right side at the same time as the volume increase button on the left side; push and hold them at the same time, and your screen will display the Slide to Power Off message. 
  2. Slide the power button on the screen from the left side to the right side to turn off your phone. Wait for at least 30 seconds; after 1-2 minutes max, you can turn the device back on. 
  3. To turn your phone on, just hold the power button to the right side. 

Remember, when you turn your iPhone off, all of the open operations will stop working and running on your phone. If there were any glitches or malfunctions, they are likely to be reset when you give your phone time to power off and reset itself. 

When you restart your iphone again, it’ll boot back up with a fresh restart.

Method 2: Update Your Phone 

Update iPhone

Apple frequently releases new updates for iOS, so you should always stay up-to-date to make sure everything is functioning properly. Updates often include bug fixes or other adjustments that optimize the functionality of your phone. 

Here’s how to update your iPhone: 

  1. Open the Settings on your iPhone
  2. Find the General menu and tap to open it 
  3. Tap Software Update 
  4. If there are any updates, you can download and install them here. You can also turn on automatic updates so that your software will remain updated at all times. 

Method 3: Check Your Instagram App Notifications 

If you’re having problems and want to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone, you may need to visit the Instagram app and make sure your settings are correct on that end. 

  1. Open the Instagram app 
  2. Log into your account 
  3. Tap on your Profile icon at the bottom right of the page 
  4. Tap the 3 horizontal lines at the top right of your profile page
  5. Visit Settings and choose Notifications 
  6. Make sure notifications are enabled

Method 4: Check if “Do Not Disturb” is on 

Do Not Disturb iPhone

If at one point you turned your phone’s Do Not Disturb setting on, you likely shut off your Instagram notifications. The DND option on iPhone blocks all incoming calls and notifications so that you can focus on important tasks or anything else going on around you. 

On the new iOS, when you open the phone’s control center by sliding down from the top right corner, you’ll see a section that says Focus, which includes a moon icon

Tap the Focus button and you’ll see the first option, Do Not Disturb. Clicking on that will activate the setting. When you visit the control center again, you’ll see the Focus section says Do Not Disturb on. 

To turn it off, follow the same steps and you’ll likely fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone, especially if you’d turned on the DND option without realizing it. 

Method 5: See if Your Phone is in Silent Mode

Sometimes you may need to mute your iPhone and make sure that it doesn’t ring or make noise. This can be done by toggling the switch on the left side of your device, or even lowering the volume all the way to the bottom. 

Check to make sure that your phone isn’t in silent mode and that may help you to hear your notifications when they come in. 

Method 6: Check Your Network Connection 

Many functions of apps on iPhone require an internet connection or data in order to update and provide the most current information. If you’re not connected to a stable network or don’t have reception in an area, it may prevent you from receiving your Instagram notifications. 

Verify that you have a solid network connection; sometimes, if you connect to a wifi network automatically that doesn’t have a strong signal, that can also interrupt your incoming messages and notifications, so always turn wifi off if you’re around unstable networks that don’t work correctly. 

Method 7: Logout of Your Instagram account 

We’re just about halfway through our list of how to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone. If the above solutions have helped you, great! We’re glad. If not, don’t get discouraged just yet— we’ve still got a few to go. 

One thing you may want to do is log out of your Instagram account and then log back in to see if that helps to refresh things. You can log out of your Instagram account by visiting your Instagram profile icon > Menu > Settings > Log Out (last option at the very bottom of the screen). 

 Instagram account

Once you log out, wait about a minute and then log back in.

Method 8: Check Notification Setting from a Different Phone

If you have another device logged into your Instagram account as well, you may have changed the Instagram settings and not realized that it affects all devices that you’re signed in from. That means if you turn off Instagram notifications from within the Instagram app on your iPad or desktop, or even from your business phone, it will affect your iPhone notifications as well. Make sure that you double-check all settings to ensure you didn’t have a hiccup somewhere. 

Method 9: Disable Low Power Mode 

iPhones now have a low power mode in order to save battery life and the current charge that you have. If you’re low on battery, you may always opt to turn on the low power mode to optimize the amount of time you can use your phone before it dies. 

When you enable this low power mode, some apps won’t be refreshing in the background as they normally do, which may be the reason for your Instagram notifications not working on iPhone. 

To receive your notifications again, you’ll need to toggle off the feature. You can do so by navigating to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode switch 

Disable low power mode

Method 10: Enable Background App Refresh 

Many people may not know that this function even exists, but this could be one of the reasons you feel that you’re not getting Instagram notifications on iPhone. In order to enable the background refresh setting, you can: 

  1. Visit your Settings on iPhone
  2. Tap General 
  3. Find Background App Refresh and tap it 
  4. Turn on the setting at the very top of the menu. 

As you can see from this menu, the background app refresh option will be disabled when in low power mode, which could potentially have an impact on your Instagram notifications not working on iPhone. 

Enable background refresh

Method 11: Reinstall Instagram and Give Permissions for Notifications on iOS

Sometimes apps have such frequent glitches that it’s in your best interest to uninstall them completely and then reinstall them. When you first download an app and open it, you’ll receive a notification that asks if you want to turn on notifications. 

If you hit Not Now when you first installed Instagram, that’s likely why you’re not getting any notifications. This can be reset via your iPhone settings; you can turn on the notifications there as we discussed in one of the first sections. 

notification permission

If you can’t figure it out and just want to start over, you can uninstall the device by pressing and holding on the Instagram app; once all of your apps start to shake, you can click the X that appears over the Instagram app to remove it. 

After you wait a bit, go back to the app store and reinstall it. Then, you may get the prompt when you open the app for the first time again. 

Method 12: Restore Your Device 

This should be your last and final option, because it’s going to completely wipe clean your whole device. You’ll be able to restore from an iCloud backup, but make sure you’ve done this so you don’t lose valuable photos, videos, and content from your phone. 

Your phone will be reset completely when you do this, removing all data and settings unless you login and restore from an iCloud backup. If possible, use one of the other ways to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone; as a last resort, you can try this. 

Fix Apple iPhone Instagram Notification Not Working iPhone 13

iPhone 13 is the latest model of iPhone to come out; even though the phone is new with different features and hardware, many of Apple’s iPhones work the same because they are served by the same iOS. 

This is why it’s really important to make sure that no matter which iPhone model you have, if you want to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone, you should ensure that your iOS is the most current version. 

You should then follow the same steps that we’ve listed above, including: 

  • Check Do Not Disturb 
  • Turn on Instagram app notifications in both the app itself and on your iPhone 13 or other device
  • Restart your iPhone 
  • Reset device settings or restore iPhone 

Follow the methods we’ve outlined one by one and you’ll be able to fix Instagram notifications not working on iPhone! 

Final Thoughts: How to Fix Instagram Notifications iPhone 

We hope this was helpful in helping you fix your Instagram notifications issues. Whether you use an iPhone 13 or other iPhone model, there’s bound to be a solution above that could get your notifications coming to your phone once again. 

If you’re looking to gain more reach for your Instagram content and see even more notifications pop up from likes, comments, and messages, try out Growthoid’s free trial today! 

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