Instagram could not post my image, because my image is not available



ID #1079
Last update: 2023-11-13 00:00


The error message: „Your image could not be posted” can be caused by multiple reasons. For example:

  • Image format
    Please note that Instagram only supports ".jpg" or ".png" image formats. For example, ".webp" image formats are not supported.
    There are also optimisation plugins (such as "W3 Total Cache" or "WP-Optimize - Clean, Compress, Cache") that automatically convert your image to ".webp" format, which can lead to problems when posting. It is therefore advisable to also check the settings of the optimisation plugins you are using.

  • Image Size
    It could be caused by an image, that does not meet the image size requirements.

  • Meta Tags
    It could be caused by missing Meta Tags for your image. Get help with Meta Tags and OG parameters.

  • Hotlink Protection
    Another common reason for this error message is Hotlink Protection. Many WordPress websites use a Cloudflare installation or any other security plugin with an activated Hotlink Protection.

 

What is Hotlink Protection?

Hotlinking describes the embedding of external images or videos on your own website. A Hotlink is generated, for instance, if somebody visits your website and shares one of your videos or images on his own website or on social media. Social networks and third-party tools like Blog2Social use Hotlinks to display your images in the post preview correctly. Hotlink Protection blocks this option and prevents you and your social media community of this option to share your images, your infographics, or your videos across the internet.

How to check your website for Hotlink Protection

To check, if your website or your images are blocked by Hotlink Protection, you can use the following tools:

Option 1: Hotlink-Checker

Free-Webhosting offers such a service for free. You can check the URL of your image to see if your image is blocked by Hotlink Protection. Just make sure to clear the cache of your browser (press ctrl + F5 in your open browser window) before you do the check!

 

Option 2: Blog2Social Troubleshooting Tool

You can use the Blog2Social Troubleshooting Tool in the Blog2Social dashboard. The protocol will show you if your website has activated Hotlink Protection.

How to deactivate Hotlink protection?

Option 1: Uninstall or deactivate all activated plugins for Hotlink Protection or deactivate the Hotlink Protection settings in your plugins. If you are not sure which of your plugins enable Hotlink Protection, you can find some example plugins in the WordPress.org directory.

 

Option 2: Select your „htaccess“-directory, check on the following entries and delete them if necessary:

  • RewriteEngine on
  • RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
  • RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www\.)?yourdomain.com [NC]
  • RewriteRule \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ - [NC,F,L]
  • RewriteRule .*\.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ - [F]

These entries might prevent third-party sites and services like social networks and Blog2Social from accessing your images and videos.

 

Tags: Instagram, Instagram could not post my image, My image could not be posted