Instagram's notices, settings screens and help pages use a vocabulary of their own. Each entry explains one term in two or three sentences, says where you run into it and points to the guide that deals with it.
- Suspended account
- Instagram has taken the account offline, but the decision is still open: the notice at login gives the reason and a deadline, and until that date you can disagree and ask for a review. Acting in time matters, because once the deadline passes the account can be disabled for good.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled
- Disabled account
- The end state: the account has been removed permanently, usually because a review was refused or the window to request one closed. Fewer routes are left, but not always none; EU residents and anyone whose decision was upheld twice may still have an outside body to turn to.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled
- Restricted account
- The account still opens, yet some actions are switched off for a while, such as following, commenting, sending messages or being shown to people who don't follow you. Account Status lists exactly what's limited.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Reach and recommendations
- Account Status
- A screen in Instagram's settings listing the posts Instagram took down, the features you're currently blocked from and whether your profile and content may be recommended to non-followers. Many review requests start here.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Reach and recommendations
- Recommendation eligibility ("shadowban")
- Whether Instagram may suggest your posts and profile to people who don't follow you, in Explore, Reels, Search and Suggested Accounts. "Shadowban" isn't Instagram's word; check Account Status to see if limits apply instead of guessing from your reach.
- Related guides: Reach and recommendations
- Request a review (appeal)
- The in-app button for having a decision checked again, found in the suspension notice and next to removed content in Account Status. It costs nothing and needs no outside form or paid helper.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Reach and recommendations
- Video selfie
- A short clip in which you turn your head in several directions so Instagram can confirm you're a real person and match you to the account's photos. Instagram says it's stored securely, never shown on your profile and deleted within 30 days.
- Related guides: Hacked account · No email or phone · Recovery scams
- Two-factor authentication (2FA)
- An extra step after the password: when someone logs in from an unrecognised device, Instagram asks for a code from an authentication app, a text message or WhatsApp. It's the strongest single defence against account takeovers.
- Related guides: Hacked account · No email or phone · Recovery scams
- Backup codes
- Spare one-time codes for when your two-factor method fails, for example after losing your phone. Instagram shows and renews them only while you're logged in, so store them offline beforehand and never pass them on. More in our backup codes guide.
- Related guides: Hacked account · No email or phone · Recovery scams
- Security email
- The message Instagram sends when key details such as the email address or password change. Genuine ones come from security@mail.instagram.com, appear under Recent emails in the app for two weeks and may carry a link that secures the account or undoes the change.
- Related guides: Hacked account · No email or phone
- Accounts Center
- Meta's central settings area for Instagram and Facebook: connected profiles, passwords, two-factor authentication, security checks and the list of places you're logged in. Some accounts now see Meta account settings in its place.
- Related guides: Hacked account · No email or phone · Closing an account
- Impersonation
- An account posing as a real person or brand in a way that can mislead others. Instagram's impersonation form is meant for the person being copied or their authorised representative, and it opens without an Instagram login.
- Related guides: Fake accounts · Content about you · Closing an account
- Intellectual property report
- A complaint from the owner of a copyright or trademark, filed through Meta's forms, about content that uses their work or brand without permission. Copyright reports now run through Meta's shared form on help.meta.com.
- Related guides: Fake accounts · Content about you
- Digital Services Act (DSA)
- The EU law that gives people rights when a large platform restricts their content or account: a written statement of reasons, a free internal complaint system and access to out-of-court dispute settlement.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Fake accounts · Content about you
- Statement of reasons
- The explanation the DSA obliges a platform to give an EU user whose content or account it restricts, setting out what was decided and on which grounds.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Content about you
- Out-of-court dispute settlement body
- An independent organisation certified under the DSA to look at moderation disputes; for Instagram these include Appeals Centre Europe, User Rights and Platform Control. Their rulings don't bind the platform, but it has to take part in good faith.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled
- Oversight Board
- An independent body that examines a selection of Meta's content decisions. According to Instagram, once a decision has been upheld on a second review you have 15 days to appeal to it.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled
- Recovery scam
- Fraud aimed at people who have lost an account. The scammer claims inside contacts or a guaranteed result, then asks for your password, login codes or money up front.
- Related guides: Hacked account · No email or phone · Closing an account · Recovery scams
- Meta Verified
- Meta's paid subscription for eligible Instagram and Facebook profiles, bundling a verified badge, impersonation protection and human support by chat and email. Signing up requires an identity check, Advanced Protection and access to the profile.
- Related guides: Fake accounts · Hacked account
- Sextortion
- Blackmail in which someone threatens to spread a person's intimate photos, videos or messages unless they pay or send more. It's against Instagram's rules: keep the evidence, report and block the account and contact the police.
- Related guides: Content about you · Fake accounts
- Repeat infringer policy
- Instagram's rule that accounts posting copyright- or trademark-infringing content again and again can lose features or be disabled. Content restored after an appeal, and reports that were withdrawn, are taken into account.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Content about you
- Login request
- For accounts with two-factor authentication, an alert that appears when someone tries to log in from a device or browser Instagram doesn't know. It names the device and its location; you approve or deny it, and denying takes you to a password reset.
- Related guides: Hacked account · Recovery scams
- Data scraping
- Automated collection of information from Instagram. Doing it without permission breaks the Terms of Use, and accounts showing signs of it, for instance after handing their login to a likes or followers service, can be restricted and flagged for review. See the automated-behavior warning.
- Related guides: Reach and recommendations · Suspended or disabled
- Passkey
- A login credential kept on your device that replaces typing a password; you confirm with fingerprint, face or screen lock. Meta passkeys work on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, are created under Meta account settings › Login and security › Passkey, and each account can hold five. Details: Instagram passkeys.
- Related guides: Hacked account · Recovery scams
- Advanced Protection
- Meta's stricter security setting for accounts more exposed to phishing, such as Meta Verified subscribers, accounts with ad or business tools, large audiences and public figures. Enrolled accounts must create a passkey and stay locked until they do.
- Related guides: Hacked account · Fake accounts
- Connected apps and websites
- Services you signed into with Instagram or linked to your account. Active ones can read what you shared with them, and you remove them under Website permissions › Apps and websites. Instagram names handing your password to such an app as one cause of data-scraping restrictions.
- Related guides: Suspended or disabled · Hacked account
- Memorialized profile
- The profile of a person who has died, kept on Instagram after someone sends proof of death such as an obituary. Instagram secures it and never hands out its login details; verified immediate family can ask for removal instead.
- Related guides: Closing an account · Content about you