No matter how secure your Instagram password is, a hacked Instagram account is a surprisingly common occurrence. If this happens, it is important to know how you should react.
In this post, we will give a detailed answer to the famous question ‘How to recover a hacked Instagram?’ but will also share many useful tips, the key to the security of Instagram accounts – i.e. 5 most important steps in this regard.
Given that an Instagram account is a means of work for many businesses, celebrities, and influencers, it is very important to take care of its security.
Imagine that your account has reached 10k followers. It means you can use it to promote your business/services through links to your website, which you built with hard work using some of the well-known platforms for this purpose. And, that all your efforts to develop the business turn out to be in vain because someone hacked your Instagram.
Believe it or not, it is very easy to protect yourself and your Instagram account without losing anything at the same time.
That is why we will share with you – before proceeding to the steps to recover the hacked account mentioned in the title of the article – the 5 steps of protecting your Instagram account first.
Set Your Instagram Account to Private
If you are not in public business or do not plan to use Instagram for professional purposes, it would be best to set up your account to private.
This is a very simple step, which will not limit you in sharing images, and again, your privacy will not be compromised as only the chosen ones will be able to see them.
On the phone:
- Enter your profile
- Swipe left and click ‘Settings’
- Select ‘Privacy’
- Mark ‘Private Account’
On the computer:
- Enter your profile
- Click on ‘Settings’
- Select ‘Privacy and Security’
- Check the ‘Private Account’ box
After that, only your followers will be able to see your posts. Everyone else will need to send you a request and will be able to see your posts only when you approve them.
Block Specific Followers
If you find someone suspicious or someone is harassing you, be sure to block that follower and prevent them from looking at your posts further.
Don’t worry, the followers you block will not be notified that you have done so, although it probably won’t matter to you at that point.
On the phone:
- Enter your profile
- Click on ‘Followers’ at the very top of the main menu
- Search for the follower you want to block and open their profile
- Click on the three dots (horizontal on iOS, vertical on Android) next to the name of the person you are blocking
- Select ‘Block’
On the computer:
- Enter your profile
- Click on ‘Profile’
- Enter your follower’s list by clicking on ‘Followers’
- Scroll to the follower you want to block (or search them) and open their profile
- Click on the three horizontal dots to the right of the name of the person you are blocking
- Select ‘Block this user’
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Are you worried that someone will break into your Instagram and read your messages or steal your account?
Turn on two-factor authentication, which will allow sending you an SMS with a code every time a new device tries to log in to your account. Once you receive the code, you only need to enter it in order to log in.
On the phone:
- Enter your profile
- Swipe left and click ‘Settings’ > ‘Security’ > ‘Two-Factor Authentication’ > ‘Get Started’
- Mark ‘Text Message’ or, if you prefer to use an authentication application, such as Google Authenticator, mark ‘Authentication App’
On the computer:
- Enter your profile
- Click on the ‘Settings’ > ‘Privacy and Security’ > ‘Edit Two-Factor Authentication Setting’
- Check the ‘Text Message’ box
Prevent Access to External Applications
Did you grant access to applications that schedule posts and similar?
Before granting access to your data to any of the apps, think carefully about forwarding your private data to a company, which will reduce the security of your profile.
Make sure that only those applications that you really need have access to your account. In order to take away access to applications that already have them, it is necessary to access them from a browser – you cannot do that via a mobile app.
- Enter your profile
- Click on the ‘Settings’
- Click on ‘Authorized Apps’ and you will see a list of apps that have been granted access to your Instagram account.
- Click on the ‘Revoke Access’ for each application you want to remove, and then select ‘Yes’
Check if Someone Has Hacked Your Instagram Account
You can easily check if someone hacked your Instagram account by looking at the activity of your account in the period you find suspicious, including logging in, logging out, password changes, and the like.
- If you are using a mobile application, enter your profile, go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Security’ > ‘Access Data’. On the computer, enter your profile, click on ‘Settings’, and then click on ‘Privacy and Security’ > ‘View Account Data’.
- You will come to an information page, which shows a fair amount of information about how your account has been used. You can click on each of the categories to get more information.
- Pay special attention to ‘Password changes’, ‘Account privacy changes’, ‘Logins’, and ‘Logouts’. If you see anything unknown, it could mean that someone is using your account. It is necessary to change the password immediately in order to log them out of your account.
How Can You Know That Your Instagram Has Been Hacked?
When someone tries to change the email or password associated with a particular Instagram account, Instagram will always send a notification to that effect.
However, it is possible that someone will be able to log in to your account and continue to use it without your knowledge and approval. Instagram will only send you an email if the account is accessed from a different territory or country.
In that case, you should review the previous activity within your Instagram account, to check if it has been hacked.
First of all – go through your stories, posts, comments, and direct messages, and pay attention to whether there is any content that you are not familiar with. If your friend or partner knows your Instagram profile password, this is the easiest way to find out.
Another thing you can do is use ‘Account Data’ to get an insight into your login history, private data changes, and email address.
If you still have access to your Instagram account, open it on your computer, in a browser, then go to your account and click on ‘Settings’. After that, click on ‘Privacy and Security’ and select ‘View Account Data’.
STEP 1: Change Your Password
If your password has been changed, you can easily recover your hacked Instagram account by resetting your password.
Whether you use an Android device or an iPhone, go to the login screen and start the password reset process by clicking on ‘Forgot Password?’
Follow the instructions that appear on the screen and enter the required information. After you successfully complete the process, you will receive an email.
Click on the link from the email, then create a new password. Make sure that the new password is strong enough and not similar to the previous one.
STEP 2: Revoke Access to Suspicious Applications
Sometimes a malicious attack by an external application can be the reason why you have a problem logging in to your account.
After logging in to your account (only) via a browser, go to your profile, click on the ‘Settings’ icon, and then select ‘Authorized Apps’.
You will be able to go through the list of applications and remove those you do not use or those that you do not remember having approved the authorization.
STEP 3: Restoring the Hacked Instagram Account
If your Instagram has been hacked and the hacker has already changed all forms of identification, including email address and phone number, restoring the account will be much more difficult in this case and will require a lot of patience.
This process can take several weeks for the hacked Instagram to finally be returned to its rightful owner.
If this situation happens to you, the most important thing is to react as quickly as possible – ideally, as soon as Instagram delivers an email that your email address has changed, a reaction should follow. This significantly shortens the hacker’s maneuvering period and automatically increases your chances of getting your account back. You need to click on the ‘Revert this change’ or ‘Reset your password’ link to make a request.
When a request is made, the Instagram security team will automatically contact you in order to verify your identity.
You will be expected to take a photo of yourself with paper in hand, on which is a handwritten code that Instagram sent you in an email.
In addition, you will need to specify the device you used to create the account (whether it is an iPhone, one of the Android devices, an iPad, etc.)
After all that, the decision is no longer in your hands. You will need to wait for the Instagram Support Center to review your case and make a decision.
When you receive an email stating that your account has been returned and that you are the full owner of it, you have definitely completed the process of recovering your account.
STEP 4: Secure Your Account So That You Are Not Hacked Again
No one can guarantee that if your Instagram is hacked once, it will not happen again.
If you follow the tips we will list below, the probability of this happening again will be really small.
Choose a stronger password
Instagram recommends using a password that has a minimum of 6 digits, letters, and punctuation. Make sure to set at least a 10-character password. It should contain numbers, special characters, uppercase, and lowercase letters. Avoid predictable passwords, such as ‘00000’ or ‘12345’.
Most important of all is to make sure that the password really has nothing to do with you and your life. The greater the connection with the account owner, the greater the chances that someone who knows you and wants to harm you will guess the password.
There is also a danger that if you put your phone number, names of loved ones, or dates of birth, someone will find that information on social networks and hack into your Instagram account.
Change the code regularly
Do we even need to stress that you should never share your password with anyone?
Even if you create a perfectly strong password, you are in danger. For that reason, it is best to change the password every few months.
Turn on ‘Two-Factor Authentication’
The best way to be sure of your account’s security is to use ‘Two-Factor Authentication’.
If you don’t know what 2FA is known in the marketing world, we will briefly explain to you that this is the best way to be sure that no one will access your account without your knowledge.
Each time you log in to Instagram, a one-time security code will be sent to your phone as an SMS message. Only after entering this code directly into the Instagram application, you will be able to access the account.
Rest assured, the messages will arrive even if you are abroad at that moment. Item #3, at the beginning of the text, explains how to enable this level of protection.
Don’t Let Hackers Outsmart You
If your Instagram has been hacked, we hope our blog post helped you get your account back.
In the future, please follow the above account security tips to avoid the same thing happening again.
