Account recovery help, sorted by what happened to the account
This library sorts account recovery help by case type, not by platform alone. Each guide names the official route, lists the evidence it can use and says what you can finish yourself for free. Account Recovery Service works only on accounts you can show are yours and never asks for passwords or codes.
Two accounts on the same platform can need different handling. A hacked account and a suspended account can show the same symptom, which is that you cannot get in, but the first is a security problem and the second is a decision by the platform. The form that fits one will not fit the other. That is why Account Recovery Service sorts these guides by what happened, then by platform.
Every guide in this library follows the same order, so you can stop reading as soon as you have what you need:
- The symptom. The exact wording or behavior that tells you which case you are in.
- The first check. What to try before you contact anyone, and it costs nothing.
- The official route. The form or in-app flow the platform itself offers, and what it asks for.
- The evidence. What is worth collecting, and what to leave out.
- What a review adds. Where outside help can change the quality of the filing, and where it cannot change anything at all.
Some routes are simple once you find them. LinkedIn, for example, has a form for reporting a compromised account that asks for your profile URL if you have it, and its restrictions page says a takeover restriction is lifted by logging in and completing the on-screen identity steps. No service is needed for either of those, and a guide here will tell you so.
If the account was hacked, the general order in the FTC's advice on hacked accounts applies wherever you are in this library: scan your device, follow the provider's recovery process, change the password, sign out other devices, turn on two-factor authentication and confirm the recovery email and phone belong to you.
These guides do not cover getting into an account that belongs to someone else, and no guide here describes a way around a verification step. If that is what you came for, Account Recovery Service cannot help. A case guide with a date on it was checked against the platform's own help page on that date, and platforms change those pages, so read the current version before you file.
Which recovery cases have a page so far?
- No case guides are published yet. If your case cannot wait, use the get-help page and send it directly.
What should you know about these guides?
Are these guides enough to recover a hacked account without paying?
That is the aim. Each guide gives the free first check and the official route, so you can file on your own. Account Recovery Service only comes in if you want an account recovery case review for something the guide does not settle.
Which guide fits if I was hacked and then disabled?
Start with the hacked-account guide for that platform, since a takeover can be the reason behind the enforcement. Mention both events and their dates in anything you file, and keep your account of them consistent.
Does a guide promise the route will work?
No. A guide describes what the platform offers and what it asks for. The platform makes the decision, and nobody outside it can override that. No guide on this site carries a success rate.
Do the guides cover accounts I do not own?
No. Everything here assumes the account is yours and that you can show it. Requests about the account of an ex, a partner, a rival or a staff member are declined.
Account Recovery Service is an independent service, with no affiliation to or endorsement from the platforms named in these guides.