Use this article when an Instagram message fails, gets stuck, or doesn't publish the way you expected. It applies to Instagram Business and Creator accounts on Starter, Professional and Suite.
Check whether CoSchedule is still trying
When Instagram doesn't accept a message because of a temporary error, CoSchedule tries again, up to 7 attempts over about 45 minutes. Permanent errors fail right away.
- A yellow warning on the message means CoSchedule is still retrying. Wait for it to finish.
- A red error means the message has failed. It won't retry on its own.
Rescheduling a message while it's still retrying starts its attempts over. Wait until it publishes or fails.
Fix a failed message
- Open the failed message and read the error.
- Fix the cause. The sections below cover the common ones.
- Check your Instagram account to make sure the post didn't go out anyway, so it doesn't publish twice.
- Reschedule the message. Failed messages don't resend by themselves.
If the red error says the message was scheduled too far in the past, it couldn't be sent during the retry window. Reschedule it for a new time.
Instagram failed to process the media for this message
This error shows after CoSchedule's last attempt fails because Instagram couldn't process the image or video.
- Open the failed message.
- Remove the media.
- Upload the media again, so only the new upload is attached.
- Reschedule the message.
Also check that the media meets Instagram's size, format, aspect ratio and length requirements. If it still fails after you upload it again, contact support.
The message is stuck on still processing
A message can show that CoSchedule or Instagram is still processing its media. CoSchedule keeps retrying during that time. If it still fails after the last attempt, upload the media again and reschedule.
If every Instagram message shows this at the same time, Instagram is probably having a problem on its side. Wait until it's resolved, then reschedule the messages that failed.
During a network outage, don't reconnect your profiles or reset passwords. Wait until the outage is over.
Too many posts in 24 hours
Instagram limits how many posts an account can publish through tools like CoSchedule in 24 hours (Meta currently documents 100). Posts from CoSchedule and any other tool count toward the limit. Posts over the limit fail. Reschedule them for later.
A collaborator's username wasn't found
If Instagram can't find a collaborator username when the message is sent, the message fails. Check the spelling of each username in the Instagram Publishing section, then reschedule.
The post is missing something you added
Instagram doesn't let any scheduling tool add these when it publishes directly:
- Music or other audio from Instagram
- Polls
- Trial reels
- More than 10 items in a carousel
- Collaborators on Stories
- Text on Stories
To add music or other in-app features, publish with mobile push notifications and finish the post in the Instagram app.
The first comment didn't post
If only the first comment fails, the post is already live. Don't reschedule the message, or the post will publish twice. Add the comment yourself in Instagram.
Any other error
Look up the error in Social message errors and what they mean. If it isn't covered there or above:
- Wait for CoSchedule's remaining attempts to finish.
- If the message still fails, reschedule it once.
- If it fails again, contact support and include a link to the message.
Post right away instead
If you need the post up now, publish it in the Instagram app yourself. First make sure the CoSchedule message has failed, or set it to Draft, so it can't publish a second time later.