When a post fails

Retrying failed posts, platform errors, stuck schedules and slideshow limits.

A video failed to publish. What happens?#

You get an alert, and the post can be sent again. Open it under My posts: a post that did not go out has an Auto-schedule and a Post ASAP button, and either one re-sends it.

A post can also read Partly posted, which means it went out on some of the platforms it targeted and not the others. Post ASAP on a Partly posted post sends it only to the platforms it is missing, so nothing publishes twice.

If the same post keeps failing, tell us here and we will read it from our side.

My post failed, my posts are getting errors, or a post only went out to some platforms. How do I retry it?#

Scheduled errors all retry the same way, whether it is one schedule error or scheduling errors on several posts: open the post under My posts. A post that failed, or one marked Partly posted, has two buttons: Auto-schedule, which picks a time for it, and Post ASAP, which sends it out without waiting for a scheduled slot.

Partly posted means the post went out on some of the platforms it targeted and not the others. Post ASAP on it sends only to the platforms it is missing, so you will not get duplicates on the ones where it already published.

If the same post fails again after a retry, tell us here and we will read it from our side.

My post shows an error message. What do the platform errors mean?#

When a platform rejects a post, the message on the failed post describes what the platform answered: some messages carry the platform's own wording, others are our short summary of it. Here is what the ones we actually see mean, and what to do.

1. "TikTok isn't taking this post right now, too much activity from this account. Try again later today." TikTok is rate limiting the account because too much was posted or attempted in a short window. Wait, then open the post under My posts and press Post ASAP. It normally goes through later in the day.
2. "Instagram isn't taking this post right now, too much activity from this account. Try again later today." The same thing on Instagram's side. Wait, then retry with Post ASAP.
3. "Instagram couldn't process the media in this post. Retry, if it fails again, swap the file." Instagram took the post but could not process the video or image behind it. Retry with Post ASAP. If the same post fails again, the file itself is the problem, so tell us here.
4. "Could not publish a media container" Instagram prepared the post and then refused the final publish step. Retry with Post ASAP. If it keeps failing, reconnect Instagram under Settings, then Social accounts, or tell us here.
5. "Media upload failed with reason: spam_risk" TikTok refused the upload because it flagged the account's recent activity as a spam risk. Wait before retrying and slow the posting pace on that account. If it persists, tell us here.
6. "Media upload failed with reason: photo_pull_failed" TikTok could not fetch the image for this post. Retry with Post ASAP, and if it happens again tell us here.

An error that is not on this list is still worth sending us word for word: we read the post from our side and say what happened.

My scheduled posts are stuck in scheduled and never publish.#

Tell us in this chat which account it is and roughly when the posts were due, and we will read the posts themselves rather than guess: their status, their scheduled time on your project's clock, and whether anything published.

If the posts are going to Instagram, check the account first: Instagram publishes only through a Professional account, Business or Creator, linked to a Facebook Page you manage, and a personal account can connect and then fail at the last step of every publish. The steps, and Page Publishing Authorization, are in "Instagram shows as connected, but my posts schedule and never publish.", in the Instagram connection problems article. Otherwise, if posts sit in scheduled past their time and nothing is marked failed, that is usually on our side rather than yours. When we fix it we reschedule the posts that were missed instead of dropping them.

A post that genuinely failed shows as failed and triggers an alert, and you can send it again yourself: open it under My posts and press Post ASAP or Auto-schedule. A post that went out on some platforms and not others reads Partly posted, and Post ASAP on it sends only to the platforms it is missing, so nothing publishes twice.

I got "Couldn't schedule your post, it's back in your deck". Why did it fail?#

We cannot tell you, and that is a gap on our side rather than an evasion. A scheduling attempt that fails leaves no record, so afterwards neither you nor we can see what went wrong. That is why the message arrives with no reason attached, and why nobody here should offer you a cause.

The card goes back in your deck. One known cause we have found and fixed is a slideshow over Instagram's 10-image carousel cap, covered in its own question on this page. If it keeps happening on the same card, tell us here and a person will look at the account.

My slideshow post has more than 10 images and will not publish.#

Instagram caps a carousel at 10 images, and a slideshow card publishes as a single carousel post rather than as several posts, so a card above that cap cannot publish at all.

We were generating cards over the cap. That is fixed, and newly generated cards cannot exceed 10. Cards generated before the fix keep the old behaviour, so an over-long slideshow still in your deck is an old card rather than the problem coming back. Retrying one will not make it publish, so it is not worth spending swipes on. Tell us here which card it is and a person will look at it.