You worked hard to build up a following on Instagram. You posted tons of content that your followers loved. Now, all of a sudden, you can’t log into your account. Your account has been deleted. What gives?
Naturally, your first question is: Why did my Instagram account get deleted?
There are many reasons why your account may have been deleted. There’s a chance that you were the one who deleted the account and forgot about it. But for the purpose of this guide, we’re going to assume that you had nothing to do with it.Â
Let’s look at some of the most common reasons Instagram accounts get deleted.
Why Did Your Instagram Account Get Deleted?
We can’t give a definitive answer without knowing more details about your account, but in most cases, accounts get deleted for one of the reasons below.
1. You Violated the Community Guidelines
One of the top reasons Instagram accounts get deleted is because they violate community guidelines.Â
Take an honest look at your most recent activity on Instagram and consider whether you broke their rules.
Maybe you didn’t even realize that you violated these guidelines (read our guide to see what to avoid). Instagram doesn’t care. They expect you to know and understand their rules. If you break them, you risk having your account deleted.
What kind of violations can get your account deleted?
- Hate speech, bullying or abusive language
- Spamming, like submitting too many comments or spam liking comments and photos
- Posting illegal or graphic images
- Spreading misinformation
If you engaged in any of these activities, there’s a good chance that this is the reason why your account was deleted.
But it’s important to note that Instagram doesn’t usually take such drastic measures for community guideline violations unless they’re serious.
But if you post illegal content or engage in bullying, then Instagram may take swift action to deactivate your account.
2. You Used a Third-Party App
Many Instagrammers use third-party apps to schedule posts and grow their accounts. But here’s the issue: some of these apps can lead to your account being deleted.
In 2023, there was a lot of speculation by users that Instagram was deleting accounts for using any third-party app. We can’t confirm whether or not these claims are true, and Instagram hasn’t commented on it officially.
But we do know that some apps aren’t safe to use, especially if you have to provide your username and password.
3. You’re Under the Age of 13
Instagram now requires all users to be 13 years of age or older to create an account. In some parts of the world, like Spain, South Korea or Quebec, there are different age requirements.
If you’re not old enough to create an account on Instagram and someone reports you, then your account may be deleted.
You can only have an account when you’re under 13 if:
- You clearly state in your bio that the account is managed by a parent or manager
If Instagram finds out that you’re under 13 and can’t verify whether your account is managed by an adult, then they will remove your account.
4. You Engaged in Harassment or Hate Speech
Do you harass people or spread hate speech? If so, your account will be deleted if someone reports your actions. You can read a lengthy announcement from Instagram on trying to tackle abuse, and they state that they have a zero-tolerance policy.
Additionally, some findings are:
- DM abuse is hard to monitor because they have no means to detect it
- Accounts will be removed if they share hate speech in DMs or harass people
Instagram is serious about hate speech. They will work with law enforcement if things escalate, and the user’s life or well-being is threatened in some manner.
However, Instagram does have detection in place that will limit hate or abuse if reported and this includes limiting the number of DMs that you can send back-to-back. If you continue to abuse the system after you’ve been limited, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up with a deleted account.
5. You Were Hacked
Instagram accounts get hacked – a lot. You’ll need to contact Instagram to try getting your account restored, and you want to do this as quickly as possible. Hackers may decide to:
- Send spam
- Post content that is against community guidelines
- Deactivate your account
- Delete your account
If the hacker does delete your account, you may not be able to restore it. Instagram states that if a friend deletes your account, they have no way to help you get it back. And we assume that the same holds true if your account was hacked.
Instagram’s user base is huge, so restoring deleted accounts would put a burden on Meta that they simply don’t have the resources to manage.
How To Recover Your Deleted Instagram Account?
Your Instagram account has been deleted. Can you get it back?Â
Maybe.
Your account, if deleted by Instagram, won’t be coming back. If your account was deleted because you decided to disable it, you have 30 days to recover your account. You can do the following:
- Open your app
- Log into your account
Logging into your account will help you avoid it being deleted because you left it disabled for too long.Â
However, if you receive an email from the Instagram team telling you that your account has been terminated, you’ll be out of luck. Instagram states that a deleted account cannot be restored.
If the account was disabled, you can:
- Click on the notification that the account is disabled
- File an appeal
You can also file an appeal directly on Instagram’s website.
If you try creating a new account and have an issue, you can read our guide on why you can’t create a new Instagram. You may be able to create a new account with your same email address, but it’s unlikely that your handle has been released yet.
Instagram puts a wait time on releasing handles, so you may need to wait a few weeks before trying to get your handle back.
You will lose all of your followers, messages and all of the content you posted, even if you do get the name back.
Why did your Instagram account get deleted? We can only speculate. However, if you do want to go back on the platform, you’ll need to create a new account and start over again. Be sure that you familiarize yourself with the platform’s Terms of Service and follow the information above to avoid future account deletions.
