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How to block your account on instagram


How to deactivate your Instagram account

If you’re getting a bit tired of Instagram, you might want to consider deactivating your account. With Instagram, you have two choices: You can learn how to deactivate your Instagram account, or you can delete it completely. We’ll review both options, so you can decide if you’d rather take a break or cut ties with Instagram forever. Just be cautious, as deleting your Instagram account removes all of your content permanently, and you won’t be able to get it back.

Contents

  • Temporarily disable your Instagram account
  • Permanently delete your Instagram account

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

Be sure to check out our guide on how to use Instagram if you need any additional help.

Temporarily disable your Instagram account

By temporarily disabling your Instagram account, your profile, along with its photos, videos, comments, and likes, will be hidden (until you reactivate it). Disabling your account is a perfect way to take a bit of a vacation from Instagram. Another option to consider is merely muting a few friends, if that’s your main reason for disabling your account.

Note: The following instructions only work for Instagram accounts that do not use a Facebook account to log in. If you want to disable your Instagram account but your account uses Facebook to log in, you'll need to remove your Facebook account from your Instagram account and then reset your Instagram account's password. To do this successfully, you'll need to have access to the email account that is associated with your Instagram account. Once your Facebook account is unlinked from your Instagram account and you have reset your password for your Instagram account, you can use the following instructions to temporarily disable your Instagram.

Here's how to deactivate your Instagram account:

Step 1: Visit Instagram.com using a web browser.

If not already logged in, log in to your Instagram account.

Step 2: Click on your profile photo icon in the top-right corner, then select the Profile option.

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Step 3: At the top of the page, click the Edit profile button.

Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Temporarily deactivate my account.

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Step 5: Instagram will ask why you're deactivating your account. Select a reason from the drop-down menu, and then enter your password.

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Step 6: To complete the process, click Temporarily deactivate account. Then select Yes to confirm.

Your Instagram account should now be temporarily disabled. To enable your Instagram account again, simply log back in using the website.

Step 7: The above steps can work for anyone as long as they have a PC, an internet connection, and a web browser.

The Instagram mobile app can let users disable their accounts, but this functionality is currently only limited to iOS users at this time. If you're an iOS user, you can disable your IG account on the mobile app using the following method:

Select your Profile picture > Three horizontal lines Menu icon > Settings > Account > Delete account >Deactivate account.

Then answer the on-screen prompts. Then select Temporarily deactivate account.

Permanently delete your Instagram account

If you know that you definitely won’t be coming back to Instagram, you can permanently delete your account. It is critical to note that deleting your account will remove your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes, and followers. There is no way to retrieve them once the process has been completed. Additionally, you won’t be able to use that same username again if a new user ends up taking it before you decide to sign up with it again.

If you are positive that you want to delete your account, follow these steps:

Step 1: Visit the Instagram Delete Your Account page. If not already logged in, log in to your Instagram account.

Step 2: Next to Why do you want to delete [your username]?, select an option from the drop-down box.

Step 3: Enter your Instagram password to confirm.

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Step 4: Click Delete [Your Username].

By following the above process, you will have submitted a deletion request to the Instagram team. After 30 days, Instagram will permanently delete your account and all information. Instagram notes that it may take up to 90 days for the process to complete.

Step 5: As with disabling an account, you can also delete your account via the Instagram mobile app, but only if you're an iOS user.

Here's how to do it: Select your Profile icon > the three horizontal lines Menu icon > Settings > Account > Delete account > Delete account > Continue deleting account. Then answer the on-screen prompts.

Then select Delete [your username] > OK.

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How to Hide Instagram Account and Prevent Other Users from Finding You

By default the images you share on your Instagram profile can be viewed by virtually anyone that signed up with an account on the app. If you’d rather stay under the radar instead, there are a few things you can do to hide your Instagram account and prevent your contacts and other people from finding you on the social network.

For example, by removing specific information, even if someone has your phone number, they won’t be able to find you on Instagram. Follow along with this guide, as we detail additional options that will help you stay hidden from prying eyes.

Content
  • Remove Your Facebook Account From Instagram
  • Make Your Account Private
  • Remove Your Phone Number from Instagram
  • Turn Contact Syncing Off
  • Prevent Your Friends From Finding You in Similar Accounts
  • Turn Your Online Status Off
  • Temporary Deactivate Your Account
  • Frequently Asked Questions

Remove Your Facebook Account From Instagram

To make sharing easier, Instagram allows you to link your Facebook account to the app (and vice versa.) If you want to prevent people from finding you on Instagram, we advise against it.

Linking the two accounts means both apps will have access to the others’ friend list. So whenever a Facebook friend of yours creates an account on Instagram, your profile will show up as a friend suggestion. Since this is something we want to avoid, go ahead and remove your Facebook connection from Instagram.

  1. Open the Instagram app on your Android device.
  2. Tap on your circular profile icon on the bottom right.
  1. Go to the hamburger menu located in the upper-right corner of your profile and select “Settings” from the menu that pops up.
  1. Scroll down and tap on “Accounts Center” at the bottom.
  1. Tap on “Accounts” under the “Account settings” section.
  1. Press on the “Remove” button next to your Facebook account name.
  1. Instagram will ask you to confirm whether you want to “disable connected experiences for your account.” Tap on the blue “Continue” button.
  1. Confirm your choice by pressing the “Remove” button on the next screen.
  1. You can also do this from Instagram on PC. On your feed page, click on your profile icon in the upper-right corner of the display.
  2. Select “Settings.”
  1. On the left side, scroll down and click on the “Accounts Center” option.
  1. Select “Accounts” on the left and then click on your Facebook account.
  2. Press the “Remove” button next to your Facebook account.

Once you unlink your Facebook account, you will no longer risk appearing as a friend suggestion for any of your Facebook friends joining Instagram.

Make Your Account Private

Setting your account to private is one of the easiest ways to make your profile less visible. Even if someone does eventually find you, they won’t be able to see your posts unless you give them express permission to do so.

  1. You can activate the privacy mode on mobile by heading to “Settings -> Privacy.”
  1. Then toggle on the “Private account” option at the top.
  1. On PC, go to “Settings -> Privacy and Security” and tick the “Private Account” option.

Remove Your Phone Number from Instagram

Before you go ahead with removing your phone number from Instagram, keep in mind that you won’t be able to have the two-factor authentication feature enabled. You also need to have a verified email address for this to work, since Instagram does require at least one verified way to contact you in case of emergency.

You can disable two-factor-authentication by going to “Settings -> Security -> Two-Factor Authentication” and turning it off from there.

  1. To remove your phone number, tap on the profile icon and select “Edit profile.”
  1. Swipe down to “Personal information settings.”
  1. Delete your phone number from the dedicated field.
  1. On PC, click the “Edit profile” button next to your Instagram profile name.
  1. Scroll down and make sure the “Phone number” section stays empty.

Once your phone number is removed, people who have saved your digits to their mobile won’t be able to find you once they activate “Connect Contacts.”

Speaking of which, you’ve probably used the option yourself back when you were setting up your Instagram account for the first time. Still, if you wish to stay hidden, you should relinquish this functionality. You’ll need to use your mobile device for this.

  1. Go to “Settings -> Account” on your device.
  1. Hit the “Contacts syncing” option.
  1. Disable “Connect contacts” from there.

Prevent Your Friends From Finding You in Similar Accounts

The person you’re trying to hide from can easily find you if they happen to follow an account similar to yours. To prevent this from happening, go to Instagram on your desktop browser. Strangely enough, you won’t be able to turn off this option from your phone or tablet.

  1. Go to your Instagram profile on your PC and hit the “Edit Profile” button, just like we showed you above. Scroll to the bottom, where you’ll see a box you can uncheck that will prevent your account from appearing in any similar account results.
  1. Click on the blue “Submit” button.

From here, it’s also possible to add or remove your phone number, in case you didn’t follow the steps described above.

If you want even more privacy, turning your online status off is a step in the right direction. To hide your online status from others on Instagram for mobile:

  1. Go to “Settings -> Privacy.”
  1. Tap on “Activity Status.”
  1. Toggle off the “Show Activity Status” button. If the button is blue, that means it’s on, and if it’s gray, it’s off.
  1. Alternatively, you can do the same from PC. Just go to “Settings -> Privacy & security” and uncheck the box next to “Show Activity Status” on the right.

Block Certain Accounts

Want to make absolutely sure someone can’t find you no matter what? Block their account if you know their username.

  1. On mobile, simply navigate to their profile and tap on the three-dot menu in the corner of the display.
  1. A pop-up menu will show up from the bottom of the display. Select “Block” from there.
  2. On your PC, find the three-dots next to their Instagram user name and select “Block” from the pop-up window.

Temporary Deactivate Your Account

The only way to be 100% sure someone will never find you is if you erase your account. But since that’s a bit drastic, you can opt instead to temporary disable your account and get some peace of mind.

This means your photos, likes, and comments will be hidden until you decide to log back into the app.

Note: You can only deactivate your account once a week.

To deactivate your account you must use Instagram on a PC or log into your account into a mobile browser.

  1. Go to your profile and press the “Edit profile” button.
  2. Click on the “Temporary deactivate my account” option at the bottom.
  1. Select a reason why you’re deactivating your profile and type your password once again.
  1. Click “Temporary Deactivate Your Account” and then “Yes” to confirm your choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I control who messages me on Instagram?

If you wish to control who you interact with on Instagram via Direct Messages you can. Go to “Settings -> Privacy -> Messages” and set up “Message Requests” for people who follow you and those who don’t. This means Direct messages won’t automatically go to your Instagram Inbox, but will be lodged in a “Request” tab from where you can quickly delete them. Also make sure you tweak the settings for who can add you in “Group chats” and to “Groups” if you don’t want to socialize more than you have to.

How do I remove an Instagram follower?

Go to your profile and tap on “Followers” next to your profile picture. The list of accounts that follow you will become visible. Tap on the “Remove” button next to the account you want to get rid of to delete them from your list. Instagram won’t notify that particular account that you’ve removed it.

If I block an account, can the person behind it still contact/follow me via another account?

Unfortunately, yes. This is why we recommend making your account private, so you can screen any account that wants to follow you and identify any potential shady accounts you don’t want to have in your list.

Image credit: Ibadah Mimpi via Pexels. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.

Alexandra Arici

Alexandra is passionate about mobile tech and can be often found fiddling with a smartphone from some obscure company. She kick-started her career in tech journalism in 2013, after working a few years as a middle-school teacher. Constantly driven by curiosity, Alexandra likes to know how things work and to share that knowledge with everyone.

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How to delete an account on Instagram: instructions

Sometimes it is useful to take a break from social networks, but self-discipline allows this only to a few. Then deleting the profile comes to the rescue. We explain how to delete from Instagram permanently or temporarily, saving data

Since March 21, 2022, the social networks Facebook and Instagram have been banned in Russia by a court decision, and the Meta Platforms holding company that owns them has been recognized as an extremist organization and is also banned.

Some users notice that they devote too much time to managing their Instagram account to the detriment of work and personal affairs. Even the owner of Instagram, Meta, admitted in internal documents that its social networks have a negative impact on sleep, work, parenting, work productivity and personal life of approximately 12.5% ​​of users. And scientists from the University of British Columbia found that users' own lives begin to seem insufficiently bright and interesting compared to what they see on Instagram. nine0003

Meanwhile, until the spring of 2022, the social network was consistently in the top 10 in terms of downloads in Russia and in the world. The international agency We Are Social estimated that in 2021 Instagram ranked fourth in our country in terms of the number of users (61.2% of Russian Internet users go there), and in total 67.8% of the Russian population (99 million people) use social networks. The average Russian spends 3 hours a day outside of work at the monitor or with a smartphone.

In November 2021, Instagram began testing the Take a Break feature. It will allow users to escape from the continuous viewing of the feed. In the settings, it will be possible to set reminders for breaks, for example, 10, 20 or 30 minutes. After that, the application will issue a warning about the need to rest. However, this feature has been opened to a limited number of users so far. nine0003

For now, everyone has the only alternative - to give up Instagram for a while or for good.

How to permanently delete an Instagram account

This option should be chosen when the profile is definitely no longer useful: for example, if we are talking about the account of a company that has closed.

Before deleting a profile, Instagram will offer to save data from it. To do this, you need to send a download request. After that, an email with a link to download photos and videos will be sent to your email within 48 hours. You can also request a copy of your data through the Instagram app for Android and iPhone. To do this, open the menu in the profile, go to the "Settings" - "Security" section and select the "Download data" item. Next, you will need to enter your email address and account password. nine0003

Download request from Instagram

Even after deleting the profile, it will be visible on the social network for another 30 days. During this time, the user can change his mind and restore the account. If within a month the owner of the profile has never logged into the system, then the account is permanently deleted.

In the web version

To delete a profile using a computer, you need to perform several steps:

  • go to the social network site and click on the "Help" button in the lower right corner; nine0032
  • go to the "Help Center" and select the line "Delete your account" in the left menu;
  • follow the link suggested in the article;
  • specify the reason for deleting the profile;
  • confirm the action by entering a password.

From Smartphone

To delete your Instagram profile using your phone, you need to take more steps:

  • log in to your profile in the app and click on "Settings"; nine0032
  • in the menu that appears, select the line "Help" and go to the "Help Center";
  • on the page that opens, select the item "Manage your account";
  • in the search bar enter the query "Delete profile";
  • go to the article "How to delete your Instagram account";
  • follow the link in the article;
  • specify the reason for deleting the account and enter the page password. nine0032

How to temporarily delete an Instagram account

The user can also stop using Instagram for any period and then restore the page. However, you can do this no more than once a week. A temporarily deleted profile is not visible to other users of the social network. To restore it, you just need to log into the application.

In the web version

To temporarily deactivate your profile using a computer, you must perform the following steps:

  • go to the social network site under your account;
  • click on the profile photo and select "Settings" in the menu that opens;
  • at the bottom of the page, click on the link "Temporarily disable my account";
  • on the page that opens, indicate the reason for the temporary disconnection and enter the account password.

From the phone

As in the case of the "permanent" deletion, temporary blocking of Instagram will require more steps:

  • go to your profile;
  • go to the "Settings" section and select the "Help" item;
  • in the menu that appears, click on the line "Help Center";
  • on the support page, open the "Manage your account" item;
  • in the search bar, enter "Temporarily disable";
  • go to the article "How to delete your Instagram account";
  • click on the link "How to temporarily disable your account" and find the article "Instagram. com website from a mobile browser"; nine0032
  • click on the link in the first paragraph of the instruction and go to the mobile browser;
  • on the main page of the account, click on the "Edit profile" button;
  • select the link "Temporarily disable my account" at the bottom of the page.

Is it possible to delete a blocked Instagram account

To delete your account, you need to know your username and password. A forgotten password can be reset using an email address, phone number, or Facebook account. If the user does not have access to the email address specified during registration, and his Instagram and Facebook accounts are not linked, then the support service will not be able to provide access to the account. nine0003

In the event that an Instagram account has been blocked by the social network itself, its owner will see a corresponding message when logging in. He can appeal this decision. To do this, you need to open the app, enter your username and password, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

However, if the user or other person who has the account password deletes it, then Instagram will not be able to restore the profile. In this case, you can create a new account with the same email address, but you probably won't be able to use the old name. nine0003

How to temporarily block and restore an Instagram account?

.

Why might you need to temporarily block your Instagram account?

  1. You want to completely block access to your account for a while (as if you deleted it)
  2. You participated in the giveway/raffle by one of the organizers and do not want the mass unsubscribe of newcomers
  3. You suspect that your account is being massively complained about (and you are afraid of being blocked)

In all these cases, it is necessary not only to make the account closed, but to temporarily block it. After that it will be possible to restore. You can temporarily block not only your Instagram account, but also someone else's.

Absolutely! Make sure you remember your username and password for your account. Check your linked email and password. Before temporarily blocking, link your Facebook account and check your login and password from it. All this is necessary in order to restore your Instagram account later. nine0003

What will a blocked account look like? There will simply be nothing in its place. If you click on the link @accountname, it will just be a blank screen. No avatars, no account descriptions, no posts - as if there is no account. And those who were not subscribed to you, even through the search, they will not be able to find an account by login.

How to temporarily block an Instagram account?

  1. Open the web version of instagram.com, either on a computer or in a browser on a smartphone. You cannot temporarily block an Instagram account from the application! nine0032
  2. Go to your account: click the button in the upper right corner
  3. Click Edit Profile.
  4. We scroll the page to the very bottom and in the lower right corner click "Temporarily block my account."
  5. Next, be sure to select the reason for blocking - "Why did you decide to block your account?". You can choose anything or just "Other" at the end of the list, it doesn't matter.
  6. Enter your password.
  7. At the bottom, the blue button "Temporarily block the account" will become active. Click it. nine0032
  8. Done! Your account has been suspended for a week.

How to restore an Instagram account after a temporary block

It is very easy to restore an account after you have temporarily blocked it. You need to log in from your smartphone or on the web version of instagram.com. That is why it is so important to make sure that you remember your login / password before blocking.

If you forgot your password, you can log in through your Facebook account (you need to remember your login and password) or reset your password via email or phone associated with your Instagram account (👉 how to link and find other people's accounts by number). nine0003

If you have blocked your account but don't remember your password

  1. After the fields for entering your login and password, under the "login" button, click "Help with logging in".
  2. On Android, select Use your username or email. address, Send SMS or Login with Facebook". Follow the instructions on the screen.
  3. On iPhone/iPad, select Username or Phone. Enter the required information and click "Submit Login Link".
  4. Next, check your email/phone to reset your password and regain access to your account. nine0032

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If nothing came to the mail / phone or you don't remember them

  1. Open the Instagram app on your smartphone.
  2. After the fields for entering the login and password, under the "login" button, click "Help with logging in".
  3. Access to your account - Use your username or email. address
  4. Enter your username or email. the address.

    Learn more