Are you facing a “Your Account Has Been Temporarily Locked” error message on Instagram?

Here is the full error message which you may be getting, “We’ve detected suspicious activity on your Instagram account and have temporarily locked it as a security precaution”.

The error message may also show that your account might be phished.

You will tap on “Continue” and Instagram will send a code of 6 digits on your phone number or email.

The purpose of this process is to verify your identity to unlock your Instagram account.

However, there are a lot of users reported that the code did not receive by them.

In addition, some users do not have the access to their email address.

It causes trouble and frustration to the users because there is no effective way to contact the support of Instagram.

If you have not received the code, you need to go through your spam or junk folder as the mail may have reached there.

If you didn’t receive it in your mail, here is a step by step guide on how to unlock your Instagram account.

Why is my Instagram account temporarily locked?

Your Instagram account is locked temporarily if you are phished or you are using a third party application.

A lot of users use third party app in order to follow or unfollow other users on Instagram which results in the locking of account.

The third party applications help you to follow or unfollow users at a speedy pace, that is why Instagram mark you as a bot.

Secondly, if you have entered your login details including username and password from a fraudulent site, your Instagram account may be compromised.

In order to save your Instagram account from getting locked, you need to get rid of third party apps especially Jarvee.

If you are using Instagram analytics app, you need to ensure that you do not unfollow or follow users from it.

To prevent you from third party apps, go to Instagram, log in your credentials and go to your security settings.

After reaching the security settings, go to “Apps and websites” > Active > tap on “Remove” on third-party apps.

If your Instagram account is locked, move on to the next section to find out how you can unlock it.

How to Fix “Your Account Has Been Temporarily Locked” Error on Instagram

To get rid of this error “Your Account Has Been Temporarily Locked” on Instagram, you need to submit the “My Instagram account has been deactivated form”.

After the submission of the form, you need to hold camera and take a photo of yourself holding a handwritten code in order to prove your identity to them.

In the end, you need to wait for 1-3 business days to get the response from Instagram.

There is a chance that it may take weeks to get your submission reviewed by Instagram due to the large number of submissions.

You need to avoid contacting anyone on social media posts or videos who are claiming that they can recover your Instagram account.

They are scams and comments are also posted by the bots.

Initially, the easy way to recover your Instagram account is to enter the 6-digit code sent by Instagram through your phone number or email address.

However, a number of Instagram users reported that the code isn’t sending.

Even if they have received the code, they are unable to uplift the error and it would still show the “Your Account Has Been Temporarily Locked” error again.

Here is a step by step guide to unlock temporarily locked account on Instagram.

Step #1: Submit the “My Instagram account has been deactivated” form

The first step you need to take is to submit the “My Instagram account has been deactivated” form.

To get started, you need to go to the “My Instagram account has been deactivated” form first.

On the other hand, you can search for “My Instagram account has been deactivated” in Google and select the Facebook search result.

Here are some other forms that you can be used:

• https://help.instagram.com/contact/437908793443074
• https://help.instagram.com/contact/1652567838289083
• https://m.facebook.com/help/contact/606967319425038

Note: If the forms are not working for you, please watch the YouTube video in this guide for an updated guide on how to fix the “Your Account Has Been Temporarily Locked” error on Instagram.

The updated video guide on YouTube is this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbczOm_hGH8&t.

Enter your full name (e.g Arsalan Rauf) when you are on the form.

After doing so, you need to enter the email address that you have linked with your Instagram account.

If you entered any other email address, Instagram will not be able to identify you.

So, you need to ensure that you put the same email address that you used for sign up process for Instagram.

Next, enter your Instagram username (e.g. greenhatexpert), and your phone number.

In the end, explain them that you did not violate any of the community guidelines and your Instagram account was deactivated by mistake.

Next, to submit the form to them, you need to choose the “Submit” button.

Step# 2: Send a photo of yourself holding the code

Instagram will send you an email stating that they need a photo of you.

Hold the code and make a photo and reply to their email with that photo.

You will get an email from Instagram team after the submission of “My Instagram account has been deactivated” form.

The email will ask you to send a photo of yourself along with a handwritten code.

Here are some main things you need to keep in mind:

For instance, if your code is “666666”, write it down on a sheet of paper, hold it below your face, and take a picture of yourself with it.

• Ensure that the code is visible and not blurry.
• Your face should be visible and should not be covered with the sheet of paper.
• Use a JPEG file.

Your submission will get rejected by Instagram if the code is blurry.

The same is the case, if your face is not visible in the photo, it will get your submission rejected.

After taking your picture, reply to Instagram’s email by attaching your photo.

To verify your identity on Instagram, sending the “mugshot” is part of process.

Every user who submitted the form to them has to send a photo of him/her holding the handwritten code.

The process is to prove that you’re human and not a robot.

Step# 3: Wait for Instagram to Unlock your account

To get the response from IG, wait for 1-3 business days. The response can be delayed due to COVID.

The next thing you need to do after sending Instagram’s email with a photo of yourself holding the handwritten code, wait for a response of Instagram.

When you have sent the submission, a follow up email will be sent from Instagram that your account had been deactivated by mistake and it has been reactivated.

If your submission is unsuccessful, you will not receive response from them.

Typically, Instagram replies in 1-3 business days.

Some people managed to reactivate their accounts in less than 24 hours, so the process depends on the luck.

However, it might take several weeks because of Covid to get your submission reviewed.

The submissions on Instagram were at its peak even before the pandemic, so you have to be patient for a while for their response.

If you haven’t heard from them after weeks, try to reply their email with a photo of yourself holding the code again.

However, don’t do it again and again, otherwise, your email might be marked as spam by them.

I hope that after reading this article you manage to know how to fix the “Your Account Has Been Temporarily Locked” error on Instagram.

How long does a temporary lock on Instagram last?

A temporary lock can last on Instagram for an unspecified time.

You will get rid of the lock after sending a correct code or if your “My Instagram account has been deactivated” submission is successful.

If not, your Instagram account will remain locked.

This lock is not a permanent one, that is why it can still be recovered.

Final Words

The accounts on Instagram can be disabled without a reason, so it is highly recommended to have a secondary account in hand if you come across this kind of situation.

However, if your Instagram account is not permanently banned/locked, you can get it back.

You can make an appeal for review as appeal forms are manually reviewed by real people and not bots, so the process can take a while.

In the meantime, you can create a new account on Instagram and follow all of your friends and dear ones.

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How to Find Someone on Instagram Without Their Username

Your following list of Instagram displays the people you are following.

If you have set your profile to the public then the users on Instagram will be able to see your list.

It can be done by going to your profile and by tapping on following.

However, the users who are able to see your following list cannot sort your following list only you can sort them.

If you are a private person, you might want to hide your followers or following list on Instagram.

You can hide your following list on platforms like Tiktok by going to your privacy settings.

Instagram does not offer who can see your following list feature on its privacy settings.

So, you need to use an alternative method to hide your following list on the platform.

In this post, I am going to teach you how to hide your following list and followers on Instagram.

How to hide your following list on Instagram

You need to visit your profile and open the menu to hide your following list on Instagram.

After opening the menu, you go to your privacy settings and shift your account to private.

You can hide your following list on TikTok by setting it to only me.

It will stop other Tiktok users from seeing your list.

Instagram does not offer this feature like TikTok.

The only step you can take to hide your following is to change your account to private.

The process of switching your account to private will hide your followers and following list from other users.

However, your followers can still see them.

Here is a step by step guide to hide your following list on Instagram.

Step 1: Open the menu

The first thing you need to do is to open the menu.

To get started, open Instagram app and login to your account if you are not already login.

After logging in, you need to visit your profile.

Tap on your profile picture available on the bottom navigation bar to go to your profile.

This step will open your Instagram profile.

You will come across menu icon at the top right corner of your profile.

To open the menu, tap on the menu icon.

Step 2: Go to your settings

When you will tap on the menu icon, it will open the navigation menu.

The menu has multiple options such as “Settings”, “Archive”, “Your activity” and so on.

You need to visit the settings to hide your following list.

Go to your settings by tapping on “Settings”.

Step 3: Tap on “Privacy”

When you tap on settings it will take you to your settings.

You will see many options on the settings page.

The options are “Notifications”, “Business” and “Privacy”.

You need to visit your privacy settings to hide your following list.

To visit your privacy settings tap on “Privacy”.

Step 4: Switch your account privacy

When you tap on privacy, it will open the privacy settings.

While landing on the privacy settings, you can control your privacy.

You can control the privacy of your account, interactions and connections.

You will come across a private account option under the “Account privacy” header.

So, you have to enable the “Private Account” option.

To enable it, you need to tap on the switch of “Private account”.

Step 5: Tap on “Switch to Private”

When you tap on the switch, it will open a navigation drawer.

It will ask you whether you want to switch to a private account.

When you change your account to a private account, only your followers can see your videos and photos on Instagram.

Additionally, it will hide your followers and following list from the rest of the users.

So, when the users go to your profile, they cannot see your followers or following list.

However, it will not change who can tag message or mention you.

To move your account to a private account, you need to tap on “Switch to private”.

This is how you will hide your following list on the platform.

How to hide your followers on Instagram

1. First of all visit your Instagram profile and tap on the menu icon.
2. Now tap on “Settings”.
3. Now tap on “Privacy”.
4. Enable “Private account”.
5. Now switch your account to private by tapping on “Switch to Private”.

After moving your account to a private account, Instagram will not show your followers to other users.

You can move back to public account settings whenever you want.

Final Words

If you are looking to hide your followers and following list from users on Instagram then this guide is for you.

However, if you want to hide your followers from specific persons you need to block them.

It can be done by going to your Instagram profile.

When you reach your profile, tap on the three dots available in the top right corner.

Now tap on “Block” to block them.

When you block anyone on Instagram, they cannot locate or find your profile again.

In the end, they cannot track who you are following on Instagram.

Instagram does not offer any feature until now that enables you to hide your following list on Instagram without switching your account to private from public.

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Have you come across a “User not found” error on Instagram when you try to view someone’s profile?

The error can also occur when you message someone but when you try to go to their profile and you come across this error message.

Or maybe you tried to search for someone on Instagram but the user is not found there.

There are many causes for this error and it does not mean that you are blocked from that user.

In this post, I am going to tell you 5 different reasons why did you get “User not found error” on Instagram. In the end of this post, you will come to know why did you see the error.

What Does “User not found” Mean on Instagram?

“User Not Found” error on Instagram is an indication that the user has blocked you or changed their username, deleted their account or their account is disabled or their account is suspended.

If the user has blocked you on Instagram, you will come across “User not Found” error when you try to go to their profile.

The same is the case if the person has changed their username or their account is suspended or disabled or the user has deleted the account or profile and it is not available on Instagram anymore.

Below I am going to discuss the five reasons why you got the error message on your Instagram.

Reason 1: Username has changed

The first reason can be the user has changed their username that is why Instagram says “User not found”.

If someone changes their username, you cannot find them from their old username.

The profile of someone who has changed the username may result in the “User not found” error.

It happens because their old username is no longer available on Instagram.

So, in order to find that person you need to search for them using their new username.

You will not be able to find them if you try to search for their old username on Instagram.

But in case if you have found them using the old username in the search results when you will visit their profile, you will come across “User not found” error.

You may need to contact them to find their new profile on Instagram.

When you get in touch with them, ask for the new username and search them on Instagram.

When you do that you will be able to visit their profile and you will not receive that error message again.

Reason 2: You’re blocked

The next reason you are facing “User not found” error is because you are blocked, therefore, you are restricted to visit the profile of that user.

This is one of the most common reasons why users get this error.

If any user blocks you on Instagram, you will have to face “User not found” error.

You cannot find them on Instagram or able to visit their profile when the user blocks you on Instagram.

Even if you search for their username in the search engine, you will not be able to see their profile in the search results.

However, if you had messaged them earlier if their profile is in your recent messages, you can still send the messages.

For instance, if you were messaging the user while they blocked you, you can still see their profile from your direct messages.
But when you try to visit their profile from your messages, “User not found” error message will be shown.

In addition, if you have their profile in your search results, you can still go to their profile.

The same result will happen whether you visit their profile from your recent or visit their profile from your direct messages, you will receive “User not found” error.

In short, there is a high chance that you are facing “User not found” error because the person has blocked you when you visit their profile.

Reason 3: Account is deleted

The third reason is that the user has deleted the account.

Whenever the user deletes the account on Instagram not only the profile but all of their posts are also gone.

In short, the username of the user is no longer available on Instagram.

So, if they deleted their account, you will not be able to visit their profile and get the “User not found” error.

If the account is deleted, it means that the username no longer exists on Instagram.

However, if you messaged them earlier or you have their profile in your recent, you can still go to their profile.

But the result will be “User not found” error.

Reason 4: Account is suspended

The fourth reason of this error can be suspension or disabled account.

In a nutshell, the account is permanently disabled, suspended or banned by Instagram.

When the account is banned, the profile will also be disabled and you cannot found them on Instagram.

The most common cause of this suspension on Instagram can be the violation of one or more guidelines of Instagram.

For instance, the user might have posted inappropriate content that result in a permanent suspension.

Instagram does not give warning to accounts that violates the Instagram terms of use or guidelines.

If the user gets reported for violation multiple times or AI detects it, the account will be banned.

In this scenario, when you visit the profile of that user which is recently suspended will give you “User not found” error.

Reason 5: Disabled account

The last reason which is why you get the “User not found” error while visiting an Instagram profile is that Instagram user has disabled its account.

It is a temporary thing, disabling doesn’t mean deleting.

When someone disables the account, their profile as well as their post will be hidden from the platform.

It means that the profile is hidden from Instagram users unless the user reactivates it.

So, when you go to someone’s profile on Instagram that just got disabled recently, you will see the error message of “User not found”.

How can you tell if you have been blocked on Instagram?

You cannot search the profile if the user has blocked you on Instagram.

However, you can still go to their profile if they are in your recent contacts or you have messaged them directly.

From your direct message list, you can still go to their profile.

But it will not prevent “User not found” error if you are blocked by the user.

Additionally, you can also go to their profile if you have recently searched them in Instagram search engine.

The same is the case when you will get the error if you are blocked by the user.

Why can’t I find an Instagram user?

The main reason can be the user has blocked you on Instagram that is why you cannot find the user.

You can use another account to confirm that whether you are blocked on Instagram or not.

First of all, search for their username from your main account.

If they have blocked you, their account will not be visible to you.

Then try to use another account to find the profile of that person.

If you are able to find it from an alternative account, it means that your main account is blocked by them.

Why can’t I find someone on Instagram if I’m not blocked?

If you are not blocked, there are four reasons that you cannot find someone on Instagram.

The person might have either deleted the account or changed the username.

Otherwise, their account might have been disabled or suspended by them.

Final Words

It is a common error on Instagram that is, “User not found” error.

In this post, I have described 5 different reasons why you got this error.

In short, here are the reasons:

1. The user has blocked you.
2. The user has changed their username.
3. The user has disabled their account.
4. Their account is deleted.
5. Their account is suspended by Instagram.

Do not conclude anything before asking the correct reason from the person.

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