Can Instagram Delete Your Account?

In this article, I will go over the different ways and reasons your account may be disabled or deleted by Instagram.

Instagram will give you a warning before disabling or deleting your account. However, 6 common reasons your account may be disabled/deleted by Instagram are:

1. 1. Illegal Activities

   Any Illegal activities such as theft, terrorism, hate groups, selling illegal items or services, etc are all in violation of Instagram’s policies.

2. 2. Inappropriate Content

   Another violation is posting any inappropriate content that goes against their Terms of Use.

3. 3. Threats

   If you post anything that could imply any sort of harm toward another individual, Instagram will delete your account.

4. 4. Prolonged inactivity

   Instagram encourages their users to keep their account active. Inactivity can lead to deletion. It is unknown exactly how long your account needs to be inactive to be deleted, but some believe it to be somewhere between a year or two.

   Note: Unfortunately, if your account has been deleted due to inactivity, you will not be able to use your old username if you choose to sign up again.

5. 5. Mistake

   If you have not violated any of Instagram’s policies, it could mean that your account was deleted by mistake. If this is true, you can contact Instagram’s help page My Instagram Account Was Deactivated and fill out their form for an easy recovery.

   Note: If you deleted your account yourself and it is past the 30 day period, you will not be able to recover your account.

6. 6. Hackers

   If you believe your Instagram account has been hacked and possibly deleted by hackers, quickly contact Instagram within the 30 day period before your account is permanently deleted and they will restore it for you.

I think it’s important to note that if you delete your own account, you will have 30 days to log back in to recover it. If you do not, all of your posts, likes, followers, comments, pictures, and videos will be permanently deleted.

Yes. As mentioned before, Instagram will delete old accounts that are no longer being used. It is speculated that the time frame between inactivity and deletion is somewhere between one and two years, though no one knows for sure and Instagram has not released any official statements on the matter.

Instagram has encouraged their users to log into their accounts and keep them active. You can find their statement below or on their What’s Instagram’s Inactive Username Policy page.

Note: If your account was deleted due to inactivity, you will unfortunately not be able to use your old username if you decide to sign up again.