Some Instagram users who are pretty social usually update their profile pictures every now and then. Recently, it has been brought to our notice that many Instagram users are unable to change their Instagram profile picture.
When they tried changing the Instagram profile picture with a new one, it threw different error messages like “Couldn’t Change Photo”, “Sorry, we couldn’t update your profile picture. Please confirm you have an internet connection and try again in a moment”, and so on.
There could be a number of possible reasons why these errors occur while trying to change the Instagram profile picture and some of them are listed below.
- Outdated Instagram app
- Poor Internet Connection
- Software glitch within the Instagram app
- The profile picture is in an invalid format
After researching these above key points, we have compiled a set of fixes in the article below which will help the users in resolving this issue and changing their profile picture successfully.
Fix 1 – Force Close the Instagram app
If there is any software glitch within the Instagram app, it will throw such issues as discussed above in the article. So force closing the Instagram app from the background applications and then restarting your iPhone might help fix this issue using the steps below.
Step 1: Open the App switcher on your iPhone by swiping from the left side bottom exponentially towards the right side.
Step 2: Once the App switcher appears, find the Instagram app from the list of background apps running on the iPhone.
Step 3: Swipe up the Instagram app to force close it.
Step 4: After the Instagram app is closed, restart your iPhone by shutting it down first.
Step 5: Then turn on the iPhone by pressing together the volume up and power buttons till Apple’s icon appears on the screen.
Step 6: After iPhone turns on, check whether you are able to change the profile picture on Instagram without any problem.
Fix 2 – Update the Instagram app
If the Instagram application is not updated, this might be the reason behind this error. So to fix this issue, please update your Instagram app using the steps below.
Step 1: Long press on the App Store icon from your iPhone home screen.
Step 2: Then select the Updates option from the context menu as shown below.
Step 3: This opens the Account page on the App Store.
Step 4: Scroll down and check if there are any updates available for different applications installed on the iPhone.
Step 5: If yes, please click on Update All.
Step 6: This starts updating the applications whose updates are available.
Fix 3 – Log Out of your Instagram Account and Log In again
Some iPhone users have reported that they fixed this issue by logging out of their Instagram account from the app and then logging in again after some time. So let us also try doing this way by following the steps explained below.
Step 1: Open the Instagram app on your iPhone.
Step 2: Then tap on the profile icon on the bottom right end as shown below.
Step 3: Next, you have to click on the three-line menu option on the top right side.
Step 4: Now select the Settings option by tapping on it.
Step 5: Scroll down the Settings page to the bottom and tap on Log out <username of your Instagram>.
Step 6: It will pop up a small window and you need to click Remember so that the iPhone remembers your account information when you try to log in later.
Step 7: Then finally, tap on Log Out.
Step 8: It starts logging you out of your Instagram account and takes you to the initial login screen.
Step 9: After some time, click on Log In for logging into your Instagram account.
Fix 4 – Change the Profile Picture from the Web Browser
Sometimes if there is a problem with the account or the Instagram mobile app, you can always try changing the profile picture from any web browser from a PC or iPhone. Try updating your profile picture through the browser app using the steps below.
Step 1: Open any web browser app on your iPhone like Chrome, Safari, etc.
Step 2: Visit the Instagram website on your web browser app.
Step 3: Then enter the username and password of your Instagram account and log in to Instagram.
Step 4: After logging into your Instagram, tap on the profile icon at the bottom of the Instagram webpage as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 5: Then you have to click on Edit Profile at the top of your profile.
Step 6: Next tap on the Change profile photo option.
Step 7: There appears a pop-up on the screen and you can click on Upload Photo.
Step 8: Select any photo from Photo Library, Choose File, or readily click a photo on your iPhone by clicking the Take Photo option from the list.
Step 9: After selecting a photo, it uploads and changes the profile picture for your Instagram profile.
Fix 5 – Remove the Old Picture and Upload a New Picture
Sometimes, such a problem as discussed above arises when the main reason is the photo by itself. So try removing the existing profile picture from your profile and upload a new picture from your directory on your iPhone.
Step 1: Open your Instagram app on your iPhone.
Step 2: Tap on the Profile icon on the bottom right corner and select the Edit Profile option at the top of the Profile as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 3: On the Edit Profile page, tap on Edit picture or avatar below your current profile picture as shown.
Step 4: There appears a popup context menu.
Step 5: You have to click on the Remove current picture option from the menu as shown.
Step 6: It starts to remove your current profile picture and once done, choose a photo from the library by tapping on the Choose from library option.
Step 7: You can also choose any picture from your Facebook account by tapping on Import from Facebook,
Step 8: Or you can tap on Take photo for clicking a new picture instantly and upload them to make it your current profile picture.
Additional Fixes
Check for the Internet connection
Changing or uploading any photos, videos, etc. on the internet via any application needs a strong internet connection on the smart device. So this kind of problem arises mostly due to an unstable internet connection and you can check it by accessing any video on the YouTube app or from the browser.
If the internet connection is poor, you can try restarting the Wi-Fi router or switching the internet from Wi-Fi to Mobile data by going to the Settings page and clicking on the Mobile Data option, and enabling it.
To eliminate any network signal glitches on your iPhone, you can enable the Airplane mode and then disable it after waiting for some time. This will refresh the mobile data network over your iPhone.
Use the Profile Picture in the correct format
When photos are clicked on any smartphone, this issue will not arise as such but the picture that you might have downloaded from the internet or received from others is not in the valid image format, update photo issues occur on Instagram or other social media applications.
Therefore, we suggest our users try checking the photo’s format before trying to change the profile picture and convert the photo into a valid format for resolving this issue.