Saturday, August 7, 2021
Instagram allow users to share stories to other people just like normal posts and reels. This can be done clicking the share button (paper airplane icon) on the story at the bottom-right corner of the screen and then choosing the person to whom you want to send the story. This feature is widely used on Instagram and so many people use it to share the stories they liked with their friends and closed ones.
Did someone sent you a story on Instagram via direct message and it is showing "this story is unavailable" error. This is one of the most common issue on Instagram that almost every user must have faced at least once. There is another similar issue related to Instagram stories which says "This story is no longer available". You may stumble upon this error while scrolling through the stories on your news feed.
It's really annoying when you get these errors on Instagram and you are unable to view the story. If you are not a technical person, you may not know what does these errors actually mean. That's why we came up with this tutorial to help you out. Here we have discussed why this story unavailable issue occurs on Instagram and how you can possibly fix it. If there is no way to fix it, we have also shared other workarounds that can help you to view the story which is unavailable for you.
As the name suggests, story unavailable means that the story you are looking for is no longer available. There are several reasons why you get this error in your Instagram chat when someone sends you a story via direct message. Below we have mentioned and explained all these reasons in detail -
Instagram story is available for 24 hours (i.e. 1 day) only. After this time period, it gets deleted automatically. This is one of the most common reasons for story unavailable issue on Instagram. If someone has sent you a story via direct message to your chat and it has expired, then you will get an error message which says “This story is no longer unavailable.”. You have to view that story within 24 hours when it’s posted. If you failed to see it in that time period, you won’t be able to see it again.
It is also possible that the story you are looking for has been deleted by its user. In that case also, you will get story unavailable issue on Instagram. Instagram allow users to delete their story if they no longer want to show it on their profile. There are several reasons why someone can delete their story. Maybe they have posted it by mistake or they just want to show it for specific time period. Whatever be the reason behind it, this will result into the same issue when someone will send you a story that has been deleted permanently.
Another possible reason for story unavailable issue on Instagram is that the person whose story you are trying to view might have blocked you. When someone blocks you, you can’t see their stories, highlights, posts, and basically everything on their profile. Instagram will show a message “This story is unavailable” in your chat when someone send you their story via message. Please note that we are not 100% sure about this reason, however, you can cross check it by viewing the story from different account. If you are able to see it, then most probably you have been blocked by the user and that’s why the story is unavailable on your main account.
There are two types of account on Instagram. One is public account on which everything is visible to everyone even to those people who aren’t following the person. On the other hand, the second type of account is private on which only approved followers can see the user’s posts, stories and highlights. If someone sent a story from private account, you will get story unavailable message in the chat. It’s also possible that the account was public previously but now the user switched it to private.
Sometimes Instagram can also delete the story due to some privacy violations. Although this is very rare case but it can happen when someone posts potentially inappropriate or sensitive stuff on their story. Instagram has all the rights to take down the user story if it is found to violate their community guidelines. In such cases also, you won’t be able to see the story once it’s taken down by Instagram. In some extreme cases, Instagram can also block or delete the user account permanently.
Instagram has a feature which allows users to hide people from viewing their story. In our previous guide, we have already discussed about this topic on how to hide your Instagram story from specific people. Now if the person whose story you are trying to view has already hide it from you, then Instagram will show this unavailable story error message in your chat. The other person who has sent you the story via message will be able to see it but you can’t do that as it is hidden from you.
There might be some technical glitch in the Instagram app which can also cause story unavailable issue. Either your internet connection is not working properly or you are using an older version of the Instagram app. Again this is very rare case but it can happen anyways. Make sure that you are getting good internet speed and update the Instagram app to the latest version to fix any technical issues in it.
Now you know the reasons behind this story unavailable issue on Instagram, let’s discuss how you can fix this issue and view the story -
Did someone sent you a story on Instagram via direct message and it is showing "this story is unavailable" error. This is one of the most common issue on Instagram that almost every user must have faced at least once. There is another similar issue related to Instagram stories which says "This story is no longer available". You may stumble upon this error while scrolling through the stories on your news feed.
It's really annoying when you get these errors on Instagram and you are unable to view the story. If you are not a technical person, you may not know what does these errors actually mean. That's why we came up with this tutorial to help you out. Here we have discussed why this story unavailable issue occurs on Instagram and how you can possibly fix it. If there is no way to fix it, we have also shared other workarounds that can help you to view the story which is unavailable for you.
What does “This story is unavailable” mean on Instagram?
As the name suggests, story unavailable means that the story you are looking for is no longer available. There are several reasons why you get this error in your Instagram chat when someone sends you a story via direct message. Below we have mentioned and explained all these reasons in detail -
1. The story has expired
Instagram story is available for 24 hours (i.e. 1 day) only. After this time period, it gets deleted automatically. This is one of the most common reasons for story unavailable issue on Instagram. If someone has sent you a story via direct message to your chat and it has expired, then you will get an error message which says “This story is no longer unavailable.”. You have to view that story within 24 hours when it’s posted. If you failed to see it in that time period, you won’t be able to see it again.
2. User has deleted the story
It is also possible that the story you are looking for has been deleted by its user. In that case also, you will get story unavailable issue on Instagram. Instagram allow users to delete their story if they no longer want to show it on their profile. There are several reasons why someone can delete their story. Maybe they have posted it by mistake or they just want to show it for specific time period. Whatever be the reason behind it, this will result into the same issue when someone will send you a story that has been deleted permanently.
3. You have been blocked by the user
Another possible reason for story unavailable issue on Instagram is that the person whose story you are trying to view might have blocked you. When someone blocks you, you can’t see their stories, highlights, posts, and basically everything on their profile. Instagram will show a message “This story is unavailable” in your chat when someone send you their story via message. Please note that we are not 100% sure about this reason, however, you can cross check it by viewing the story from different account. If you are able to see it, then most probably you have been blocked by the user and that’s why the story is unavailable on your main account.
4. The user has a private account
There are two types of account on Instagram. One is public account on which everything is visible to everyone even to those people who aren’t following the person. On the other hand, the second type of account is private on which only approved followers can see the user’s posts, stories and highlights. If someone sent a story from private account, you will get story unavailable message in the chat. It’s also possible that the account was public previously but now the user switched it to private.
5. Instagram has deleted the story
Sometimes Instagram can also delete the story due to some privacy violations. Although this is very rare case but it can happen when someone posts potentially inappropriate or sensitive stuff on their story. Instagram has all the rights to take down the user story if it is found to violate their community guidelines. In such cases also, you won’t be able to see the story once it’s taken down by Instagram. In some extreme cases, Instagram can also block or delete the user account permanently.
6. The user has hide their story from you
Instagram has a feature which allows users to hide people from viewing their story. In our previous guide, we have already discussed about this topic on how to hide your Instagram story from specific people. Now if the person whose story you are trying to view has already hide it from you, then Instagram will show this unavailable story error message in your chat. The other person who has sent you the story via message will be able to see it but you can’t do that as it is hidden from you.
7. Technical glitch in the Instagram app
There might be some technical glitch in the Instagram app which can also cause story unavailable issue. Either your internet connection is not working properly or you are using an older version of the Instagram app. Again this is very rare case but it can happen anyways. Make sure that you are getting good internet speed and update the Instagram app to the latest version to fix any technical issues in it.
How to fix “This story is no longer available” on Instagram
Now you know the reasons behind this story unavailable issue on Instagram, let’s discuss how you can fix this issue and view the story -
- View story after it has expired - If the story has expired and you want to view it after 24 hours, then open the profile of the person and see if they have added that story to highlights. When a story is added to highlights, it will stay on the profile permanently. If you didn’t find it in highlights, then they haven’t added it there yet. There is no way you can’t view it now.
- View deleted Instagram story - Unfortunately, it’s not possible to view the story once it is deleted by the user. There might be some problem in that story and user may upload it again so just wait and watch. That’s all you can do in this case.
- View story of the person who has blocked you - If the person has blocked you on Instagram and you still want to view their story, then use a different account. If you are not sure whatever you are blocked or not, then read this guide on how to know if you are blocked on Instagram.
- View story from the private account - If the person has private account and you aren’t following him, then send him a follow request to see their story. If you don’t want to do that, then ask your friend (who has sent you the story via message) to send you the screenshot of that story.
- View story when it is hidden from you - In this case, you can either use different account to view the story or ask the person to send you its screenshot. Make sure to do this before the story expires after 24 hours.
- Fix technical glitch in the Instagram app - To fix any technical glitch, clear the cached data of the app and force stop it once. Simply, go to Settings > Apps > Instagram and then tap the Force Stop button. After that, go to Storage and click Clear Data button. Apart from this, make sure to update the Instagram app to the latest version.