If you have found this article, then you probably are in a state of panic because your Instagram account has been disabled, hacked, removed, or all of the above. I found myself in this situation a few months prior to writing this and it was extremely frustrating and disheartening. One day, I was loving my view from Corfu Island in Greece sharing a typical Instagram story when I was greeted with the window of death (from the picture below).
Don’t worry, all hope is not lost. I went through the same crazy experience after my Instagram account was hacked and disabled by Instagram. It took me months of appealing with Instagram/Facebook, sending in countless “selfies” of myself posing with a verification code, filling out endless forms, and just really giving up on everything.
After many months of trying every method known to man, I was finally able to recover my account. It took four months in the end and what brought it back was actually quite easy and straight forward (Hint: Sending a ridiculous picture of you holding up an embarrassing piece of paper does absolutely nothing). I thought I would never be able to post stories or share photos again. Thankfully, I got it back in time just before I had my multi-month trip through Thailand and my all time favorite, Bali.
I will go into detail on exactly what worked and what didn’t work for me step by step. Take a deep breath, and hopefully this will work for you too!
Update Q3/Q4 2022: This method still works and everyone has different success rates with getting through to the Facebook Chat function. Facebook has made it more difficult to access Facebook Chat Support.
Update Q1/Q2 2023: This Method is still working as referenced by the data points below. Please use the comments section and the various success stories from my other readers in addition to this article to guide your process. Good luck!
Please leave questions in the comments section of this post
After reading this post, you might still have questions or concerns because this is such a delicate process. Please leave all questions in the comments below and please DO NOT message me on Instagram or Facebook. I receive countless messages a day and I will not be answering them!
As well, please ignore any comments that promote contacting someone via telegram/whatsapp/emaI etc. These are 100% spam and there is no one that can bring your account back no matter how much money you throw away besides yourself. I want the comments to be open and useful but I can’t always catch these spammers right away.
Getting your Instagram account hacked or disabled
Personally, Instagram is not something I’m heavily invested in. I like the media and memory creation part of Instagram but I am nowhere near popular enough to monetize or make anything professional off of it. Instagram has always been a place for me to just store my memories and showcase nice photography.
Instead, I make money from blogging through other means which you can read about in my how much money I made blogging in 2021 post and how I achieved financial independence because of this.
However I do know that many people have way more followers than me and do make somewhat of a living off of Instagram. When it is all taken away in the snap of a finger, it feels like you’ve lost a part of yourself. It’s a feeling no one wants to be in!
Getting your Instagram account disabled or deactivated can feel like the end of the world. You’ve worked hard on your account, building your followers/brand, and in a few seconds, your account is no longer available.
You didn’t even have time to back up your photos! It might seem like all hope is lost but that is not the case. Do not panic just yet!
Did you violate the Instagram terms of service?
The first thing you need to ask yourself is if you really did violate the terms of services with Instagram? Are you posting things that are totally against the rules of Instagram and are you breaking the law with anything. If this is the case, you probably have more to worry about than just Instagram.
Things that violate their terms of services are the following:
- Using an automation tool to like/comment on content aggressively or to follow/unfollow users
- Buying likes and fake followers
- Selling or buying accounts
- Creating duplicate accounts
- Posting inappropriate content
- Infringing on someone’s creations
- Using Instagram if you are under 13 years old
- Selling or promoting illegal products or services
- Using broken or banned hashtags
- Writing more than 60 comments in an hour—or 30 if your account is new
- Sending the same messages or posting the same comments
- Using violent, aggressive, or offensive language
A lot of it I think has to do with purchasing likes, followers, etc. However, everyone and their mother who aspires to make Instagram fame has purchased likes at some point. This may be the reason you’re banned, but it is likely not a permanent thing.
How do you know you’re banned from Instagram?
Getting banned from Instagram can happen to anyone. Big account, small account, 100,000 followers or 100 followers. There is no rhyme or reason. Sometimes you just get banned and you didn’t even do anything.
Your account has been disabled message
If your account has been disabled, you will open your app, and you’ll automatically be redirected to a page like this.
This is the first sign that bad things are happening to you. You’ll then click the button to verify you’re not a robot, fill out a few questions and then you’ll get to the next step.
Thank you for providing your info
This is the next step after you’ve completed the form. You’ll get a message saying the following:
Once you get to this point, you are at the mercy of Instagram to actually review your account. They say it will take up to 24 hours.
They are lying!!!
It definitely will take much longer than 24 hours and it’s likely you’ll never hear from INstagram again. Think about it, they have millions and millions of accounts and they provide a free service. How many resources do you think they’ve allocated to help review every single case of something questionable happening?
Once you get to this step, I compare it to sending your CV for a job application during a bad jobs market. You send your resume into the job and you have no idea where it goes, who reads it, or if is even read at all. You’re stuck there for days and weeks wondering if anyone saw it. Eventually, you are resigned to the fact that no one read it and you’ll not be getting the job.
You can no longer login to your INstagram account
After the thank you for providing your info message, you’ll then just be taken back to the standard INstagram login screen. You can try logging back into your account and you’ll get something like this:
This is unfortunately the first step you’ll see after your Instagram account disabled. Once you click learn more, you’ll come to the next page.
What if your Instagram account is hacked?
WHen it comes to no longer accessing your Instagram account, disabled and hacked are kind of the same thing. If your Instagram account has been hacked, the hacker isn’t going to leave you a nice note saying, sorry I hacked your account and you can’t use it now.
No, what happens is they will hack your account, and probably do a bunch of questionable things that violate Instagram policy. Instagram’s automatic controls will then ban your account because you’re caught doing sketchy things. In the end, you get to the same result where you’re asked to verify your account and then never hear from Instagram again.
What does not work to get your Instagram account back after it’s been disabled?
Once you click learn more about why your account is disabled. You will eventually reach a page where you can fill out a form to “dispute” your banning from Instagram. The link to restore a deactivated Instagram account is here.
You can fill out your form and you can write an essay for why you’re appealing the ban but in the end, you’ll end up at the same step as everyone else.
Facebook Support Email asking for a photo of yourself
You’ll receive an email from Facebook like the below. It will ask you to take a picture of yourself holding up a piece of paper with handwritten text of the code they provide you, your Instagram handle, and your name.
This is their way of supposedly verifying that you are you. If your Instagram does not have photos of yourself, it’s fine, they just need to see someone holding the photos. I would not get too fancy with the photos and just do your best to look natural. This is what I did.
I sent this email out hoping they would come to their senses.
No response for months from INstagram
After waiting weeks upon weeks, I never heard anything from Instagram. I even emailed them back to follow up on my original email with my photo. I’ve read many blogs that say don’t do this as well as others that say do it. The blogs that don’t recommend it claim that every time you send an email to the support, it resets your place in line for someone to actually look at your request.
I’m not sure which is true or not but I can safely say that after 3 months of waiting, I heard not a single peep from Instagram.
I filled out other forms as well on Instagram like this one which actually asks for a photo of your Government ID. Here is the direct link. And here is a photo of what it looks like:
You might think that this form looks more legit but I can say that I filled out this form once (probably twice) and I still heard nothing.
Nothing worked for me.
This is not to say that it won’t work for you, but I’m saying from personal experience it was all hopeless. Not only did you feel like a total fool for sending ridiculous photos of yourself to a mailbox that I’m positive no one checks, but you got zero response.
Now that you’ve taken a ridiculous picture of yourself and realized it doesn’t work to get your INstagram account back, what does work? This is covered in the next section!
What works to restore your INstagram account: Facebook Support
After months of frustration, I was ready to call it quits. I figured, I had already created another account with just a fraction of my previous followers. However, I never intended to use Instagram for anything more than just a place to post my pictures and memories. However, that account also got hacked and disabled!! I knew I had to do something.
Facebook owns Instagram as you already know and you would think for such a massive company, they would have better customer service than just sending a selfie with you holding a piece of paper.
It turns out that Facebook does have support, quite good support at that. You just need to pay for it. Yes, you’ll need to pay some money to get your Instagram account back.
Why you ask?
Because the Facebook Support is meant specifically for those that advertise. Remember, Facebook’s a business, a huge one at that and they make their money from people paying to advertise. They are a publicly traded company and their first and most important goal is making oney. No one cares about your personal Instagram account, that is until you start paying something for it. The support team is meant to deal with issues pertaining to actual advertising and business, but they just also happen to deal with disabled Instagram account.
I will walk you through everything step by step for the next steps. Note that this could change at any point so hopefully by the time you read this, Facebook support still helps people with their Instagram account. As of now, this is the only method that works in how to reactivate your Instagram account
Step 1: Create a business account on Facebook or Instagram
The first step after getting your Instagram account disabled is to create a business account on Facebook or Instagram. Since your Instagram account has been disabled, it’s probably easier to just create an account on Facebook to get this done.
I already had a Facebook Page (Johnny Africa obviously) where I had previously boosted ads before. You can find the URL for your Facebook Profile here. The first step is to create a new Facebook Page:
You’ll be redirected to a page like this where you can add your Page name, category, description etc. Add a few photos and just make it into something simple.
Now you’re done, you’ve officially created a new page. Now I would just simply post a few photos here on this page or even a link to a reputable news source.
You don’t need to a blog like mine to create an Facebook page.
Step 2: Post an ad on Facebook or Instagram
The next step is to post an ad. You can simply use one of the pictures, links, or posts you created in the step above. Your next step is to boost this post which means you’re buying ads/promoting this post.
The process is quite easy and straight forward.
You’ll need to select a few things like the demographics you’re targeting. However, the purpose of this is not to actually buy ads. It’s simply to get the option to talk to Facebook Support. If you don’t buy this ad, there is no option to talk to them.
I spent $5.00 on my ad which will be enough to turn on the Facebook Support feature.
Wait until your credit card has been charged
Once you’ve completed the ad set up, the next step is to let the ad run its course. This will take a day or two before you actually have some ad statistics. You’ll want to wait until your credit card has been charged. This will turn on the Facebook Support feature.
Step 3: Talk to Facebook Support
Finally, you’ve created a business Facebook account, successfully posted an ad, and your credit card has been changed. Make sure to wait a few days until after your ad has been posted and for your credit card to be charged otherwise you will not be able to access the following page.
Step 3.1 – Start up Facebook Support
On the next page, scroll to the bottom and click the Get started button on support. Remember, this will only show up once you’ve paid for ads. If you just posted your ad, you will not see the below feature at all.
Then the next steps are to hit Contact Advertising Support.
The next part is tricky. I have a Facebook page as well as a personal account. I tried the support multiple times choosing different accounts, and the one that worked for me was the Facebook Page. I don’t think this actually matters however.
On the next page, you’ll select the reason you’re looking for support. I selected my Facebook page was hacked or taken over by someone else. It was not my Facebook page that was hacked, but my Instagram account. It doesn’t matter because Facebook support can troubleshoot and help you with both options.
Finally, you’re almost there. You just need to provide some contact information:
There you go, now you can finally talk to a live human being. Once you click start chat, you will be redirected to Facebook Messenger where you can talk to support.
Step 3.2 – Plead your case with Facebook Support
Facebook Support is the only method that worked for me to get my account back. Nothing else did at all. I sent in who knows how many selfies to no avail. This is the only method that worked for me. After having my Instagram account disabled, this is the most important step.
Once you start your conversation, be professional, courteous and state your problem clearly. Do not give them any reason to actually ban you. Just say that you think your account has been disabled incorrectly because of x,y,z.’ Once you start your conversation, be professional, courteous and state your problem clearly. Do not give them any reason to actually ban you. Just say that you think your account has been disabled incorrectly because of x,y,z.
Facebook Support is a bit of a crap shoot. You never know who you’re going to get as your support representative. It turns out that some people are much more helpful than others.
After reading other blogs and watching numerous YouTube videos, I learned that it might take you a few tries to get this to work.
For my first conversation, you can read it here.
As you can see, Andrea wasn’t so helpful. She told me that I had already done the required steps and that it was being reviewed. Simply, I had to wait for Instagram to get around to it.
Use a US VPN: Another trick that has helped many has been to talk to the US support reps at Facebook. People have had more success talking to US representatives. All you need to do is simply use a VPN and connect to a US IP.
Step 3.3 – Try, try again
I knew this was not the answer I was looking for because it had already been almost four months so nothing was going to change. I simply just ended the chat and started up another support request.
Beatriz was slightly more helpful but essentially just told me to go to links I had already visited countless times. These are the same links that tell you to submit some information that no one will look at. I tried to tell her I had done these same things but to no effect. She wasn’t buying any of it.
I ended the chat and tried one more time.
The third time I struck gold:
As you can see, Adam was the ultimate homie. He knew right away what the issue was and knew exactly who to escalate it to. I didn’t even explain my case and he already knew which department to bring it up to. He told me it would take 24-48 hours to complete and for me to wait until it was done.
I said thank you and around 50 hours later, my Instagram account was revived!!!!! Wow.
What a process but I’ve recovered my account successfully!!
Bonus Step: Instagram Support courtesy of Jess
From the numerous comments I’ve received on this post, here is the success story of one of my readers Jess who was able to access Facebook Support via the Instagram shopping page, a slightly different process than what I found. Pictures and screenshots below after the text.
In the process of looking to regain access to my IG account, came across this blog post, and it has been a truly helpful beacon of advice, kindness, support, and current up to the moment happenings! All things that have been greatly, greatly appreciated!
Through trying the contact method Johnny described, I have been able to contact and chat with members of Facebook/Meta team! It has been very exciting to have the option to chat! Just wanted to mention how the chat option appeared for me, in case it could help anyone else (as Facebook and Meta pages have moved around and changed formats sometimes).
I have a Page created on FB for my business, and have run an ad previously, a couple years ago. (I tried running one again when I was trying the above method, though I dont think my payment method ever got charged, so not sure if it went through. so a bit tough to say if that new ad helped the button to appear, or if it was from an earlier time).
I went to this page for Instagram Shopping help, scrolled down 3/4 of the page, and clicked on the button that said “Get Started in Commerce Manager“. https://business.instagram.com/shopping
This brought up my Facebook Commerce Manager hub, and “Commerce Accounts“. None were listed there, so I clicked on “Cant Find A Shop, Switch Accounts“. This brought up a drop down menu that let me click on my newly created “Business Account“ (appeared different than “Your Account“). Now I could view my shop account listed, with its ID number. I clicked that, and it led me to my Commerce Manager Overview. (There may be other pathways to arrive at this page, this is how I got there 🙂
On the right side, there was a link that said “Need help?
Learn more about setting up and managing your shop.“
This brought up a window of “5 Recommended Articles“, and under that, was..“Contact Facebook Support“ (!!) Yayy 🙂
From here, it asked me to select a topic, I went with “Technical Issue“, and then “Instagram“.
I was able to speak with a lovely representative who went above and beyond to help me with my question.
Its been so amazing to be able to speak with someone directly about my account, and I just wanted to share how the button appeared for me in case it could help one find it as well 🙂
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
So now that you know how I got my account back, now you probably have a million questions and are eager to get started on your own. I’ll summarize everything here and hopefully this will help you prepare for your own adventure (yes it really is an adventure)
Who gets their Instagram account disabled?
While Instagram says you will get your account disabled or deactivated because you violated the terms of use. However, this isn’t always the case. Instagram’s algorithm is still AI in the end and anything can trigger this without warning.
Anyone can have their account disabled, even if you did nothing wrong. It’s a very common problem that no one cares to think about until it actually happens to them! Don’t think that just because you’re well behaved and have always followed the rules that you’re exempt!
There’s a high chance that your account was disabled for no reason or the wrong reason. However, there is no quick support where you can just rectify the situation in a timely fashion. You can try the normal steps that Instagram gives you (like sending in the selfie image of yourself) but it’s more likely than not that it won’t fix the situation.
Does this work for personal and business Instagram accounts?
Yes. This method of Facebook Support works if your Instagram account is business or personal. My account (@johnny.africa) was a personal account. I’ve since changed it to a business account because I think ultimately, this has a higher chance of success by making it higher priority the next time something like this happens.
What if I did buy likes or buy followers on my Instagram?
This is against Instagram rules for sure and it’s grounds for banning. If you’ve been warned by Instagram before, and keep engaging in inflating your account, then they will for sure ban you. However, you can appeal using the same method as above and you’ll be at the mercy of Facebook support. If they bring this up, you can deny it all you want but they have the tools and wherewithal to know what you did.
Does Instagram actually completely delete your account?
I was worried about this at first. The message you receive once your account has been disabled is that Instagram has removed your account. I thought for sure that I lost everything and it was forever gone. Turns out, this is not the case. Instagram stores all your pictures and stories for a long time. It’s never completely gone which means you can still try all the methods above.
How much money should I spend on running Facebook or Instagram Ads?
There is no magic number to spend on ads to get this method to work. Simply, you just need to spend enough to enable the Facebook Support chat option so you can speak to a live representative. I spent $5 boosting one post on my Facebook page and that’s all it took. I’ve since not purchased ads.
Do I need to buy ads on Facebook or Instagram?
If you have multiple Instagram accounts, you can try boosting a post on an account that has not been disabled or banned. This will work because no matter what you use, Facebook or Instagram, everything is connected to your Facebook account as far as ads go. If you boost a post on Instagram instead of creating a new page on Facebook, it is still connected to your Facebook account, and thereby, it will enable the Facebook Support feature.
Is there a number you can call on Facebook Support?
No. There is no way to speak to someone on the phone at Facebook support. There is no number to call. If someone knows of a number, please leave it in the comments!
I have heard of stories of people that have gotten their accounts back with Facebook support and the rep has requested to call them. This didn’t happen with me but it’s fine because I got my account back either way.
How many times should I contact Facebook Support?
As per my experience, it took me three times messaging Facebook Support to get the answer I needed. The first two times, I was paired with Facebook support reps that were not able to help me out.
If you’re trying this method, you might get lucky the first go around, or it could take you 10 tries before getting the right answer! I would not abuse the chat feature because you just never know. I would use a golden rule of speaking to three people before waiting a day and resuming. There’s no truth in this but it’s just what I would do.
Sometimes your Instagram account was fully hacked
Sometimes your account was not just suspended by Instagram but completely hacked away by hackers. I’ve seen a few of these instances where hackers actually completely deleted the account. In this situation, it is very difficult to get your account back and Instagram is likely not going to be keen to help you out.
I got my Instagram account disabled, can you help me?
The answer is unfortunately not. I cannot help you besides writing this detailed article breaking down step by step what I did. My Facebook account is only for me so I can’t run ads for anyone else. Simply read through the post and give it a shot. In addition, read through the comments as many people have had success with slightly different methods.
Please leave questions in the comments below
I’ve received many messages on my Instagram account for help with getting your Instagram account back. I can’t promise I can respond to every question in a timely manner.
For the sake of the community, please post your questions on this post using the comments below. Also, if you have had success with your journey, please leave a comment to tell everyone about what your experience entailed. I think everyone will go through a slightly different process in getting their accounts back so it would be great to have data points for everyone!
As well, please ignore any comments that promote contacting someone. These are 100% spam and there is no one that can bring your account back besides yourself. I want the comments to be open and useful but I can’t always catch these spammers right away.
Continue Reading:
- Ultimate Guide For Revolut: Zero Fees To Exchange Money
- Best Ways To Meet The Minimum Credit Card Bonus Spend Requirements
- Ultimate Guide To Opening A Bank Account In Singapore For Expats
- Ultimate Guide To Applying For Multiple Chase Ink Business Cards
- How To Buy I Bonds (Series I Savings Bonds): The Ultimate Guide To Inflation Bonds
- How To Waive The Delta MQD Requirement By Living Abroad
- Why Opening And Closing Multiple Credit Cards Doesn’t Kill Your Credit Score
- Ultimate Guide To German Banking And Credit Cards
- Ottonova Review: Why Private Health Insurance In Germany Is Better
- The Ultimate Guide For Starting A Travel Blog
- How Much Money Do Travel Bloggers Make? My Yearly Earnings Report
- Ultimate Guide To Churning And Using US Credit Cards As An Expat
I’ve paid for and boosted an ad but I dont have the “contact support” button anywhere? I can only get as far as “meta business manager” and no further, same as Nonci below me?
My Instagram was hacked a week ago – within 10 mins they’d changed my email / password / phone number
They did a bitcoin post and messaged my contacts
My profile had been private for 12 years
They made it public
I’ve been trying for a week to upload a selfie video but it keeps saying “video upload failed” and they rejected my ID!
There are photos of my parents and baby niece on there that are now completely open to the public 😭😭
oh wow – where did you find the facebook support chat button so you could start chatting with someone. I’ve boosted a post and clicked on ‘Get Support’ but there’s no link to actually chat with anyone..Got hacked 2 weeks ago and my 2 factor authentication codes dont work and the hacker changed my username so it looks like it doesn’t exist but I can see its still there as I haven’t logged out of it…
This method worked for me!!! My personal Instagram account was arbitrarily disabled August 20th, 2023, and I just got it back Sept. 6. I paid the $5 for a boosted post and waited about four days before accessing Facebook support chat. (I found it doesn’t really matter what request you put in as long as it’s through your paid ad account and you specify the issue is with your instagram account.) It took me three tries with the Facebook support chat. The first guy was no help, the second girl tried and even called me on the phone to help me file a report, but it didn’t work. Then the last guy resolved it by filing a ticket for the internal process team to review my account. Within three hours of that chat, my account was restored!! Make sure to take screenshots of every step in the process so they can see what you see and understand that the regular methods don’t work. Thank you so much for writing about this process, it was my only hope of getting back 11 years worth of content!
Congrats Taylor and glad it worked out for you!
I am thrilled to report that this technique worked for me! Thank you for the thorough guide 🙂
Two weeks ago my Instagram account was disabled for “violating community guidelines regarding account authenticity”. I knew this had to be a mistake and stumbled upon this blog post in my search on how to get it reactivated.
I created a page on my FB account and ran a 3 day ad for $3. Once the ad had finished running, I was able to access the Meta support chat. Luckily (and surprisingly) the first agent I talked to was super helpful. I explained the situation and he let me know that he would be in contact via phone or email shortly with an update.
I first contacted Meta support on 8/30. It took a bit for my agent (Luis) to find the right people on his side who could help solve the issue, but as of this morning (9/5), my account has been reactivated! Although it took about a week to get this fully resolved, Meta support was very communicative when I reached out asking for updates and I felt that the support agent truly cared about getting my issue resolved. I was thoroughly impressed!
Hoping this info is helpful and others are able to get their accounts back who may be experiencing this same, weird glitch.
Congrats on getting it back! Hope others are as lucky as you
Me too! – Any direct email contacts would be great because the button to contact advertising support does not work anymore.
Hi Jared, Do you mind sharing your meta contacts? I’ve been trying everything to get my Instagram back (did everything Johnny mentioned in this article) and still nothing. Please help. Thank you.
Me too! – Any direct email contacts would be great because the button to contact advertising support does not work anymore.
Hi
Hi Filippo
Where do you go to confirm the payment?
I wasn’t able to find such an option
Hello everyone. My Instagram and Facebook accounts were both hacked on 6-5-2023. The hacker had stolen a friends account and used that to gain access to my accounts. I was luckily able to retrieve my Facebook account the same day it was hacked. Took me about 3 hours cause the hacker kept logging me back out. But I got it back. However, I can’t say the same for my Instagram account. I followed every amazing step in this blog. I open chats in meta business suite daily. I’ve taken over 70 selfie identification videos and Instagram denies all of them. I’ve filed several reports. The hacker changed my email and enabled 2fa on my Instagram. He even started calling my phone from the other account he hacked on Facebook messenger. He’s emailed me directly pretending to be Instagram trying to gain more info from me. He attempted to log into my venmo account. It’s been a nightmare, but I’m still actively working hard to get my account back. I don’t understand why the process has to be so impossible. Remove the hackers email from my Instagram account and disable 2fa and add back my old email address. Seems simple enough. But I’ve had to jump through an unnecessary amount of hoops and my Instagram remains controlled by the hacker.
Hi,
I’m trying to follow the steps Johnny shared, but I’m blocked. At the step where it says “Find answers or contact support”, when I click on “Get started”, it brings me to a different page than what is suggested in this blog. I don’t have the option to “Contact advertising support”.
Would anyone know what I’m doing wrong here?
Thanks a lot!
Was this for a personal IG account and the Meta Pro business team directly helped? they haven’t been helpful thus far but am going to keep trying until I finally get it back after 6 months
Yes that’s exactly what happened. It was a personal Instagram account
Hey Johnny,
I just wanted to say that I am incredibly grateful for your blog post. I got my Facebook disabled on 26th of April due to a hacker that linked it to an instagram profile that I do not own.
The only way to report it was by getting in touch0 with a human via the advertising support chat. They recovered it yesterday. Thank you so much for helping me save my 15 years of Facebook history.
Wish you all the best
Hi asen, glad to hear about the positive experiences! Congrats on getting the account back as well!
I have a permanently disabled account and the Meta Pro Advertising support team keeps saying they can’t do anything and just send links to the instagram forms and pages that do not allow you to go past anything when the username is disabled. Do you have any advice on how to get the chat agent to escalate it to a more direct instagram Team? They keep stating that they can only appea; “business Instagram accounts” and not personal accounts. I explained I want to turn my coveted personal instagram account into business and have it reactivated but they just keep saying I need to talk to Instagram support and send me links that do not help. Appreciate any guidance on how to have a hacked/permanently disabled personal account be re-reviewed and ultimately reactivated!?
My Instagram was phished in September of 2022, and it was disabled in October. It has been a nightmare trying to gain back access to it – and I still can’t.
I have been contacting the Meta Pro team virtually every other day since then. Recently I quit trying for a month, and when I pressed the “Get Support” button, it leads me to a series of generic questions but no longer gives me access to chatting with the Meta Pro team.
I’m at my wit’s end. Anybody else in the same situation? Thanks!
I was able to get to the chat support selection in the format provided by Jess in the article but when selecting my options presented it doesn’t go any further past ‘where did this occur’ and when I chose ‘Instagram’ nothing else happens. Any ideas?
Hi Ben, sorry I can’t help you on this as I’m yet to unlock the live chat option. How much did you spend on ads and for how long were they running for, when you were able see the live chat option? I’ve been running mine for nearly a week…
Hey Carl, what did you say to facebook support once you got there that got them to get your account back? They are not being very helpful to me!
I told them my IG account was hacked and wanted to tie it in with my facebook business account. When the question online asked what I needed was, I would say my facebook acct was hacked. That was how I got the support to go further. Then when you get them, tell them your IG acct was hacked. I don’t know your situation.
Any new updates that someone has as of 4/22/23?
Hi,
My old Instagram account also got hacked.
But it does not look like I can contact Facebook support from a personal Facebook account right (not a business one)?
Also how much did you pay to get your account recovered?
https://business.facebook.com/business/help
It takes a few days but this is the page you need. Top right “Get Support”
Go back and confirm you have a business account. It is all in the instructions from the owner of this page.
If I can do it anyone can. Good luck.
Hey Carl, what did you say to facebook support once you got there that got them to get your account back? They are not being very helpful to me!
Hi Johnny, I am in the exact same situation you were. Currently I am trying to get to the point where I can see the button to contact facebook support. I cannot see it right now even though I bought the ads, do you have advice for this? Also, What did you say to support once you got a hold of them? Thank you for the help.
Did you get any updates? Let me know if anything has changed for you
Hi Filipo, I am in the exact same situation you were. Currently I am trying to get to the point where I can see the button to contact facebook support. I cannot see it right now even though I bought the ads, do you have advice for this? Also, What did you say to support once you got a hold of them? Thank you for the help.
Did you follow the instructions and get a facebook business account? And how is someone going to help you with no contact info?
hi I dint know if you were talking to me but yes I did follow..and I though you could see the email so that’s my bad
could you help me though? i just want my account back please.
can u please share with us where did u contact support that replied to u? what emails ?
thank u
hi I dint know if you were talking to me but yes I did follow..and I though you could see the email so that’s my bad
hi can someone please help me get into my instagram account?? or just let me talk to a Facebook agent or something through their account? 😦 nothing is working please.
I got my IG back! After 6 months of fighting! Thanks SO much Johnny for even having written this article that helped me and so many others know that this happens regularly and the ways to try and resolve it.
I had a personal page, about 900 followers. I was disabled for no reason whatsoever, the reason IG gave was “impersonating someone else”. They never even asked me to prove my identity with an ID! I tried the mistakenly disabled account appeals, no luck. I did Johnny’s method to unlock Support, spoke with maybe 30+ different reps with no luck. I tried Jess’s method, led me back to the same Support chat loop. I finally, and desperately, asked two of my professional connections that work at Meta to send in tickets for me. They both did, and within 3 days I got my IG back!
Wow congrats! I suspect very few others will be as lucky as you but however you can get it done!
can u please help me out, i am dealing with the same problem.
could you help me though? i just want my account back please.
I have been going through the exact same scenario as you and am permanently disabled and getting the same responses from business support agents on facebook saying they can’t help personal accounts. I would greatly appreciate it if you could assist with connecting with your contacts and raising a ticket to retrieve my personal account back. I have many sentimental posts and pictures with my late Mother I would love to get access to and connect with friends and family! Happy to connect via email and compensate as well. Thanks!
Hey everyone!!!
So I have a question.My account has been hacked on 07.02.2023. My hacked turned on two fact authentication so I am unable to log in. I tried to upload numerous selfie videos but I always get the same answer that my identity can’t be verified. I created a fb business page and I payed for an ad and my credit card has been charged TODAY. However I still don’t see the green button to actually contact the support. Do I need to wait another 48 hours after my card has been charged?
I would be thankful for any tipps.
Hey Johnny, hey everybody:)
I have been now trying this technique for a while, but the support contacting feature just wont show up, as my payments dont get deducted somehow.
I was wondering if somebody who already went through this procedure might want to let me log into their account with acces to contacting support? I would be down to paypal you the costs of the adverts back!
Thanks in advance
Philippa
Well! It finally worked. Today Meta Support called me and reset my account with my new email. A few days ago I did another get more support link and this person sent it to another level. They asked me for business license and some other things that I don’t have but I did have a website where I sell photos with my Instagram name on it. I think that was the ticket. Thanks for the forum to get this done. 3 1/2 months of trying and its back in my hands. Good luck to everyone who keeps trying.
wow 3.5 months that is some seriou dedication. Congrats on the journey and thanks for the data point!
Hey carl, I have unfortunately not been as successful as you and I was hoping that you could use your contacts to contact meta support for me. I will be forever grateful.
That worked! A few differences in the directions for me, but nothing a little digging around couldn’t fix! The real fight was with Meta support, took about a month of them being really unhelpful and not listening to me in all the emails back and forth.
First thing, get an app to record yourself following their instructions, so you can show them it didn’t work, and they have to try something else. No video no progress. Eventually they did something correctly and got me back in!
Thanks you so much Johnny! There are so many pathetic parasites out there trying to take advantage of people and this page is a delicious slice of refreshing can do!!
Congrats Matt! Thanks for the data point and glad you got your account back!
Hello,
It works !
I got my account back in less then 24 hours!! It is very rare that I write any comment. But I want to give hope anyone who is trying to get back his account. Im in French and my account was complete disabled, not link to Facebook , so had very little hope. I completed many forms, never got any response and nothing worked. I was desperate.
Then I found this blog. I first tried Johnny’s method, but since I had to wait at least a couple of days to be able to contact the support I also tried Jess method.
I followed her step, unfortunately I was not able to fin the direct chat. But I was able to send an email with my problem. So I gave it a shot. I wrote a very nice email telling them about my problem. 20 min later I already had a response, he understood my problem. We exchange about 10 emails during the day. It ended by him telling me that my problem was out of his league and there is nothing he could do, he also told me that he would bring up my case in intern and that he would give me a follow up by the end of the week. The next morning (This morning 🙂 ) I received an email telling me that my account was reactivated!
Never been this happy! So guys don’t lose hope.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any help.
Wow you got lucky because I’m sure many of the people reading this post would dream of your scenario but congrats on your success in getting the account back!
Which email address did you find? I haven’t been able to reach anyone. I used Instagram@support.com
please, can you help I am losing hope to get back into my instagram account
At this point I think facebook figured out people were using this way to get their accounts back and shut it down. I’m still trying. Been through about 3 different Facebook people. All nice people but they don’t have any access to do anything. Why are they there?
Hello Carl ,
What method did you use ?
I had the same issue , my account had been blocked for like 2 weeks. I had tried everything but nothing worked then I tried Jess’s method maybe I got very lucky but I was able to exchange email with someone and I had my account recovered in less than 24h . And this happened today
I’ve been using the Facebook Business account. No luck. My hacker turned on the Authentication app in the settings and I can’t get past it and FB won’t go turn it off or send me the 8 digit backup codes. My password, email, and phone # are still correct.
Did your personal IG account say that it was permanently disabled and was not able to be reversed? If so, there is still hope but I keep getting Meta support claiming that my appeal was reviewed internally at the time when they disabled me for violating community guidelines (had impersonators reporting any comment I made and hacked me). They refuse to send it to an internal team member with my circumstances explained and evidenced that I previously successfully appealed 1 time before this of an impersonator
Hi Ludovic, I have created the business account but have had no luck. I tried Jess’s method, but it says I am too young to create the account. I was wondering if I could get the contact info or if you could possibly contact them for me. I know this is a longshot, but I am desperate at this point. Thanks in advance…
IT WORKED! I GOT MY ACCOUNT BACK!
I want to thank Johnny and briefly tell you all my experience that lasted a month, I will translate from Italian to english with Google.
A month ago I wake up one morning and notice that my personal Facebook account has been hacked and disabled for policy violation, my Instagram account was connected to it, which is also disabled.
The first thing I did was confirm my identity with the id, this only made the situation worse causing the profile to be permanently disabled.
I then contacted the automated facebook help and the human oculus assistance, but both are not served.
I decided last week to try Johnny’s method: I used my mother’s business profile to create an ad for three euros for one day and waited for it to be checked by facebook and approved.
I noticed that nothing happened after the approval and no support link appeared, and I realized that even though I had created the ad I still had to confirm the payment!
I confirmed the payment and after 5 minutes the help button was there!
I opened a ticket last week and a girl from the support team called me on my phone telling me she would send a report.
A week goes by and no one answers me anymore and the ticket was automatically closed.
Yesterday morning I open a new one and another girl replies telling me that the situation was easily resolved and that she would call me back within the day.
After 40 minutes my Instagram was online again!
Unfortunately, however, she has not been able to recover my Facebook account, and she told me that it will be permanently deleted in August.
It doesn’t matter, it was an unused account, the important thing for me was to get Instagram back!
This has been my experience, it only took me two tries and my account was permanently disabled before trying.
Fight to the end and don’t give up!
Incredible! Congrats on getting the account back
Hi Filipo, I am in the exact same situation you were. Currently I am trying to get to the point where I can see the button to contact facebook support. I cannot see it right now even though I bought the ads, do you have advice for this? Also, What did you say to support once you got a hold of them? Thank you for the help.
Same here. Just keep getting the run around.
Hi Misha!
The support girl who helped me on the phone told me that she forwarded the report and wait for her to contact me again…. I’ve been waiting for 5 days, do you think I should open another ticket? is there any chance she will fix the problem? Thank you
I was able to talk with a support girl on the phone thanks to your method.
She told me that she forwarded the report and to wait for her to contact me again…. I’ve been waiting for 5 days… do you think I should open another ticket? is there any chance she will fix the problem? Thank you
I’ve talked to about 10 agents. They have just been sending me appeal links which don’t work or tell me they only handle business accounts. That they only have limited options on what they can do for Instagram. I’m losing hope. Wondering if others recently have had success.
Ey Jared it would be nice if you keep making updated about your account, today I talked to a manager, that guy was really nice he even called to my phone number and we were talking for about 20 minutes, he told me that it was almost imposible to get my account back cause they dont actually have permision for active account, the only can look at your profile, it was nice tough to talk to someone from meta and get a little bit o support.