Edits App Crashing or Will Not Open: Fixes That Work (2026)

Edits was working yesterday, and now it closes the moment you open it, freezes on the loading screen, or crashes halfway through an edit. It is one of the most frustrating app problems because it locks you out of your own projects, and it usually has nothing to do with how you edited.

By Alex Carter, Editor · Published October 24, 2026 · Updated October 24, 2026

In this guide

• What you are seeing
• Likely causes, ranked
• Fixes, quickest first
• When it is a rollout or server problem
• Prevent it next time
• Frequently asked questions

What you are seeing

Crashes come in a few shapes, and the shape tells you a lot. The most common is the instant crash: you tap the Edits icon, the splash screen appears for a second, and you are back on the home screen. That pattern usually points to a bad app state or a corrupted cache rather than your phone being too weak, especially if Edits ran fine before.

The second shape is the freeze: the app opens but stops responding on the loading screen, or it locks up when you open a particular project. A freeze on one project but not others almost always means that project is the problem, usually a heavy timeline, a damaged clip, or a project that grew too large for the phone memory. A freeze on every project points back at the app itself. The third shape is the mid-edit crash, often during export or when you add an effect, which is the classic sign of low memory or low storage at the moment the app needs both most.

Likely causes, ranked

Work through this list from the top. The first two causes explain most crashes, and the order matters: there is no point reinstalling the app when a restart would have fixed it, and no point freeing storage when the real problem is a single damaged project.

1. A bad app state after an update or a long session. Apps keep temporary state in memory, and that state can go wrong after an update, a long editing session, or a phone that has not restarted in days. A force-close and a restart clear it completely.
2. A corrupted cache, especially on Android. Cached files speed the app up, but a half-written cache entry can crash the app every time it loads. Clearing the cache keeps your projects and is the single most effective Android fix.
3. Low memory from a heavy project or too many open apps. Video editing is one of the heaviest things a phone does. A long timeline with effects, high-resolution clips, and several apps running in the background can push memory past the limit, and the system kills Edits to protect itself.
4. Low storage. Edits needs working room for the project, the render, and the finished file. A phone with only a few hundred megabytes free fails in unpredictable ways, including crashes that look like bugs.
5. A damaged clip or a project that outgrew the phone. One clip the app cannot decode, or a project with dozens of clips and effects, can crash the app every time that project opens while other projects open fine.
6. A bad app update or a staged rollout. Sometimes the new version itself is the problem, and it only affects some devices or regions. When the crash starts the same day as an update and nothing else changed, suspect the update first.

Fixes, quickest first

Try these in order, and stop as soon as Edits opens and stays open. Each step takes a little more effort than the last, and the order is designed so you never lose a draft to a step you did not need.

1. Force-close Edits and reopen it. Swipe it away from the recent-apps list, wait a few seconds, and open it again. This clears the bad in-memory state without touching any project, and it fixes a surprising number of first-time crashes.
2. Restart the phone. A full restart clears memory, resets stuck system services, and gives Edits a clean slate. If you have not restarted in days, this alone is often the fix, and it costs two minutes.
3. Check for an update in the store. Open the Edits listing in Google Play or the App Store and look for an update. If one is waiting, install it: crash fixes are among the most common reasons updates ship, and running an old build after a server change can itself cause crashes.
4. Clear the app cache on Android. In Settings, Apps, Edits, Storage, tap Clear cache. This removes temporary files but keeps your projects and sign-in. On iPhone there is no cache button, so the equivalent is offloading the app in Settings, General, iPhone Storage, which keeps your data while reinstalling the app files.
5. Free up storage and close other apps. Aim for at least a couple of gigabytes free: delete large videos you have already posted, clear old downloads, and remove apps you no longer use. Then close background apps before opening Edits, especially other video or camera apps. If the crash only happens on one project, try that project again after this step with nothing else running.
6. Reinstall as a last step, after exporting what you can. If Edits opens at all, export any finished video first. Then uninstall, restart the phone, and install fresh from the official store. Reinstalling resets everything, including drafts stored only on the device, so treat it as the final option, not the first one. Our app download guide has the official store links, and if you run Edits on a computer, our PC guide and Mac guide cover the emulator route.

When it is a rollout or server problem

Sometimes no fix on your phone works, because the problem is not on your phone. A bad update can crash the app for a whole class of devices, and a server outage can break sign-in and loading for everyone at once. The tell is timing: the crash starts the same day as an update, or it starts for many people at the same time, or it happens even on a fresh install with no projects at all.

In that case the genuine fix is to check our updates page for what is known, hold off on further reinstalls, and wait for the next app update. Reinstalling repeatedly during an outage does not help, and it risks drafts for no benefit. If the crash started right after an update and an older build worked, waiting for the patch is usually faster than any workaround.

Prevent it next time

Three habits keep crashes rare. Keep a couple of gigabytes free at all times, because storage pressure is the slowest-moving cause and the easiest to prevent. Restart the phone once a week, which clears the memory state that builds up over long uptimes. And export finished work before updating the app, so that even in the worst case you lose a draft, never a finished video.

For big projects, split the work: edit in shorter sequences and combine them, rather than building one very long timeline with every effect at once. Heavy timelines are the most common reason a project that opened yesterday crashes today, and shorter sequences also export faster and are easier to fix when one clip misbehaves. If you edit on a computer through an emulator, give the emulator enough memory in its settings, since a starved emulator crashes exactly like a weak phone.

Get the official app

If your install is damaged, a fresh copy from the official store is the cleanest restart. Do not download Edits from third-party sites, which are a common source of broken or unsafe installs.

Back to: Edits Help →

Frequently asked questions

Why does Edits close as soon as I open it?

Usually a bad app state or a corrupted cache is to blame. Force-close the app, restart the phone, and clear the cache on Android. If it still closes instantly, check for an update before reinstalling.

Will clearing the cache delete my drafts?

No. Clearing the cache removes temporary files only, and your projects stay put. Clearing storage or data is different: that resets the app and can remove drafts, so never tap it by accident.

Why does Edits crash only on one project?

That project is almost certainly too heavy or contains a clip the app cannot read. Try opening it with other apps closed, and if it still crashes, rebuild it in shorter sequences or replace the suspect clip.

Does reinstalling Edits delete my drafts?

It can. Drafts stored only on the device are at risk when the app is uninstalled, so export any finished video first and treat reinstalling as the last step, not the first.

Can low storage really cause crashes?

Yes. Edits needs working room for the project, the render, and the finished file, and a nearly full phone fails in unpredictable ways, including crashes that look like bugs.

What if Edits crashes on a computer emulator?

Give the emulator more memory and processor cores in its settings, keep the emulator itself updated, and run nothing heavy beside it. A starved emulator crashes exactly like a weak phone.

Edits for PC is an independent, unofficial guide. It is not affiliated with Meta Platforms, Inc. or Instagram.

Still stuck?

If you have worked through every fix above and Edits still will not open, gather three facts before you try anything else: when the problem started, whether it started with an update, and whether it affects every project or just one. Those three facts separate a phone problem from an app problem in seconds, and they are exactly what any support conversation will ask first. Write them down, because it is easy to lose track after several reinstall attempts.

Next, check whether the same account opens Edits on another device, if you have one. If it opens fine elsewhere, the problem is local to the first phone, and a careful reinstall with exported backups is the right last step. If it fails everywhere, the problem is with the account or with Meta servers, and waiting plus checking our updates page beats any further tinkering. Either way, stop reinstalling in a loop: each reinstall risks drafts and never fixes a server-side problem.