How To Fix Instagram Stories Displaying with Bad Quality

Have you been struggling with poor video and image quality when uploading posts on Instagram stories, even when the original media is of a high standard? You’re not alone. This can be frustrating because the app is primarily designed for photo and video sharing. High-resolution images are eye-catching and generate visual interest, which is necessary for users on the platform. If your content on Instagram stories is of bad quality, you’ll likely lose out on viewership. Thankfully, the issue can be solved.

Read on to learn the causes and solutions to this problem.

Troubleshooting Instagram Stories Bad Quality

Instagram stories are one of the most trending features on the app right now. It’s the first thing most users scroll through immediately after launching the app. As such, it’s essential that you upload high-quality stories. There are many reasons why your Instagram stories may be losing quality. Here are some of the likely causes and how to remedy them.

Inspect Your Internet Connection

An unstable internet connection can affect the uploading or downloading process. Your Instagram stories can appear blurry when they aren’t fully loaded. Instagram, by default, also tends to reduce the media quality during uploads if your internet connection isn’t stable. You can check your internet speed by using apps like Speed Test. Users can connect their devices to a reliable Wi-Fi or switch to mobile data to see whether the issue will be resolved.

Instagram Server Issues

Though rare, Instagram stories’ bad quality problems may stem from the platform. A malfunctioning server can interfere with your image and video quality. It’s best to check official Instagram communication channels, like the app’s Twitter handle, to ascertain whether its operations are down. If this is the case, you’ll have to wait for the platform to resolve this issue.

Update the App

If there are no issues with the server, but you’ve noticed that most users are complaining of bad-quality Instagram stories, it may be best to check for the latest updates. Outdated app versions might interfere with your uploads. Instagram typically releases an update to fix any issues they encounter with user experience. Here’s how you can update your app:

1. Go to Google Play or the App Store using these links.
   
2. Select “Update.”
   

Once you install the app’s latest version, all bugs will be fixed, and you’ll enjoy improved performance.

Clear App Cache on Android

While cache helps you save time by allowing you to quickly load pages and elements that you frequently visit on the app, it can introduce bugs. This is because the cache is a catch-all memory depository for all system processes, so it can grow out of control or get corrupted. It’s recommended that you clear your cache whenever you encounter low-quality Instagram stories. Unfortunately, this feature is unavailable for iPhones and iPads. The following steps will guide you through this task for Android:

1. Go to “Settings.”
   
2. Selects “Apps” or “Apps and Notifications” based on your phone’s model.
   
3. Locate “Instagram” under installed apps.
   
4. Go to “Storage.”
   
5. Select “Clear Cache.”
   

You’ll know the process is complete once the clear cache button turns gray. The steps might change depending on your Android build. For iPhone users, the only way to clear the app is by deleting and reinstalling it.

Adjust Instagram Settings

Instagram typically consumes a high amount of mobile data due to the media involved. Instagram provides a setting to help cap your mobile data. However, this data saver feature can affect the quality of your Instagram stories upload. Here’s how you can turn off this feature:

1. Go to your Instagram “Profile” icon.
   
2. Tap on the “Hamburger” menu.
   
3. Choose “Settings.”
   
4. Select “Data use and media quality.”
   
5. Toggle off the “Data Saver” option.
   
6. Scroll down to “Media upload quality.”
   
7. Toggle on the “Upload at highest quality” option.
   

Note that these settings may slow the upload process, but better quality is guaranteed.

Adjust Camera Settings

It’s essential that you use the correct camera mode and settings for you to capture high-quality videos and images for your IG stories. If you notice that you’re having issues with the quality of your stories, it adjusting your device’s camera setting is a smart choice. Here’s how you can do this:

1. Launch your device’s default “Camera” app.
   
2. Tap on the cog icon displayed using a gear symbol at the top right corner of the camera screen.
   
3. Set the picture and video size to the highest quality.
   

Use Instagram camera

Unwittingly, the quality of your camera might just be too good for Instagram media formatting standards. As a result, the app may compress it, leading to quality loss. You can try using the Instagram camera since it needs more trimming hence no quality loss. However, you should keep in mind that choosing to use the app’s camera won’t provide you with image processing features that can enhance the quality.

Avoid Doing Too Much

IG offers lots of options for customizing your stories. But, stuffing your media with many elements can depreciate its visual quality. Items like GIFs, music, and stickers increase the story size. Remember, the app does have an image and video size cap. If the stories you post exceed this format, IG will automatically compress them, resulting in bad quality. The best solution is to minimize the customization options you use in a story or do away with them to see whether you can resolve the issue.

Resize Your Images Before Uploading

If you don’t want to use the app’s camera, you’ll have to scale down your images before uploading them. You can use third-party applications like Snapseed and Adobe Lightroom to help resize your pictures and improve their quality. This will help you avoid the bad quality issue that crops up after Instagram compresses stories.

Breaching of Instagram’s Community Guidelines

Almost all social interactive apps Publish stringent community guidelines to govern and ensure good use of the platform. IG is no exception. Your stories will likely get blurred out if they violate the platform rules and regulations. Content that infringes on a copyright act, bears sensitive graphic content, or relates to bullying are some of the items that can get blurred out. The best way to fix this issue is to seek permission from copyright holders or revise content to comply with Instagram community guidelines.

Delete and Reinstall Instagram

If none of the solutions highlighted above has worked, you may have to delete your app and reinstall it. Hopefully, a clean copy of IG’s latest version can help address the issue. Take note that this method will erase all the saved data and IG login credentials. The steps below will help you achieve this task:

1. Locate the IG app icon.
   
2. Hold down the icon until an “Uninstall” option pops up for Android or “Delete App” on iPhone.
   
3. Tap on either of the options depending on your device model.
4. Select the option “Uninstall” option once more to confirm.
   
5. Reinstall the app.

You can then sign in and re-upload the media to see whether the issue is fixed.

Bid Bad Quality Instagram Stories Goodbye!

Instagram stories are a beautiful way to share your life’s momentous highlights with friends, family, and the online community. But your stories’ bad image and video quality may get in the way. Hopefully, one of the solutions in this article will help you fix these quality issues. If not, reporting the problem to the Instagram support team will likely do the trick. Be aware that the images and videos you want to upload to your Instagram stories must follow the app’s story format. Your Instagram story size should be 1080 x 1920p and have an aspect ratio of 9:16. Following these guidelines can help to maintain visual quality.

Which trick in this list has worked for you? Do you know any other tips that can help solve this problem? Let us know in the comments section below.