- To change the Instagram chat theme, go to the Messenger chat → tap the person/group name → Theme.
- If you can’t apply themes to your Instagram chat, try restarting the app or logging out and logging in to the app.
- If nothing works, uninstall the app and install it again to fix the issue.
How to Change Instagram Chat Theme in the Correct Manner
The first thing to do to fix the Instagram chat themes not showing would be to follow the correct steps to change the chat theme.
Step 1: Launch the Instagram app > tap the Messenger icon at the top.
Step 2: Tap the chat whose theme or color you want to change. Inside the chat, tap the name of the person/group at the top > tap Theme .
Step 3 : Various themes and colors will greet you. Tap the one you want to use for the chat.
Pro Tip: Find out how to see the first message on Instagram without scrolling.
How to Fix Instagram Theme Not Working or Showing
1. Update the Instagram App
If you can’t see themes in your Instagram Messages, update the Instagram app. Open the Play Store (Android) and App Store (iOS) and search for Instagram. Tap Update . Once updated, restart your phone.
2. Log Out of All Accounts
Next, try logging out from your Instagram account. For many users, logging out has helped them make chat themes work. To log out of the Instagram app, go to your profile screen → tap the three-bar icon → scroll down and tap Log Out .
Alternatively, if you have multiple accounts on Instagram, tap on Log out of all accounts . Before hitting the log-out button, ensure you know the passwords of your accounts. Once you log out, restart your phone and then log in again. Hopefully, the chat themes should work for your account now.
3. Clear Cache and Data (Android Only)
You can try clearing the Instagram app’s cache and data on your Android phone to get chat themes. Clearing cache or data will not delete your Instagram photos or other personal data on your phone. However, clearing data will log you out from all your Instagram accounts on the phone.
To clear cache and data for the Instagram app, go to Settings → Apps → Instagram → Storage → Clear cache → restart your phone.
Open the Instagram app and inspect whether to use chat themes. If that doesn’t work, tap the Clear Storage or Clear Data button. Open Instagram and log in with your account details. Then, try changing the chat theme.
Pro Tip: Find out in detail what happens by clearing data of apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Contacts, etc.
4. Uninstall Instagram App
If the above solutions don’t help and the chat theme option is still not showing up, try uninstalling the Instagram app. On your iPhone or Android device, touch and hold the Instagram app icon on the home screen and choose Remove App or Uninstall .
Note: Deleting the Instagram app will not delete your Instagram account or photos in it. Learn in detail what happens by uninstalling the Instagram app from the phone.
Things to Know About Instagram Chat Themes and Bubble Colors
- There are two things – Themes and Colors & gradients . The chat themes add a background or wallpaper to the chat and also change the bubble color of Instagram messages. However, choosing a different color only changes the message bubble color.
- The theme applies to a single chat only. You must change the theme or color for each chat manually.
- Whenever you change the theme or bubble color, the theme will change for the other user as well and not just you.
- Even though the other person won’t be notified about the theme change, they will see the theme change notification inside the chat when they open it.
- The other user will also be able to change the chat background theme.
