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!
Update Q1 2024: This method is still working as evidenced by recent data points of people having success. The layouts and pictures might have changed slightly but the general process remains the same!
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.
I’m starting to panic now as not only have no Facebook agents been able to help for x2 weeks now, nor do I have access to the Facebook live chat after having tried running an ad, but they are now saying that my email address associated with my account is now not associated with my account.
Can I assume that my account has been hacked ?
Or would Instagram take your email address of an account after disabling it? All other previous correspondence at least acknowledged that it was my correct email address and Instagram handle even though they weren’t helpful.
I can’t think of any reason that my account could have been disabled for apart from recently posting a video that had music playing in the background.
I have over 5,000 personal photos and videos on my Instagram, and over 1,000 friends on Facebook – which has also since been deactivated – of which I would like to regain access to.
I am so devastated ????
My friend payed a lot of money to this agent and no help . Be careful
My Instagram account was disabled on 9/11. I don’t have it linked to Facebook but I have run an ad on Instagram previously would that be considered a business account? I have sent the appeal form on Instagram but haven’t received any response back from Instagram asking for a selfie/with code.
The selfie codes are all usesless as many people here have already attested to. Just link your Insta account with your FB account and run an ad to start the process.
How do you link your IG to your FB if your IG is already disabled and not appearing in IG any more?
Hey there, it’s been a stressful journey as my account has been disabled since 8/25, exactly a month now. I haven’t violated any community guidelines. I recently started talking to Facebook reps but none have helped. I spoke to 7 now, about 2 per day, but these are the main reasons they give as to why they can’t help: My Instagram was personal, my Instagram isn’t connected to my Facebook, and the Facebook support team doesn’t have the resources to escalate the issue. It’s been frustrating and they just keep telling me to fill out the appeal forms and wait for the Instagram team to respond. I’m located in California btw. Anyways wish me the best of luck guys, we all got this. We are all getting our accounts back.
Just keep at it and hoping for the best results!
How were you able to get a hold of a facebook rep? I don’t see a live chat option
Hey there, it’s been a stressful journey as my account has been disabled since 8/25, exactly a month now. I haven’t violated any community guidelines. I recently started talking to Facebook reps but none have helped. I spoke to 7 now, about 2 per day, but these are the main reasons they give as to why they can’t help: My Instagram was personal, my Instagram isn’t connected to my Facebook, and the Facebook support team doesn’t have the resources to escalate the issue. It’s been frustrating and they just keep telling me to fill out the appeal forms and wait for the Instagram team to respond. I’m located in California btw. Anyways wish me the best of luck guys, we all got this. We are all getting our accounts back. Are there any extra tips I should follow to get my account back?
Still no luck ????
I have talked to FB Support probably 10 times now with no real progress. Some reps say they’ll call me but never do.
The ones I spoke to all said the same thing, wait 24-48 hrs. One rep even said its 5 days now due to the lack of IG Support workers at the moment. Either way it’s been over 5 days and nothing.
Losing hope here
Anyone have any ideas?? Thank you!
Hi my Instagram account was hacked on 28th September i tried so many videos and followed all the steps but i couldn’t get back my account I’m not getting need more help option after clicking on can’t reset password option to find some other way like adding my email and login with it but the hacker has changed mail id phone number i tried with many mobiles to get back my account but i couldn’t get I’m not finding any option to get back my hacked account and i don’t know how to get my hacked account plz help me to get back my account
Hi my Instagram account was hacked on 28th September i tried so many videos and followed all the steps but i couldn’t get back my account I’m not getting need more help option after clicking on can’t reset password option to find some other way like adding my email and login with it but the hacker has changed mail id phone number I’m not finding any option to get back my hacked account plz help me to get back my account
This fix worked the first time my account got hacked (my comment got reported) I got my account back however every other comment I posted would give me a warning that i’d get banned, my account gets banned again and i try this same method to get my account back with no luck its been 6 months and cases just get opened and closed without any real answers. any idea what to do?
I JUST GOT MY ACCOUNT BACK TODAY!!! My account was hacked and the hacker had installed 2FA so I could not get in. The instagram selfie video did not work and I waited 3 whole days without any response after sending 6 selfie videos. What finally worked for me was contacting Facebook’s support page (I did NOT pay for ads I simply went to this link: https://business.facebook.com/commerce_manager/onboarding/support/?ref=cm_offsite_onboarding_confirm_onboarding ) and on my second attempt at connecting with an agent he sent my case to the right team!! I received an email a few hours later from another agent stating he was working on my case, and within an hour I got an email from instagram with my code for 2FA. I got my account back!! I think what helped was I saw someone said you get a better chance of getting help if you contact them during 9am-5pm California hours, because you get a CA employee.. The first time I contacted them was at 10pm CA time and I did not get a helpful agent, the second time was at 11am CA time and the person helped me get my account back. Hope this helps. Don’t give up!!
Interesting data point! Would be interested to see if others also see this as an option. Congrats on getting the account back!
Do you remember what you said to them in your message?
No luck so far. I’ve talked to 3-4 agents via chat. 2 of them said they would call me and after confirming my number, they ended the chat and I never received a call.
Don’t give up the fight just yet
No luck so far. I’ve managed to speak to Facebook support by email and none of them have been able to help, they just keep saying to wait for the Instagram review account disabling form to become activated again.
I’ve started a Facebook ad that I’ve now been charged fir on my credit card but the live chat support button hasn’t come up.
Does it take a while to show up ?
Hoping to speak with someone who is able to help !
Wait a week or so before getting too worried about it.
Hello
I need help please
Another succes story!!!
Can’t believe it, after one month of being disabled I got my instagram back this morning.
I followed all the steps as per above, starting with the Facebook add. I might have spoken to 5/6 agents who told me I just have to wait for instagram.
What helped for me was instead of the chat I started one day with sending an e-mail (I think cause the chat was still
Offline). I received an e mail back from an fb support agent (meta) with the questionary of the 4 questions. Filled these in like Stravos ( thanks a LOT), and after 2/3 days I suddenly saw my instagram account back live.
There is hope people, keep trying sending the chats / emails and one day you will have someone who passed your information through to the right team.
Much thanks Johnny, Lilia and Stravos especially for your comments it helped me out big time.
Cheers,
Laura
Congrats Laura! Glad you got the account back!
Hey Laura,
Could you tell please which email did you write to?
Thanks you!
Hi Nika,
It’s the same way as when you open meta hulp for the chat, only instead of the chat option you click on send e-mail where you type your query.
I did in while the chat was closed, but I think you always have the option to email instead of chat.
Good luck!
Hi guys, I wanted to share with you my story, which has a very positive ending despite a seriously rocky and, at times, distressing journey. My account was disabled on August 24th. I was, as many of you will be, devastated and all over the shot with my emotions. I had just returned from a 6 month backpacking trip, so naturally the thought of having all the amazing people I met and photos I took fade into nothingness was agonising. As, again, all of you will have fruitlessly done, I tried to fill in form after form to request an appraisal of my account. I sent in those selfies, but to no avail, as I was met with radio silence and useless automation. Instagram needs to sort their customer service out, because its painfully inadequate. I came across this article a couple days after the deactivation, and I have spoken with 30-40 META agents since then. One of them promised he would escalate my case, and gave me a concrete time frame, but this ultimately fell through. Most of the agents with whom I dealt, cordial and polite though they were, were useless and frankly unwilling to help. Then, about a week ago, I spoke to an Agent called Gerry. I had told myself that this would be the last agent whom I would approach. I had decided to inject all of my emotions and frustrations into our conversation, in the hopes that she would take pity on me. I explained the sentimental value of my account etc. She called me, and without boring me with all those links and pseudo-explanations, she told me straight away that she had forwarded my case (along with screenshots that demonstrated I had been hacked) to the Instagram team. 50 hours after which, I was sent an email with the questions that Stavros was also sent. I answered in an identical way. I was told I would hear a resolution in 2 days. I waited patiently, and after 5 days, I logged in randomly and felt an upsurge of euphoria as I could log in again and retrieve all those memories. I have not got an email yet that apologised for my deactivation, so if you’re in this waiting process, please log in and do not wait for an email to come. A few things to note:
I am aware of how stupid it was, but I did unfortunately buy likes, followers and use a 3rd party app. Please don’t give up hope if you did violate instagram’s terms, as you can still get your account back. I did. I think I was lucky but I also told every agent that I had been hacked 2 days prior to the 24th, which would have accounted for the unusual activity instagram detected. I sent them a screenshot to corroborate this (I was logged out for using the 3rd party app and used this to prove the “hacking”). The point I’m trying to make is, if you play your cards right, tell a few white lies, and persist, irrespective of whether you were disabled totally mistakenly or you did actually violate Instagram’s poorly-defined community guidelines, you CAN get your account back. I wish everyone the best, and please, don’t make the mistakes I made. I have logged out of all 3rd party apps and will NEVER purchase artificial engagement again.
Great data point thanks again! Glad you got the account back and no more mass likes/followers 🙂
Hey guys! I’m back with great news, my Instagram is back! So for all of you there – don’t loose your hope! Keep on trying! It’s gonna work 🙂 I wish you the best of luck! Also big thanks to Johnny, this article has helped me a lot!
Congrats Zuzana!!
I need help getting back my Instagram account
Hey there, it’s been a stressful journey as my account has been disabled since 8/25, exactly a month now. I haven’t violated any community guidelines. I recently started talking to Facebook reps but none have helped. I spoke to 7 now, about 2 per day, but these are the main reasons they give as to why they can’t help: My Instagram was personal, my Instagram isn’t connected to my Facebook, and the Facebook support team doesn’t have the resources to escalate the issue. It’s been frustrating and they just keep telling me to fill out the appeal forms and wait for the Instagram team to respond. I’m located in California btw. Anyways wish me the best of luck guys, we all got this. We are all getting our accounts back. Are there any extra tips I should follow to get my account back?
did this really work for your instagram account to be restored?
yes and for many others
Hi, I’ve been charged but every time I get to the Meta Business Help Center it just continues to load even with good wifi. Should I just wait a few days or so?
Wait a week at least before being concnerned about it.
Found one more link for the life chat support so I thought I would share it:
https://www.facebook.com/business/m/meta-pro-team-program?paipv=0&eav=AfbQXvBCh5-NCin_TeuSLE2qrLTUUAh1fYsMeqJFafZRSrULa81p7A01-C3gj8p7b1A&_rdr
please can you help to recover my deactivate my a/c.
Hi,
I am trying to get my account back?
and they are asking me the same questions as Stavos,
They need me to answer to these following questions and I need your advice on how to reply them.
Which 3rd party apps, tools, or services have you connected with your IG account? ( should I reply yes or no? how could I answer this question?
– Has your account been compromised/hacked in the past few months (Yes/No)?
– How many people have access to the account (1/2-5/6-10/11-20/21-30/31-50/51+)?
– What are the most commonly used features of Instagram that you/your team uses on this account (Searching/Messaging/Commenting/Posting/Streaming/Others)?
however, I used a 3rd party app to unfollow but I never mentioned.
could someone advise me?
Someone responded in an earlier thread about how to respond with these questions and he successfully retrieved hisa ccount.
I told them that I haven’t used any 3rd party apps,yes my account was hacked,I am the only one who have access to the account and the most common features I use are stories,liking,chatting,following,unfollowing
Perfect Stavros,
I said the same, they asked me question through the facebook live chat. They told me they will proceed with the internal team, how long did it took?
Hopefully there is luck.
Thanks for this, I have received the same questions now and answered them likewise. just wondering how long after that you received an update from instagram?
So after 20 days I finally got my account back !! I will write you down step by step how I did it,so I give you guys hope for yours and maybe help you . First of all,shout out to Johnny Africa for this amazing post and Jess for the bonus step.Out of all articles I read,this helped me more.The story begins when my account got suspended because I was unfollowing people using a 3rd party app.After I did some research on the web and I completed all the appeals and requests via the links that Instagram gives you. I tried all the methods that I found,Facebook and Instagram different links,emails,everything.I was getting an email from Instagram asking me to send a real copy photo of myself holding a paper with a number . Did that lot of times , waited patiently for several days,no answer back from Instagram.I was losing hope..then I found the method with meta support.At first,I didn’t have the button to contact live chat even though I ran some ads before from my accounts.So I read about Jess comment that shows another way to contact live chat but still didn’t have the live chat option . Instead I had the email option . I said okay that’s something and I tried to contact via emails. I sent 3-4 emails.none of the representatives really helped me,they were just sending me various links. Nothing worked. I was losing my hope . Then I ran an ad from the commerce manager. I waited 3 days and came back to see if the live chat option is there and BOOM ! It was there,so I quickly contacted live chat just once and I met a guy who helped me and told me that he will make a request and send it to the team that works with those matters and he will update me with email . So I waited again patiently for some days,and I got finally after 4-5 days the update email. On this email I needed to answer some questions , like which tools/3rd party apps do I use ,how many people have access to my account etc. I answered them and then after 2 days I received the final email telling me that my account is back on . IMPORTANT NOTE : I didn’t mention that I used any 3rd party apps ever despite the true fact that I did.I just said that my Instagram got hacked and maybe used on other apps. Same as Johnny suggests.this is crucial,you should say the same.Also,your account should be business and you should run an ad even on other profiles to get the live chat option.I’m not in USA and I think I used a VPN ,but I’m not sure of that because I had some trouble with my VPN . I don’t know if it helped or not and lastly,the time I entered the live chat was 08:00-08:30 Chicago time . I don’t know if this plays a role but I guess live chat is not 24 hrs.
Wow thanks for the detailed write up and congrats on getting the account back!
Hey there Stavros 🙂 thank you so much for your comment! I was just wondering how did you reply to the questions? I have got the exact same email today… thank you so much for your reply!
When I went to fill out the initial appeal. It said my account WAS NOT EVEN FOUND and to put in a valid user ID. it is spelled correctly and has the appropriate email attached. Yet when I try to log into said account they say it’s disabled… which is it, disabled or nonexistent !??
Hello everyone I lost access to my Instagram I need help
in order to run an ad from commerce manager do i need to add a item to my shop?
Hi, i’m trying to follow these steps and when i get to the get support page it doesn’t have the contact advertising support option.
Did you pay for the ad, have FB charge your credit card, and have waited a few days already?
not work in my country bro . . . .:(
that sucks bro
Hello
If the agent still tell me
I have an illegal behavior cause the blocked event,
May I still appeal for my account?
Thanks
Hi it depends on what your illegal activity is but if it’s buying likes and followers for example it is a llong road back from that.
Hi, i’m trying to follow these steps and when i get to the get support page it doesn’t have the contact advertising support option.
Hello,
I have created the ad today, and if it works correctly on the option on need support, if my Instagram is disable should I mention that? or say another thing that is related to instagram?
Thanks,
Hello fam,I am in the process of retrieving my account and I’m looking for your help/advice.So I managed to contact meta live support and met an agent who told me that he will make a request to the team working on these kind of issues and will update me through email.So I received my update email and they ask for more information. They need me to answer to these following questions and I need your advice on how to reply them.
Which 3rd party apps, tools, or services have you connected with your IG account?
– Has your account been compromised/hacked in the past few months (Yes/No)?
– How many people have access to the account (1/2-5/6-10/11-20/21-30/31-50/51+)?
– What are the most commonly used features of Instagram that you/your team uses on this account (Searching/Messaging/Commenting/Posting/Streaming/Others)?
What do you think of this ? How should i reply those to have the best chance . True facts is that I used a 3rd party app to unfollow but I never mentioned. When I contacted support I mentioned the same as Johnny ,that my account got hacked
Hello fam,lately I’ve been trying to retrieve my suspended account.I’ve been reading this article and it’s been really helpful.I’m planning to create a post here about my experience once I reach to an end but right now I need your help and advice.So,I contacted meta live chat and found an agent who told me that he will make a request to a team working on these issues and he will update me soon and right now I received the update email asking me to answer the following questions :
Which 3rd party apps, tools, or services have you connected with your IG account?
– Has your account been compromised/hacked in the past few months (Yes/No)?
– How many people have access to the account (1/2-5/6-10/11-20/21-30/31-50/51+)?
– What are the most commonly used features of Instagram that you/your team uses on this account (Searching/Messaging/Commenting/Posting/Streaming/Others)?
So how you advise me to answer those questions . The truth is that I used a 3rd party app to unfollow people,although in the case I told them that I got hacked,same as Johnny.
What do you think ?
My Instagram account was disabled on 9/11. I don’t have it linked to Facebook but I have run an ad on Instagram previously would that be considered a business account? I have sent the appeal form on Instagram but haven’t received any response back from Instagram asking for a selfie/with code.
After 5-6 days i buy an ad finally the chat button come up just an hour ago. The first 2 people i chat with not so helpful and the third one was so helpful. She told me to wait 24-48hours. Should i chat with another agent again or just wait? I’m afraid the chat button will disappear tomorrow
I think you can wait a few days and then try again. No point to overdo it.
Hi Diffa,
what did you said at the beggining of the support part? directly that your Instagram was disable?
I’m on operator #4 and they are all very unfruitful pretty much all trying to personally “lead me” through the steps on the links we already have. The option to speak to operators seems to be taken from me as i now recieve a message stating that “this option is not allowed for all user quite yet” not allowing me to start a new convo. I did find a loop hole via one of the links on this thread: https://business.facebook.com/commerce_manager/onboarding/support/?ref=cm_offsite_onboarding_confirm_onboarding It quite literally seems as though they have 0 idea what they are doing over there as they lead me through their steps until nothing works in which they basically in one way or another state there is nothing for me to do , for example saying: have you tried replying to the email sent about your video scan? well try replying” basically getting me off the phone as they knew it would take time -_- i shall continue my journey!!! Does it help to get the account thats hacked reported???
This is the link, the FB Business support agent, gave me to submit the form.
I was actually allowed to submit it, when before, I received an error message
” Please enter a valid User ID “.
* Do not submit this form more than once, if you do you will be marked as spam & your appeal etc will be pushed further down, from being reviewed. This is what this FB business agent told me on the phone.
SUBMIT ONLY 1 TIME! Good luck!
https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/606967319425038
Hello! Just a follow up to my previous comment. I did manage to correspond with someone via messenger and then she requested to call me. There was thought that I would get it back within 24-48 hours. However it’s now been 5 days and nothing. I submitted two follow up notes and haven’t heard a thing. Anyone else with this experience?
Hi Kristen,
I was told the exact same thing last night after speaking with yet, another Facebook business support agent. She told me what to type in the web address bar, then told me to fill out this follow up form & submit it. That within 24-48 hours I should get an email from IG asking to confirm some info, like my ID etc… now I wait some more ????
Hey guys, I’m just posting here a link to the Facebook page of FB support, realized it could help some of you 🙂
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1690084501262716&_rdc=1&_rdr&paipv=0&eav=AfbUBy2tDuZvaKh9Uv_vJSsU8wf3_OMfMSgIg4hsHOgWC9hnNDq17lcFiN7dbyvaZwY
This is a good link. I have a direct access to the message thread on FB Messenger with the FB support team. I’m curious to see if people who have never messaged FB support before would see the same window?
Well I’m not so sure about that, but they can always try it… I mean now I only have the live chat option through the messenger in my phone, doesn’t work at all on my desktop ????♀️
Hi Johnny!
I followed your step and also check my credit card was charged already. But when I look into the business center, following your steps, I couldn’t find the bottom saying “Need help with advertising? Contact support”. Do you have any idea why this happened ? And is there anyway I can still contact the support?
Hi, all of the fb agents have greeted me this way & they all even called me. Still I haven’t gotten my IG back since it’s been disabled on 8/27/22. These agents are 12 hours in time difference from my time zone here in NJ. Each fb agent has told me they have zero control over IG accounts & can only send a note etc to the instagram support dept. I have even had 2 separate, FB support agents, follow up with me a day later, calling me to tell me, that IG support has read their inquiry regarding my Instagram account ( it says read on their end ) & it’s still currently
” in review ” & that’s all these FB support agents can see.
I have spoken to 4 different agents over the last 2 weeks & nothing has changed in my appeal regarding my suspended IG account.
I got my IG account back!!!!!!!!!!!! I submitted that form 2x since yesterday, after speaking to fb agent & I just tried to log into my ig account & it has been restored!!!! I didn’t receive any email etc from instagram. Zero! NADA!
I just tried to log in & boom! I’m so happy!!!!
Amazing to hear! Congrats and glad to see all the hard work paid off!
Hi Lila,
Congrats you got your account back? Did you have your account disabled due to third part app?
Thanks for this it has really helped
the “need help for advertising” has disappear, we can’t do that now
I have been disabled for 17 days. I am so lucky that I met the angel support.I only talk to four supports. And I think if u meet the support who talk to u like:how r u doing?then u usually will be successful I don’t know why lol maybe bcz people who talk like this is very friendly to others. So I wish u guys can get back your own account. But guys keep in mind, u need to be patient and don’t lose mind while taking your account back or u will have a bad day everyday. It doesn’t pay and u won’t be successful to take your account back.
Congrats on getting your account back!
Hi,
You got your account back? did you use any third party apps?
hello,
I am trying to create the ad, If I add the payment method for 3 days it will be paid for only three days right? or should I extend the days so there is no issue at all?
yes it should be just for three days.
Hello Johnny I need help
Hi, my IG account has been suspended since 8/27/22.
Unfortunately, your steps above, do not work anymore. I paid to run an ad under my fb account via a linked business account & that help chat form is NO LONGER an option.
After you hit ” find answers or contact support ” the next page is just 6 boxes with 1-2-3 above them, with different options to click on. Nothing more, or any option BELOW, to click contact Support.
And yes my ad has been running 3 days & yes my card has been charged.
(FYI I did this all today, 9/3/22)
So instead of stopping here, I tried that link another person in your comments posted & I got to a fb support agent, via msger. After submitting screenshots & chatting , this FB Support agent called me.
She notified me that since FB changed to Meta, things have changed a lot. UNLESS YOUR IG was already connected to your FB profile as a BUSINESS ACCOUNT prior to being disabled, which they verify, they can’t do nothing.
You have to simply, ” wait it out via the appeal process “…
Luckily for me, my disabled IG was already linked as a business page to my FB account. So now I have to wait for about 24 hours for this FB support agent to get back to me. She was great! Now I wait………
( I also sent her enough screenshots confirming my attempts to appeal, only to get that
” username not found ” in red msg. Plus other messages that pop up, when I try to appeal other ways. )
Hi Lilia, I did the same steps today.
can you please explain how you still
Managed to speak with someone? Which buttons did you click? Much appreciated!!
Laura
Hi Laura,
This is the link, use the drop down box & click the Facebook option then fill out the form. Then you’ll be directed to fb msger where you’ll start a chat with a live agent in a few min. Let me know if it worked for you
https://business.facebook.com/commerce_manager/onboarding/support/?ref=cm_offsite_onboarding_confirm_onboarding
Hello
hello lilia,glad you got your account back,you give us hope! I try this link but it says it’s not available in my region,although im already using a vpn connected to US,do you have any ideas?
Hey Stavros, I have the same problem… did you manage to find a way how to fix it?
Hello Johnny! (and all wonderful people commenting and sharing your suggestions! 🙂
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 🙂
THANK YOU for all the different ideas on how to contact Instagram, and encouraging posts to help access ones account again!
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
Hi Jess,
I went to that link you provided above, but don’t see where you clicked on, ” Can’t find a shop, switch accounts “. I only see a heading in the middle of the page, ” Sell on Facebook instagram or both ” with a ” get started ” button below. Please direct me to where you found the above.. thank you so much! I’m gonna try every way possible until IG/FB agents gets sick of me!! Lmao
Hi Lilia! =D Here are some screenshots showing the pages, hopefully one of these can help!
https://imgbox.com/g/PRUbWPIteq
Also, I’m wondering if maybe I had to set up a Shop, and click on the Get Started page that you are seeing. Hmm..I had tried many things on these pages, and am thinking that maybe that was one of the things I also did along the way to access more pages.
Wishing you the very best of luck in getting your page back! 🙂
Thanks again Jess! I’ve posted your photos on this post and also your directions.
Hello again! ^__^
As per Johnny’s great suggestion, I have taken a few screenshots showing the above steps. Perhaps you’d be able to access these pages in a few ways, though it seems that a key was going to the Commerce Manager page. Please feel free to have a look 🙂
https://imgbox.com/g/PRUbWPIteq
Hi Jess,
Thank you for these steps!
I realized I already had a link to this particular chat option! ????
I’m sure these steps will help others! Here’s the link just in case you want to bookmark it ????
https://business.facebook.com/commerce_manager/onboarding/support/?ref=cm_offsite_onboarding_confirm_onboarding
Hello! =D Just wanted to send an update! I am so thankful to say that I got my account back!!! ^__^ It has been about 4 months since it was originally restricted. It is amazing to say that I am now writing via an unblocked account! A HUGE thank you to Johnny and everyone here! I followed the steps in this chat method, and it been miraculous results!
About 3 days after I chatted with a very kind representative, (who was the third person I spoke with), I was able to log back into my account. I described the situation and also included a screenshot of the error message I was receiving on the initial “explain your question“ screen before you click “chat now“. The error message was on a support form for “Appealing your Deactivated Account“. Once I had pressed submit on this form, it said “please log into instagram to verify it is you“. As I was unable to do that, I screenshotted the message and made this the question in my support request, of “how can I send the form as I am receiving this error message?“. The gentleman I spoke with couldn’t have been more generous and helpful! My account is a personal account, and they were still able to help me get back in. 🙂 They said they would send a note onto an internal team, and that the account would be back in 24-48 hours.
Its a bit surreal to be able to log back in, I am so glad I came across this post and thread of encouraging comments and suggestions! After having sent in several emails, support forms, photos, and calls, this method did the trick. And I can’t thank you enough Johnny! 🙂
There are so many great suggestions in this thread, I’d say keep trying! There is definitely a way to regain your account back 🙂
thank you sooo much johnny! so i finally got mine back after 10 weeks. so one of two things happened:
1) my “punishment period” ended or
2) this method worked BUT:
i am also located in europe and i talked to ~7 reps before reading one of the recent comments below about success after returning to the USA. so about a week later, i used a vpn to connect to the fb help chat via a US connection. again, i got a rep that said the same “sorry cannot help you bc it’s a personal account”. BUT about 24h later, i got an email saying we’re sorry for the inconvenience, we’ve restored your acct. either a huge coincidence or connecting to a US rep has a higher success rate. i did use a 3rd party app (didn’t know it was against ToS), so have hope!
wow what luck. I don’t think most people will be as fortunate as you but sometimes you just gotta take the W. I am also located in Europe and I think I might have also used a VPN but can’t remember for certain. Enjoy and glad it helped!
Hello ! Which VPN did you use ? And can you tell me where exactly did you find the button to chat online ? Because I’m also in Europe ,tried a vpn connection to US but it still says that it’s not available in my region.I managed to contact Facebook via email though,but not chat
Hey Albert,
I’ve been getting the same damn messages from the agents lol “rest assured, the Instagram Team is looking into it and you’ll be the first to hear from them via email.”
Have heard NOTHING from Instagram and I’ve been working on getting my Instagram back for the past 3 weeks.
This is absolutely ridiculous and it’s INSANE how many of us are having the same issue and just how incredibly difficult it is to get it back. Instagram needs to have better customer service or just support chats available because this is getting so annoying.
Unfortunately that’s just Facebook’s way of saying I don’t want to deal with you so I will send you a standard message. It really is terrible how they approach their customer service. It’s a free service after all so they will only care for the people that pay big bucks to advertise and not about the little guy.
Hi there Ava,
May I ask how you were able to chat with an agent?
Robert
Hello everyone!
So I have a business account that got disabled for some reason. This should not have happened. I had a personal one hacked two years ago and never got it back. I switched to the business as I learned that was one of the only ways to get it back. So far at this point, i have submitted the appeal online and provided business documents as well a the selfie and code. I want to go further this time as I did not have success the previous as no one got in touch with me. I placed an ad on my business Facebook page and its now been charged. However I cannot find the place to be able to access the live chat. Am I missing something? It seems straight forward, however I just do not have the option. I need my page up again sooner than later. If anyone has any input as to where this chat is located, I would appreciate it. The button does not show up on the right side of the page as indicated above.
Thanks!
How long have you waited since paying for the ad? It can takes 1-2 weeks for the button to actually show up unfortunately.
Thanks for replying! This just happened to me on Saturday and I did the Ad earlier in the week and was charged yesterday. I only selected that the ad run for 4 days. Should I extend it seeing that it takes a few weeks for the button to show up?
Over 350+ comments in this thread… wow… thought I’d share some of my own too…
My personal IG was hacked on 20-Aug-2022, and it’s been a nightmare. The hackers quickly changed the phone # and added a 3rd party authentication app, so even if I do the selfie videos, I can’t get past other security methods. The security codes are sent to a phone # that doesn’t belong to me 🙁
I tried this method and chatted with an agent yesterday… not that helpful… kinda like the 1st and 2nd agents Johnny wrote about. The agent said I have to submit an appeals request to the email: security@mail.instagram.com… and he said I shouldn’t create multiple requests because it would just cause a delay.
So frustrating. I tried today if I could talk to another rep, and I don’t have the button to chat with an agent anymore, now it’s just a button to send an email. Shocks. I was hoping for a ‘quick’ resolution (2-3 weeks?! But I see that the realistic one could be 6 months or more… or never!) Like other commenters, I’ve had this account for more than 10 years, and holds a lot of precious memories… even messages with a cousin who passed away already.
Shocks. Sending good vibes to everyone out there and hope we get through this!
I feel you! I’ve been chatting with agents now almost everyday for almost 2 months! Most of them are not very helpful. Some are more sympathetic than others and will say they will reach out to the instagram team and that I should get a response from them very soon. I have yet to receive any response from the instagram team.
I filled out all of the appeals and different kinds of forms I could and reported the issue several other ways. A lot of agents say “rest assured the instagram team is working on your case and you will receive a response when they are finished working.” But my account was hacked and disabled on June 29 and I am not super hopeful I’ll hear back from the instagram team anytime soon 🙁
I have also had my account for 10 plus years and think I will continue to try this method because I am also pretty desperate to get my account back.
Sorry for the long comment, I just feel like it’s good to know that we’re not alone in this pretty shitty situation.
Hi there,
May I ask how you were able to chat with an agent?
Hello Robert,
I tried Johnny’s method and paid for an ad. Unfortunately, I only got to access it once. I lost the chat function after.
Hi Johnny,
Many thanks for those info!
Thanks to your help, I talked to two agents yesterday, telling me that they couldn’t do anything because my account was a personal one. However, the second one was very kind and he wrote me this:
“I would like to inform you that the case is now under the investigation so I am pretty much confident that it is just a matter of time and you will get the update from the team. This type of request need about 5-7 days to review and the dedicated team will now work on this”.
When I asked if I had to do something else, he told me not to open any other case and to wait. He added “I am now going to take notes of this case and will share it with the team to speed up the process. You have been so awesome and kind toward me and that means a lot to me”.
What do you think? Is this a good sign? Isn’t strange that he told me to wait for 5-7 days? In all the comments here, people talk about 24-48h or less.
I’ll of course keep you updated.
Best,
S.
Iim In the same situation, did you get your account back yet?
Unfortunately, no 🙁 I spoke to many agents and they always tell me that my account is private… So I am a little desperate!
Hey there,
Any updates on the request. And how you were able to get the contact facebook support option?
Hi! I’ve been following your footsteps in regaining my instagram account back (that was hacked and then disabled due to my friends reporting the hack). It’s been a week since it was disabled and I just succeeded in running an ad on a page I made on facebook. However, I don’t sadly don’t see the pop up “Contact Advertising Support” that’ll let me message a live person to assist in restoring my account. Do you have any advice or further tips for this?
I really appreciate it, this page has so far been so helpful and given me hope that I’ll regain my insta account soon!
Thanks in advance 🙂
Olivia
Hi, I just got my first agent via the Support on Facebook and the email they sent said they can’t help me because my instagram account was a personal one and not a business account. However, your post mentions that the agents should be able to help even with personal accounts. I’ll keep trying and hopefully someone can assist me in getting my personal account back!
Yes they always like to say this but it definitely is not true. Just have to keep trying and hoping for the best!
Hi Johnny, I’m on my 18th attempt of reaching out to Facebook Business Support and I still haven’t succeeded in getting my Instagram back. They keep saying that the Internal Team is reviewing the case and that it’s taking a while, but I submitted the appeal forms and have sent emails weeks ago. It’s quite infuriating and a few of the agents I chatted with requested to speak over the phone but I think it’s automated and disgenuine.
Anyways, I appreciate your blog and I hope to post a comment about getting back my Instagram account soon.
Hi Olivia. I’m in the same position as you and am absolutely devastated at losing my account. I’m trying this hack but can’t seem to find the option of contacting facebook business support. How exactly do you find it once you’ve successfully boosted a post. Thanks. Do you have a number so we can try and help each other on, say, whatsapp?
I left my first comment here at the 3 month mark of losing my account. Now, it has been 6 months and I finally was able to get my account back! As others before I talked to probably 50~60 agents, but I would take long breaks of a couple weeks in between. This is exactly the method that was able to get my account back, I’m really sorry but I don’t think there are any other tricks which can make this go faster. The agent I talked to which finally was able to help me actually for the whole first 90% of our conversation said that he couldn’t do anything for me. Right at the tail end of the conversation when I was about to end it, he said that he “tried to appeal from our side for this Instagram account- Since we are not able to do this, normally we will get a automatic reply stating that you should appeal in https://help.instagram.com/contact/606967319425038
Which is the information you already have on your side. But I will let yo know once we have any reply on their side.” Pretty much he tried to appeal my account from the side of Facebook(?). Anyways- I got my account back within an hour when he emailed me back saying that they had disabled my account by mistake and it was now activated again. I have no idea why none of the agents before this one couldn’t do the same thing that he did, but I won’t ask too many questions since I am just happy to have my account back. Some things that might be important but I’m not sure- My account was disabled as a private personal account- so all the stuff they say about not being able to help people with personal accounts is apparently not true (However I did play dumb and say that I thought my account was public, to which he replied it doesn’t matter if it was public or private, it needed to be a business account for him to help) Secondly- for the whole first 6 months of me losing my account I was abroad- out of the US while making appeals and talking to agents. I have absolutely no clue if this is what changed my luck, but the first agent I talked to/ appeal I made on my account since going back to the US was the one which got my account back. Third- my account was disabled due to not following community guidelines, it was not hacked (although I used Johnny’s line of saying that I think my Instagram was hacked to get an agent on the line) however I did not break any community guidelines, thus the activation email I got back was saying that my account was disabled by accident. I’m not sure if they might actually restore accounts which were connected to a 3rd party app even if you prove you own the account. Anyways- good luck to everyone out there, it’s a super long process but you might be able to get your account back if you just keep trying. Good luck!
Wow what a long data point. Congrats Nicole! What a journey damn
Can anyone help me? I’m desperate and don’t know what to do… In my country it’s illegal to create ads on Facebook because they were recognized as an extremist organization, besides, they do not accept my currency….
Unforuntately not sure there is much you can do unless you can get someone else to create an ad for you. Have had others in your boat (people from Iran for example) and it’s not been good.
Hi Vika, I have the same problem. And my account is now disabled after 30 days deactivation. Don’t know what can I do now. Perhaps you resolved your problem? Or your account is disabled too?
Hi guys, I actually tried this way a month ago but they all just told me they dont have access to personal account.
But I saw this article last night, then I thought Im gonna give it another shot.and the agent I met got my account back!!!!!
So guys dont give up,you’ll meet the one who can help!!!
How long did it take for the agent to get your account back? Did you have to fill out any forms? That’s very exciting you were able to get your account back!