Hacked Instagram Account: How to Recover It (2026)

Quick answer: Go to instagram.com/hacked, the page Instagram's Help Center names for when someone gains access to your account or you cannot log in, and follow the on-screen instructions. At the same time, check your email for a message from [email protected]: if your email address was changed, the "secure my account" option in that message may undo the change. If you can still log in, change your password, turn on two-factor authentication and remove any device or app you do not recognise.

A hijacked Instagram account is stressful, but Instagram has an official route back in. This guide follows Instagram's own Help Center pages and tells you plainly where they stop.

What to do in 3 steps

1. Open instagram.com/hacked in a web browser on your phone or computer and follow the on-screen instructions. Instagram's Help Center says to use this page if someone gains access to your account or you cannot log in.
2. Check your email. If Instagram emailed you from [email protected] to say your email address was changed, select secure my account in that message. Instagram says this may undo the change.
3. Ask for a login link. On the login screen tap Forgot password?, enter your username, email address or phone number, then choose Send login link. Complete the captcha and use the link sent by email or text message.

If you can still log in: secure the account now

Instagram lists these actions for someone who can still get into the account:

• Change your password to a strong one you do not use anywhere else, or send yourself a password reset email. Instagram says that whenever you change your password, devices logged into the account are automatically logged out.
• Turn on two-factor authentication. The Help Center's steps (written for the web) are: More, then Settings, then See more in Accounts Center, then Password and security, then Two-factor authentication, then pick your account and a method. The three methods are an authentication app (Instagram's recommended choice, which can only be turned on in the Instagram app for Android and iPhone), text message, or WhatsApp (turn on text message first).
• Check where you are logged in. The Help Center path (written for the web) is More, then Settings, then Password and security, then Where you're logged in. Choose your account, select Select devices to log out and log out of any device you do not recognise. Instagram notes that not everyone can see this setting yet; the alternative is Settings, then Login Activity.
• Check your email address and phone number in settings are correct, and remove any linked accounts in Accounts Center that you do not recognise.
• Revoke access for suspicious third-party apps (instagram.com/accounts/manage_access). Never give your login details to an app you do not trust.

Instagram says it is gradually moving people to Meta Accounts, so you may see Accounts Center or Meta Account settings, and menu names can differ between the web and the phone app.

If a hacker is still acting on a professional account after you log in, Instagram says to open Meta Business Suite on a computer, go to Business Settings, then Users, then People, and look for managers you did not add. Removing them means converting back to a personal account, which loses Meta business tools (insights data is kept for 90 days).

If you are locked out but still have your email or phone

Use the Forgot password? link on the login screen (step 3 above). Instagram sends a login link to your email or phone. If that fails, Instagram says you may be able to request support from a mobile device. Enter a secure email address that only you can access, because Instagram replies there with next steps.

If the attacker changed your email, phone or password

If you no longer have the username, email address or phone number linked to the account, Instagram's page says to go to instagram.com/hacked and follow the on-screen instructions. If you send Instagram a support request, its Help Center says it may ask you to confirm the account is yours:

• Account without photos of you: Instagram says you should get an automatic reply from the Support Team at Meta asking for the email address or phone number you signed up with and the type of device you used when you signed up (for example iPhone, Android or iPad).
• Account with photos of you: you will be asked to take a video selfie, turning your head in different directions, so Instagram can check you are a real person. Instagram says the video is never visible on Instagram and is deleted within 30 days. You will not have access while it reviews the video, and if you do not pass you may be able to submit a new one.
• ID check: Instagram may also ask you to upload an ID. It says your ID is not made visible to other users, that in most cases you have at least two attempts, and that you may temporarily lose access to the account during the review.

Instagram says that if you choose not to confirm your identity, you may not be able to log back in. If you cannot get into your email account and did not link your Instagram and Facebook accounts, Instagram says it is unable to give you access, and it cannot help you get back into your email, so start with your email provider. If your email is Gmail, our guide to recovering a hacked Gmail account may help.

If the account is disabled or you see a different problem

If the account was disabled, you will see a message when you try to log in. Instagram says accounts that break its Community Standards may be disabled, and that if you think this was a mistake you may be able to ask for a review by logging in and following the on-screen instructions. If you see no disabled message, Instagram says the cause could be a login problem, someone else gaining access, or the account having been deleted by you or by someone with your password. A deleted account cannot be restored, though you can create a new one with the same email address (you may not get the same username).

After you are back in

• Look at your messages, posts, comments and story activity for anything you did not send or publish, and delete it.
• Check any payment or business tools linked to the account.
• Tell friends and followers the account was hacked, so they ignore odd messages or links sent in your name, especially anything asking for money or codes.
• Secure your email account too. Instagram warns that anyone who can read your email can probably get into your Instagram account.

Warning: fake recovery services and fake support messages

Never pay anyone who offers to "recover" your account, and do not hire a "recovery expert". Recovery goes through Instagram's own pages only. Instagram's phishing page warns that messages which demand money, offer gifts or threaten to delete or ban your account are not to be trusted, and tells you not to click suspicious links or reply with your password. Apps offering likes and followers in exchange for your login details are, it says, likely attempts to misuse your account. Meta's pages list the email domains it sends from (such as facebookmail.com, instagram.com and meta.com) and tell you to watch for misspelled versions, but Meta also warns that some phishing links have arrived in notifications from its real facebookmail.com domain, so a genuine-looking sender is not proof on its own. Meta says phone numbers claiming to be Meta customer support are potentially scams. People who have lost money to a fake "recovery" offer can read The Second Scam, our guide to fund-recovery fraud.

If someone is threatening you with images

If the person who has your account is threatening to share private images unless you pay or send more, do not pay and do not reply. Read our sextortion and blackmail guide and report it to the police.

If this is a child's account

If a child or teenager is locked out, sit with them and help with the steps, especially the email and identity checks. Do not blame them: these attacks catch adults too.

What Instagram does not promise

The Help Center pages we read do not promise that every account can be recovered and do not give a time frame for a decision. Meta says it does not have a general public phone number for customer service (it notes it may offer specialised phone support in some places or for some products). The pages point you to instagram.com/hacked and the Account Recovery & Support Hub on meta.com. Instagram says some steps may not be available for your type of account, but recommends trying them all.

Help Center pages also offer a chat with the Meta AI support assistant. Instagram says you need to be logged in to use it from the Help Center, and Meta says it has started offering it to people who cannot log in only in select cases in the US and Canada, so do not count on it if you are locked out.

We checked the steps against Instagram's own help pages on 26 October 2026; menus change, so follow the on-screen prompts if they differ. The recovery page itself is an interactive tool, so we describe it only as the Help Center does.

Sources

• If you think your Instagram profile has been hacked (Instagram Help Center)
• Hacked Instagram Account (Instagram Help Center)
• What to do if the email for your Instagram account was changed
• Lost access to email or phone number linked to Instagram account
• Recover your Instagram password
• Why you might be asked to upload a video selfie to confirm your identity on Instagram
• Why you're being asked to upload an ID to Instagram
• Securing your Meta Account with two-factor authentication
• View your recent Instagram login activity
• What to do if your Instagram profile posts unauthorized content
• Professional account: a hacker is still taking actions after you log in
• About disabled Instagram accounts
• Protect yourself from phishing on Instagram
• Secure your Instagram account
• Check if an email is really from Facebook (Meta sender domains)
• Protect yourself from phishing on Facebook (Meta warning about phishing from a real Meta domain)
• Phone support availability on Instagram and other Meta Company Products
• About the Meta AI support assistant on Instagram
• Making it Easier to Access Account Support on Facebook and Instagram (Meta Newsroom, updated 20 March 2026)

If you have been targeted, you are not alone. See our country-by-country cybercrime help hub for step-by-step reporting and recovery guides.