You try to log in to your Mastodon account and see the error message “Account has been suspended.” This means the server administrators of your instance have disabled your account. The suspension can happen for several reasons, including violating the server’s rules, posting spam, or being reported by other users. This article explains why Mastodon … Read more
You write a post in Mastodon, attach an image or video, click Publish, and see Could not save post. The post never appears on your timeline or in your followers feeds. This error usually happens because the media file you attached violates a limit set by your Mastodon instance or because the file itself is … Read more
When you add a link to your personal website or another social profile on your Mastodon profile and then attempt to verify it using the rel=me lookup, Mastodon may display the error “Account has not been verified.” This error means Mastodon cannot confirm that you control both the Mastodon account and the external website. The … Read more
You enter your password and then type the six-digit code from your authenticator app. Mastodon rejects it with a “Two-factor code invalid” error. This usually happens because your device clock is out of sync with Mastodon’s server clock. Time-based one-time passwords TOTP rely on accurate time synchronization between your authenticator app and the service. This … Read more
Mastodon returns a 503 Service Unavailable error when you try to create a new account and the server cannot process the registration request. This error means the instance’s web server is alive but cannot complete the sign-up workflow due to a backend problem. The most common causes include a full database connection pool, a background … Read more
When you try to mention a user on another Mastodon instance by typing their full handle, you may see the error “Webfinger Lookup Failed.” This error prevents the mention from resolving and the post from being sent. The cause is usually a DNS or server configuration issue that stops Mastodon from finding the user’s account … Read more
When you try to follow a user on Mastodon and see the error message “You Cannot Follow This User,” it usually means the account is set to locked or private mode. This restriction prevents automatic follow approval and requires the account owner to manually accept or reject your request. The error can also appear if … Read more
When you upload a video to Mastodon and see the error message “Could Not Process Video,” the upload fails and the video never appears in your post. This error typically occurs because the video file does not meet Mastodon’s strict media requirements for format, size, resolution, or duration. This article explains the exact technical reasons … Read more
When setting up Mastodon with an S3-compatible storage backend, you may encounter the error ‘Media could not be stored’ when users try to upload images, videos, or other files. This problem typically occurs due to misconfigured S3 bucket permissions, incorrect endpoint URLs, or missing environment variables in your Mastodon configuration. This article explains the root … Read more
When you try to save changes to your Mastodon profile, you may see a generic “Server Error” message instead of a successful update. This error can appear after editing your display name, bio, avatar, header image, or any other profile field. The problem is often caused by a file that is too large, a corrupted … Read more