My Facebook Was Suspended: How to Get Your Facebook Profile Back

On August 8, I woke up and checked Facebook. Except unlike other mornings, I was hit with this message:

We suspended your account. Your Facebook account was suspended because your Instagram account luongthitraly44391 doesn’t follow our rules. You have 180 days left to appeal. Log into your linked Instagram account to appeal our decision.

Not only was I alarmed to have my account suspended, but I had never seen that Instagram account before. Clearly, I had been hacked. The problem, though, is that I needed to log into the linked Instagram account to appeal. However, as I mentioned, the linked Instagram was not mine. Thus, I had no way to appeal the decision.

If you’ve ever tried to contact Meta (or Facebook or Instagram) with an issue, you know it’s a nearly impossible task. Users are prompted to go to Help article after Help article in an endless cycle, rather than be given a way to contact Meta. Despite this, I was determined to get my account back.

A quick Google search into the issue showed I was not alone in this phenomenon. There are articles from over a year ago detailing this exact scenario. Unfortunately, they don’t offer a solution. My research then led me to r/facebookdisabledme, Reddit’s home for Facebook users in my situation. I read through countless threads and made a plan of attack.

On September 4, I finally got my Facebook back. 28 days later.

Has your Facebook account been suspended? Are you trying to find out how to get your Facebook back?

Here are the seven steps I took to get my Facebook account back in less than one month:

Sign up for Meta Verified on Instagram. Meta Verified is Meta’s subscription model. Yes, you’re going to have to pay for this. Luckily, it’s only $12/month, and you should hopefully have this wrapped up in a month or two. You’re going to get the fancy blue checkmark, but the perk that comes with Meta Verified you should care about is enhanced support – unlike regular Facebook users, Meta Verified subscribers get access to direct, live person account support.

Submit a support claim on Instagram. If you go into your Instagram settings, you’ll have an option for Meta Verified. Click that, and you’ll get the specialized Meta Verified settings. This is where you’ll see Enhanced Support. If you click into that, you’ll have a few options to choose. What worked best for me was selecting the “Meta Verified Subscription” option, followed by the “Managing Your Subscription” option. From there, you can start a live chat with an agent.

Chat with an agent. In my first chat with an agent, I outlined my issue and included a photo of the prompt I got on Facebook. I felt like I was making headway. The agent gathered all the info and said they were reviewing the claim and would email me when they have more info. I gave it a few days and never heard back. When I went back to check our chat in Instagram, it said it had been closed. I had no way of contacting that agent again.

Start a new chat every time the support ends. I continued to start new chats with agents until progress was made. Be respectful in every chat. I stressed the importance of needing my Facebook back ASAP, but I treated every agent respectfully. Over two weeks, I probably spoke with almost a dozen agents to varying degrees of success. Most ended up in the ghosting phase, but some did try to help. I had two agents call me to discuss the issue, and one hopped on a video call to screen share and see the issue firsthand. To keep things moving and avoid being ghosted, do whatever you can to get them to email you. Persistence is key.

Once you get an email, maintain regular communication. Eventually, I received an email from a new rep on the Meta Pro Team about my claim. I again shared the full backstory, shared screenshots and stressed the need to get my Facebook back. The conversation was almost identical to my chats on Instagram, but now that it was through email, they couldn’t close out our chat. I followed up every 3-5 days for an update. Each time, I’d stress again why I need my Facebook. After two weeks of emails, my thread was then picked up by a second agent.

Follow the agent’s requests to get your account back. The final agent I emailed with requested I create a brand new email. I offered an existing email that was not connected to my Facebook, but she stressed needing a new email. I ultimately made a new email just for Facebook. I promptly received an email from security@facebookmail.com with an account recovery code asking me to reset my password. I was initially suspicious of this email, but after some sleuthing it seemed to be legit (always check that the email is actually from this account and not a spam account masking as this).

Change your password and get your account back. I clicked the change password link in that email and entered the account recovery code. I created a new password and Facebook began updating. To run Facebook ads, the platform makes users verify their identity. I submitted my ID and waited for the final approval process. A few moments later, it was done. I finally had full access to my Facebook.

Altogether, regaining access to my Facebook account took almost a month. When trying to resolve an issue with Meta, diligent and consistent communication pays off immensely. Despite the many steps, trials and tribulations it took to get there, the experience was a valuable one. Problem-solving on social media is not always simple, and sometimes users have to take matters into their own hands in order to get things done.