Instagram Reels thumbnails in DM reportedly broken or not showing up for a section of users

Instagram is undoubtedly one of the most preferred and popular social media platforms that let users share pictures and videos.

It also keeps introducing new features and updates every now and then to make the platform more engaging. However, users have reported a variety of problems with the Reels function in particular.

We also saw an issue that prevented users from using the Reels music as it was not working or unavailable for them.

Instagram Reels thumbnails in DM broken

It seems that the Reels thumbnails in DM appear to be broken now or are not showing up for some Instagram users owing to a recent glitch (1,2,3,4).

This is soo annoying @instagram Can’t see the thumbnail of the reel. Fix this asap.
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All the thumbnails on the reels in my messages are gone (new and old) How do I fix this?
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Reports suggest that a rather blue or orange screen with the Instagram logo and the words ‘Tap to see reel’ are displayed whenever someone receives a DM with a reel.

This issue seems to be affecting both the sender and the receiver at the moment. Some also think that it may be the result of an upgrade that forces people to watch reels and, ideally, go to the website that housed the reel.

Users feel that it is making it hard for them to see what the reel is about. To make matters worse, uninstalling and reinstalling the app is also not fixing the issue at all.

Its not that, it makes it hard to figure out what you sent.
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Even though this is quite frustrating for Instagram users, the developers have not yet acknowledged the problem.

We hope that the team takes swift and prompt action regarding the issue related to broken Reels thumbnails. We also anticipate a fix for this issue at the earliest.

That said, we’ll keep tabs on the latest developments and update this article accordingly.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Instagram section so be sure to follow them as well.

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