If a social media post failed to publish, it's almost always one of three things. The connection between your scheduling tool and the account broke, the media didn't meet that platform's rules, or the text did. Platform outages and real bugs happen, but they're much rarer than these three.
Each cause leaves a different sign, and each fix takes minutes once you know which one you're facing. Below: the real reasons scheduled posts don't go out, a table matching sign to fix, and how to recover without posting twice.
The short version
"Session expired", "token invalid" or "reconnect": the account connection broke. Reconnect it.
Media errors: wrong format, size, length or aspect ratio for that network. Re-export and retry.
Text errors: over the character limit, too many hashtags, or a duplicate on X. Edit that network's version.
Before you retry, check the platform. Sometimes the post did go out.
First, read the actual error
"Failed" is a status, not a reason. Find the message behind it on the failed post; the wording usually points straight at the cause. Meta, for example, has separate error codes for an expired session, a changed password, a lost Page role and a removed permission.
Also check whether every network failed or only one. If a post went out on LinkedIn and Bluesky but failed on Instagram, the problem is Instagram-specific: the account connection, the media or the caption. If everything failed at once, look at your connections first.
Expired tokens and disconnected accounts
In our experience, this is the most common cause by a distance. Connecting an account gives your scheduling tool a token, which is permission to post for you. Tokens stop working more often than people expect:
You changed your password. Meta treats a password change as a reason to invalidate existing sessions, and Facebook's API has a specific error for it.
You removed the app's permission. If someone tidied up "apps and websites" in Facebook settings, or unticked a permission while reconnecting, the tool can no longer post.
Your Facebook Page role changed. A Page connection runs through the person who connected it. Meta's error docs list a case where the user behind the Page token "does not have an appropriate role on the Page". If the staff member who connected the Page leaves, or their role is downgraded, posts start failing.
The token simply expired. LinkedIn access tokens last 60 days by default. Even with refresh, the person has to authorise the app again after a year.
A security check. If Facebook flags a login and asks you to confirm your identity, connected apps can stop working until you log in on Facebook itself and clear the check.
Instagram switched to a personal account. Publishing through Instagram's API needs a professional (business or creator) account.
The fix is to reconnect the account, but think about who does it. Connect from the profile of someone who is staying, with full control of the Page, not the intern on a three-month contract. Our guide to managing multiple social media accounts has more on setting this up.
Media problems: size, format, length and shape
Each network has its own media rules, and a file that's fine on one gets rejected by another. A few examples from the platforms' own docs:
Platform
Rule that often causes failures
Instagram images
JPEG only through the API, up to 8 MB, aspect ratio between 4:5 and 1.91:1
Instagram Reels
MP4 or MOV, 3 seconds to 15 minutes, up to 300 MB
Instagram carousels
Up to 10 items through the API, cropped to the first image's shape
X video
Up to 140 seconds and 512 MB without Premium
TikTok
Every creator can post 3-minute videos; only some can post 5 or 10. Max 4 GB
The usual culprits are a tall 9:16 image sent to the Instagram feed (too narrow for 4:5), a 4K phone video that's over the size limit, a two-second clip that's too short for a Reel, or a 3-minute video sent to X on an account without Premium. iPhone photos saved as HEIC and screenshots saved as PNG can also trip up any route that expects JPEG.
The fix is to re-export the file to fit the strictest network you're posting to, or give each network its own version. A 4:5 image works on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. A vertical video under 140 seconds and well under 512 MB goes almost anywhere.
Text problems: limits, hashtags and duplicates
Over the character limit. X allows 280 characters on free accounts, Bluesky 300, Threads 500, Instagram 2,200. A link on X always counts as 23 characters, however long or short the URL.
Too many hashtags on Instagram. In December 2025 Instagram announced it would limit posts and Reels to five hashtags. A caption with fifteen hashtags written in 2024 and recycled today can fail or need trimming. Our Instagram hashtag strategy guide covers what to use instead.
Duplicate content on X. X's automation rules say you may not post duplicative or substantially similar posts, on one account or across several. If you reuse an evergreen post word for word, X can refuse it. Change the wording, not just one emoji.
Rate limits, copyright and account restrictions
Rate limits. Every platform caps how much you can post. X's help centre lists 50 original posts and 200 replies a day for unverified accounts. Instagram allows 100 posts through its API in a rolling 24 hours. TikTok has a daily cap on posts sent through its API. You'll only hit these if you bulk-publish a backlog or run many accounts through the same login, so spread big batches out.
Copyright and music. A video with a copyrighted track can be muted, blocked or taken down after it posts, and some uploads are rejected outright. Music you'd normally pick from Instagram's or TikTok's in-app library isn't something a scheduling tool can attach. If a trending sound is the point of the video, publish that one from the app.
Account restrictions. If an account has been restricted for a policy issue, publishing can fail with a "temporarily blocked" style error, and TikTok's API has a specific error for accounts banned from posting. Check the account's status inside the platform's own app. No scheduler can post past a restriction.
Social media post failed to publish? Match the sign to the fix
Cause
What you'll see
Fix
Password changed
Session invalid or expired on Meta accounts
Reconnect each Facebook and Instagram account
Permission removed
Permission or authorisation error
Reconnect and accept every permission asked for
Page role changed
Error about role on the Page
Reconnect from someone with full control of the Page
Token expired
Reconnect prompt, on LinkedIn after about two months
Reconnect. Set a calendar reminder
Wrong image shape
Aspect ratio or size error on Instagram
Re-crop to 4:5 or 1:1 and retry
File too big or long
Media too large, unsupported or too long
Compress or trim for that network
Over the limit
Text too long
Edit only that network's version
Too many hashtags
Instagram rejects or flags the caption
Cut to five or fewer
Duplicate on X
Duplicate content error
Rewrite the post
Rate limit
Too many requests, try later
Wait, then spread out the batch
Restricted account
Blocked or banned from posting
Check account status in the app
How to recover without double-posting (and prevent the next one)
The worst outcome isn't a failed post. It's the same post appearing twice on four networks because someone hit "post now" on everything. Recover in this order:
Check the platform first. Video posts sometimes go through even when the tool reports a failure, because processing took longer than expected. Look at the actual profile before you do anything.
Retry only what failed. If three networks succeeded and Instagram didn't, retry Instagram alone. Republishing to all four creates duplicates, and on X it can trip the duplicate rule.
Fix the cause before you retry. Retrying a 9:16 image to the Instagram feed will fail the same way.
Check the timing. "Sale ends tonight" posted the next morning is worse than no post. Rewrite time-sensitive posts before republishing them.
Tell the team. If a client or colleague saw the failure notice, let them know it's handled so nobody else reposts it manually.
A pre-publish checklist
Every account is connected and none is asking to be reconnected.
Images are JPEG, under 8 MB, and between 4:5 and 1.91:1 if they're going to Instagram.
Videos fit the shortest limit you're posting to: 140 seconds for X without Premium, at least 3 seconds for Reels.
Each network's text is under its limit, with links on X counted as 23.
Five hashtags or fewer on Instagram.
Nothing is an exact repeat of a recent post on X.
No unlicensed music in the video.
The scheduled time is in the right time zone.
How GoBrandIt helps
The composer shows how many characters you have left on each network as you type, counted the way that network counts them, including links on X as 23 and Instagram's five-hashtag cap. When an account's connection breaks, it's flagged as needing to be reconnected, so you can fix it before the next scheduled post rather than after it fails. And when a post does fail, Retry republishes it only to the accounts that failed. It never sends a second copy to the networks where it already went out.
It won't make an expired token or a 9:16 image valid, nothing can, but it means a failure costs you a minute instead of an evening. See how publishing and scheduling works, or start with our guide on how to schedule social media posts.
Catch failures before your audience does
Per-network character counts, reconnect alerts and one-click retry to only the accounts that failed. Free forever for 3 accounts.
Questions people ask
Why did my scheduled post not post?
Usually a broken account connection after a password change, a removed permission or an expired token. Next come media that breaks the platform's rules and text over the limit. Check the error message on the failed post first.
Why does Facebook keep disconnecting from my scheduling tool?
Changing your Facebook password, removing the app in your Facebook settings, a security checkpoint, or a change to the Page role of the person who connected it will all break the connection. Reconnect from an account with a stable, full-control role on the Page.
Why did my Instagram post fail to publish?
Check the image shape first: the feed accepts 4:5 to 1.91:1, so tall 9:16 images fail. Then check file size, video length, the five-hashtag limit, and that the account is still a professional account.
Will retrying a failed post create a duplicate?
It can, if you republish to every network. Retry only the networks where it failed, and check the platform first in case the post went out despite the error.
How do I stop scheduled posts from failing?
Reconnect accounts as soon as they're flagged, export media to each network's specs, keep each network's text under its limit, and avoid exact repeats on X.
Details checked October 2026 against Meta's Graph API error reference and Instagram API docs, X's help centre (automation rules, account limits, video), LinkedIn's API documentation and TikTok's Content Posting API docs. Platforms change these limits from time to time. If you spot one that's out of date, let us know.