How to Clear Instagram Direct Message Notification But No Message

Do you have an Instagram direct message notification but no message?

This is also known as a “phantom direct message notification”.

If you have a direct message notification but no message, it’s probably caused by a glitch.

The notification is very annoying because it’s constant and it won’t go away.

Otherwise, you might have missed a message that you didn’t know about.

In this article, you’ll learn 5 different ways to fix the direct message notification.

By the end of the article, you should be able to clear the notification from your direct messages.

Table of Contents

1. Use the “unread” filter
2. Refresh your direct messages
3. Clear the cache
4. Log out and in
5. Reinstall Instagram

1. Use the “unread” filter

The first way to clear the notification from your direct messages is to use the “unread” filter on Instagram.

Use the “unread” filter on Instagram to view any unread messages.

If you’ve forgotten to read some messages in the past, this filter is useful for finding them.

Instagram has an “unread” filter where you can check messages you’ve received but hasn’t read.

The filter can be found in your direct message list.

It’s important to use this filter because you may have left out some messages.

In other words, even if you think that you’ve read all the messages in your inbox, you might have left out one.

The idea here is to filter out any unread messages so that you can read them and get rid of the notification.

Here’s how you can use the “unread” filter on Instagram:

1. Go to the home page.
2. Tap on the “arrow” icon on the top-right hand corner to access your direct messages.
3. Tap on the “filter” icon on the right-hand side of the search bar.
4. Select “Unread” to filter unread messages.
5. Read unread messages (if any) to clear the notification.

Once you’ve filtered your messages to “unread”, any unread messages will be shown.

Tap on these messages to view them and the notification will be cleared once you viewed every message.

If you happened to have read all messages, this message will be shown, “No unread messages”.

2. Refresh your direct messages

The second way is to refresh your direct message list on Instagram.

Message requests might be the cause of the phantom message notification.

At times, you need to refresh your direct message list in order to view message requests on Instagram.

At times, some direct messages are hidden on Instagram.

In other words, the direct message notification but no message might be due to your message requests.

In order to view those messages, you’ll need to refresh your direct message list.

For example, message requests are hidden at times until you refresh your direct message list.

After you refresh your direct message list, message requests will show up at the top of it.

You need to either allow, decline, or delete these message requests in order to clear your notifications.

To delete the message request, simply swipe left on the message and select on “Delete”.

Here’s how you can find these message requests:

1. Go to the home page.
2. Tap on the “arrow” icon on the top-right hand corner to access your direct messages.
3. Pulldown to refresh your direct messages.
4. View any message requests you see.
5. Either allow, decline, or delete these message requests to clear your notifications.

After you take the appropriate action on your message requests, the phantom notification should be removed from the “arrow” icon.

It’s important to make sure to stay up to date with your message requests on Instagram.

This is to ensure that your direct message notifications are cleared at all times.

Otherwise, you might be overloaded with these notifications.

3. Clear the cache

Next, you can try clearing Instagram’s cache on your device.

Your direct message data might be cached by Instagram.

In order to get rid of the direct message notification but no message, you can try clearing Instagram’s cache.

Your direct message data might be cached by Instagram.

This means that messages that you have read might be still listed as unread.

In order to fix this, you need to clear Instagram’s cache.

Before clearing the Instagram cache, make sure to force close the app on your device first.

Here’s how you can clear the Instagram cache on an iPhone:

1. Go to your phone’s settings.
2. Tap on “General”.
3. Tap on “iPhone Storage”.
4. Scroll down, find, and tap on the Instagram app.
5. Select “Delete App” to clear the cache.
6. Install Instagram again.

Here’s how you can clear the Instagram cache on an Android device:

1. Go to your phone’s settings.
2. Tap on “Storage”.
3. Tap on “Other Apps”.
4. Scroll down, find, and tap on the Instagram app.
5. Select “Clear Cache” to clear the cache.

Once you cleared the cache on Instagram, it should clear the phantom notification on your direct messages.

Clearing cache will fix common issues on Instagram and makes it load faster the next time you open it.

It also frees up your storage space as it removes temporary files.

Clearing cache will not delete your login credentials or app settings, so you don’t have to worry about losing anything important.

4. Log out and in

The next thing you can try is logging out and in on Instagram.

Logging out and in of Instagram might help to clear the phantom direct message notification.

This may help to clear the direct message notification but no messages.

To log out of Instagram, go to your profile > menu > settings > log out.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can log out of Instagram:

1. Go to your profile.
2. Tap on the menu on the top-right hand corner.
3. Select “Settings”.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and tap on “Log Out” to log out of Instagram.

Once you logged out of Instagram, force close the app on your device.

Then, re-open Instagram and log in to your account.

The message notification should be now cleared from your direct messages.

5. Reinstall Instagram

The final way is to reinstall Instagram on your device.

Reinstalling Instagram can help to clear the direct message notification but no message on Instagram.

Here’s how to reinstall Instagram on an iPhone:

1. Tap and hold the Instagram app for 3 seconds.
2. Select “Remove App”.
3. Select “Delete App” to delete the app from your device.
4. Go to the App Store, search for Instagram, and install it back.

Here’s how to reinstall Instagram on an Android device:

1. Go to the Google Play Store.
2. Tap on the menu > My apps & games.
3. Tap on Instagram, then select “Uninstall”.
4. Go back to the Google Play Store, search for Instagram, and install it back.

By reinstalling Instagram, its cache will be deleted.

In addition, reinstalling Instagram will ensure that it’s at its latest version.

This can fix common issues that you might face in the app.

Conclusion

If you see an Instagram direct message notification but no message, it can be annoying.

This is because the notification will not go away even though you might have read all of your messages already.

Here are the key solutions you’ve learned in this article to get rid of the phantom notification once and for all:

1. Use the “unread” filter to filter out your unread messages and view them.
2. Refresh your direct message list to view your message requests.
3. Clear Instagram’s cache to clear cached direct messages.
4. Log out and log in to Instagram.
5. Reinstall Instagram to clear its cache and keep it up to date.

Hopefully, these solutions have helped you to clear the direct message notification but no message on Instagram.

Further Reading

> 7 Effective Ways to Clean Up Your Instagram Account

> How to Change Your Explore Page on Instagram

> Does Snapchat Notify When You Screen Record?

Author: Lim How Wei is the founder of Followchain. Feel free to follow him on Instagram.