Recover Your Instagram Account: What To Do If It Gets Hacked, Stolen, or Deleted

MarketingRecover Your Instagram Account: What To Do If It Gets Hacked, Stolen, or DeletedThese are the steps to take to protect and recover your profile

By Stefanie Waldek

January 18, 2022

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Francesco Zorzi

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Instagram is crucial for designers, serving as a marketing and networking tool that’s key to landing new clients. So if you’re hacked, it’s important to recover your Instagram account as quickly as possible. “I’d say it’s common for the average user to get hacked to some degree in their life,” says Matthew Krull, a social media strategist at design-focused communications agency Novità. “I hear more often than not from my friends and colleagues that they’ve experienced some suspicious activity on their account.” If you’re worried about your Instagram account being hacked, here are the measures you can take to protect it in the first place, as well as what to do to recover your Instagram account if you do fall victim to hacking.

How to Protect Your Instagram Account

Hacking isn’t limited to high-profile Instagrammers. “Any account can be a target, because if the hackers are successful, they can use the hacked account to try to get important information like credit card numbers, addresses, and PINs from other unsuspecting users,” says digital marketer Jonathan Simon, director of marketing and communications at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa.

While we all know a strong, random password is a good place to start—and yes, those strings of letters and numbers suggested by Apple are pretty safe—there are additional steps you should take to thwart a potential hacking. Being savvy now can save you the hassle of having to recover your Instagram account later. (The Instagram app also allows you to check the safety of your account, directly, by opening Settings and clicking “Security”). 

Turn on two-factor authentication.

Two-factor authentication requires users to enter a code from an app like Google Authenticator or one sent to your cell phone via text every time they log in to a new device—and it’s a solid deterrent to hackers. Instagram offers this service, and you can set it up via the security page in the app.

Check your login activity.

Keep an eye on your login activity, which can also be found under the security section of the app. There, you’ll see all the devices that your account is currently logged into, plus their geographic locations. If you see suspicious activity here, you can log out of those devices from your current one.

Check which third-party apps have access to your Instagram account.

Granting third-party apps access to your account is an easy way to share your photos across different platforms, but it does come with some level of risk. Hackers can break into those apps and steal your Instagram login info. Head to your security settings, then click “Apps and Websites” to see what other apps have access to your Instagram account. Keep an eye out for any big data breaches that might affect those apps—if one happens, you’ll want to change your password immediately.

Enable auto-save.

Though this measure won’t necessarily protect your account from hackers, it does give you a chance to save all your photos to your phone in the event your Instagram account is hacked and deleted. In the app, click on Settings, then Account, then Original Photos (iPhone) or Original Posts (Android), and make sure that “Save” is toggled on.

What Should You Do If You Suspect Someone Is Trying to Hack Your Instagram?

There are two major red flags alerting you that someone is trying to hack your Instagram account (or potentially already has): receiving a changed-password email from Instagram that you didn’t trigger yourself and seeing posts on your account that you didn’t make. Here’s how to handle both hacking situations.

Instagram noticed suspicious activity on your account.

If someone attempts to reset your password, Instagram will send you an email informing you of the change—and that means you need to act fast. “I take immediate action as soon as I get a notification or email from Instagram letting me know there was suspicious activity on any of the accounts I manage,” says Krull.

If you receive an email that someone has requested to change your password and it wasn’t you, report the situation to Instagram via the link in that email. You should then change your password. If you receive an email that someone has changed the email address associated with your account, you can “revert the change” via that email notification.

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But do remain attentive. Some messages that appear to be from Instagram could actually be phishing attempts from hackers. The good news is that Instagram has developed a function to help protect you. If you enter the security section of your app, you can see what emails Instagram has sent you within the last two weeks. Reviewing that data should help you to verify an email’s authenticity.

You noticed suspicious activity on your Instagram account.

If you happen to notice photos or stories you didn’t post yourself appearing on your page, but you’re still logged in, you should change your password immediately, as this will kick the hacker out of your account. You should also manually log out of any suspicious devices via your log in activity page, as well as revoke access from any third-party apps that might have had a security breach.

What Should You Do If You’re Locked Out of Your Instagram Account?

For starters, don’t panic. Sometimes getting locked out—especially for business accounts—is simply due to an oversight. “For instance, let’s say a social media manager moves on from the company,” says New York-and London-based digital content consultant Charlene C. Lam, who works with design brands. “If a transition plan isn’t in place, it may be a while before the remaining team members realize they don’t actually know the Instagram password.”

To mitigate that risk, keep your recovery codes stored in a secure place. Recovery codes are used to reset two-factor authentication, which will help you get your Instagram account back. They can be found on the Security page of the Instagram app.

Unfortunately, sometimes, when you’re locked out of your Instagram account, you might have genuinely been hacked by a malicious party.

Help! My Instagram Has Been Hacked. Here’s How to Get Your Instagram Account Back.

If the worst has happened, you may be wondering how to recover your Instagram account. But first, know that there are two different levels of hacking that would necessitate Instagram account recovery—one that only changes your password, and another that changes your password and contact info. Here’s how to report a hacked Instagram account and how to get your Instagram account back.

A hacker has changed your password.

If you’ve found that your password no longer works, simply follow the steps for setting a new one, as prompted by the log in page on the Instagram app. Hopefully, the reset link will be sent to your email address or phone number, and you can use a security code to log back in to your account and change your password.

A hacker has changed your password and your contact information.

If you’re locked out of your account, and you don’t receive a password reset link when you request one from Instagram, a hacker may have changed your email and phone number. In that case, you’ll need to report your account to Instagram by following the instructions here. Instagram will ask you to verify your identity before attempting to recover your account—you might even have to take selfies to prove you are who you say you are.

If Your Account Has Been Deleted, Is Instagram Recovery Possible?

In some cases, hackers might delete all your posts, or they might delete your account entirely. You’re likely out of luck, though there is a tiny chance that you may be able to recover your Instagram account.

“If someone has deleted your account, you technically have 30 days to contact Instagram to explain that you have been hacked and [ask them] to put your account back up. Instagram claims it stores your data for that long,” says Jonathan Simon. “However, this is a long shot. Once your account is deleted, it is likely gone.”

Interior designer Kristen McGinnis, for instance, was not one of the lucky ones. Back in 2020, she found that she was logged out of her Instagram account due to suspicious activity—even though her two-factor authentication was enabled. “Instagram’s account retrieval process includes going through identity confirmation. I submitted this well over a dozen times within a month and received zero response,” says McGinnis. “Sadly, I never received any help, only headache and heartache.”

After a month, McGinnis gave up. She started a new Instagram account and used her inaugural post to explain what had happened to her former handle. She then started the arduous process of re-following her former connections, hoping they’d follow her back. While many did add her back, she messaged others to reintroduce herself. The small silver lining was that her photos were auto-saved to her phone.

Still, the mishap had a cost. “I lost a few thousand followers, many of whom I will never get back because I don’t know who to reach out to,” says McGinnis. “What I missed the most over the course of that month was the loss of my Insta community. I had built up a group of like-minded friends and missed the sharing of thoughts and inspiration.”

While no method of account protection is completely fail-safe, keeping on top of security best practices can hopefully prevent you from having to rebuild your hard-earned following.