Can’t connect Instagram? Fixes by symptom

Connecting has one job: you approve Dartzo on Instagram’s own screen, Dartzo reads your account’s name and follower count, and the connection is saved. When it fails, nothing half-finished is saved — you can simply try again. Find your symptom below; they’re ordered by how often each one turns out to be the answer.

“Instagram signed you in, but wouldn’t share the account”

This is the message on the Connections page when Instagram accepted your login but refused to hand over the account’s profile. It nearly always means the account is a Personal account. Instagram lets a Personal account sign in, and then refuses every request Dartzo needs, because those permissions only exist on professional accounts.

1. 1
   Switch to Business or Creator

   In Instagram open Settings and privacy → Account type and tools, and switch to Business or Creator. It’s free, takes under a minute, and keeps your posts, followers and handle. The walkthrough is on Account requirements.
2. 2
   Connect again

   Go to Settings → Connections and press Connect Instagram. You don’t need to wait or log out first.

On the phone app the same situation reads “We couldn’t read your account details from Instagram. Try again.” The fix is the same.

I’m stuck on Instagram’s password page

If Instagram shows a plain username and password form, it’s because that browser isn’t signed in to Instagram. Dartzo doesn’t force that screen — if you’re already signed in, you go straight to the approval screen. Two common ways to end up on the form:

• You opened the Dartzo link inside the Instagram app. Instagram’s built-in browser usually has no saved passwords and often doesn’t carry your Instagram login. Tap ••• and choose Open in browser (on some phones Open in external browser), then connect from Safari or Chrome, where you may already be signed in.
• You’re using a browser you’ve never signed in to Instagram on. Type your username and password once, or sign in to Instagram in that browser first and connect again.

Instagram doesn’t offer an “approve it in the Instagram app” option for this kind of login, so on a signed-out browser the form is the only way through. A computer is the easiest alternative. There’s more on this in Connecting your Instagram account.

“Instagram wasn’t connected — you cancelled on Instagram”

You reached Instagram’s approval screen and pressed Cancel, or closed it. Dartzo records that as a cancelled connect. If this is your first connection, the setup screen shows the message above with the Connect with Instagram button still there; if you already had an account connected, you simply land back on your dashboard. Press connect again and this time press Allow.

In the phone app, closing the sign-in sheet yourself shows no error at all — you’re just back on the same screen — and a refusal reads “Instagram wasn’t given access. Nothing on your account changed — try again when you’re ready.”

“Instagram rejected the sign-in” or “wouldn’t issue a long-lived token”

Both appear on the Connections page and both happen after you approve, while Dartzo is finishing the handshake with Instagram. In one case Instagram refused the one-time code it just gave us (“Instagram rejected the sign-in”); in the other it refused to upgrade the session to one that lasts weeks (“Instagram wouldn’t issue a long-lived token”). In that second case Dartzo stops on purpose rather than save a connection that would die within the hour.

• Press connect again. Most of the time the second attempt goes through.
• Use the browser you normally use for Instagram, and don’t refresh or press Back while Instagram is redirecting you.
• If it fails twice in a row, contact us. We record which step failed and can see what Instagram answered, which is how we tell a one-off from a real problem.

“That connection didn’t complete”

The catch-all message, shown with “Something went wrong partway through. Please try again — nothing was saved.” It covers two situations worth knowing about:

• You took too long. The connect link is only good for 10 minutes. If you left the Instagram screen open while you did something else, start again from the Connect Instagram button instead of continuing the old tab.
• You were signed in to a different Dartzo login. Each connect link belongs to the Dartzo account that started it. If you signed out, or switched to another Dartzo login in another tab part-way through, Dartzo refuses the result instead of attaching your Instagram to the wrong person. Make sure you’re signed in to the right Dartzo account, then start again in a single tab.

On the phone app, a connect that sat too long reads “That took too long and expired. Start the connect again,” and one begun under a different login reads “That connect was started from a different account. Try again from here.”

“Instagram couldn’t be connected just now”

Shown on the setup screen with “Please try again.” Usually a temporary hiccup, so try once more. If it repeats, this one can be on our side rather than yours (Dartzo wasn’t able to save the connection), so contact us and don’t spend time changing things on Instagram.

I signed in as the wrong Instagram account

Dartzo connects whichever Instagram account is signed in on the approval screen — it can’t tell which one you meant. If you run more than one account, check the name on Instagram’s screen before you press Allow. If the wrong one slipped through, here’s how to put it right:

1. 1
   Check which accounts are connected

   Settings → Connections lists every connected account by its handle.
2. 2
   Sign out of the wrong one on Instagram, then connect the right one

   Sign out of Instagram in that browser (or use a private window), then press Connect another and sign in as the account you meant.
3. 3
   Remove the wrong one only if it’s empty

   Disconnect deletes the account and its automations and removes the stored access. If you built automations on the wrong account, they go with it, so only disconnect an account you haven’t set anything up on.

This Instagram account is already used somewhere else

Dartzo doesn’t show a special “already connected” error. Connections are saved by Instagram handle, so connecting the same handle again updates the existing connection instead of creating a copy, and Instagram issues a fresh access that replaces the old one. If another person’s Dartzo login or another tool also holds a connection to the account, the newest approval wins and the older one can stop working. Keep one Dartzo login per Instagram account, and see Another tool is replying if a second automation tool is involved.

It connected, but nothing sends

That’s a different problem from connecting. If the account shows on Connections but DMs aren’t going out, work through Troubleshooting, and if the connection itself has expired, Reconnecting Instagram covers it.