Instagram Asking You to Confirm Your Age? How to Appeal

You open Instagram and a screen asks you to confirm your age. Or worse, a message says "You're Not Old Enough to Use Instagram" and warns that the account will be removed. You might be an adult with a wrong birthday on an old account, or a parent whose teenager has just been locked out.

The short answer: complete the age check inside the Instagram app with a video selfie or a photo of your ID. If Instagram has decided you are under 13, tap "Appeal" on that screen and submit a valid ID. In Malaysia the law now sets 16 as the minimum age on large platforms, and an appeal cannot change that.

This guide covers each age screen, both checks, the appeal, the under-16 rule and the mistakes that sink an age review.

Last checked: 29 September 2026.

#What Should You Do When Instagram Asks You to Confirm Your Age?

Follow the prompt inside the Instagram app and choose one of the options it offers: a video selfie or an ID upload. Instagram's page on confirming your age says it works with Yoti, a third-party age verification service, and that in some regions you may have to confirm your age to keep using your account. If the screen says you are not old enough, Instagram's page on why it asks for your birthday says to tap "Appeal", submit a valid ID, and allow up to 30 days for the review. If you live in Malaysia and are under 16, download your photos and videos instead, because an appeal only confirms your real age. Nobody outside Meta can approve an age review.

#Which Age Screen Are You Looking At?

Instagram shows different age screens for different reasons, and each has its own next step. The wording varies by app version and region, so match the situation rather than the exact words.

The disabled row comes from Instagram's page on disabled accounts, which also says a disabled account is no longer visible to others. If the account was disabled for a rule breach rather than age, see our guide to appealing a disabled Instagram account.

#How the Video Selfie Check Works

The video selfie estimates your age from your face. It does not identify you. Instagram's page on video selfie age verification says the feature is only available in some countries, and that someone under 16 who tries to change their age to over 16 will be asked to verify it.

Instagram shares one image from your selfie with a vendor whose technology estimates age, deletes the image within 30 days of getting the estimate, and shares nothing else about you. The check can take up to 20 minutes, and you get a notification with the result.

• Sit facing the light, not with a window behind you, and keep your whole face in the frame.
• Take off anything that covers your face, such as a mask or hat.
• Move your head when the screen asks: left, right, up and down.

#How the ID Check Works

The ID route suits an adult whose selfie estimate came out too young. Instagram's page on using your ID to verify your age says the ID must include a photo of your face and your date of birth, and names a passport and a driving licence as examples. It says to lay the ID flat, avoid glare and shadows, and centre it before you submit. It also says Instagram deletes the ID within 30 days.

For Malaysians, the MyKad is the obvious document. Instagram's wider list of ID types it accepts includes a national ID card and a passport. MCMC's Child Protection Code FAQ says age verification in Malaysia is done against government-issued records such as MyKad or a passport. At the time of writing, Instagram's help pages do not describe a separate Malaysian flow, so use whichever document the app accepts on screen.

• Do not digitally edit the photo. Instagram says it does not accept images modified to hide information.
• Physically cover details it does not need, such as your ID number, before you take the photo.
• Send only what the screen asks for. Instagram says extra documents can delay the review.
• Depending on local law, Instagram may also ask for a parent's approval if it decides you are under a certain age.

#How to Appeal "You're Not Old Enough to Use Instagram"

This screen means Instagram believes the account belongs to someone under 13, and it will remove the account unless you show otherwise. The appeal is the only official route, and it starts on the same screen.

1. Update the Instagram app and log in to the affected account.
2. Screenshot the full message, including any date shown.
3. Tap "Appeal" at the bottom of the screen.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions and submit a valid ID that shows your date of birth.
5. Submit once, then watch the app and your email for the result.

Instagram says the review may take up to 30 days, and that if it finds a mistake it will restore the account. The 13 figure is Instagram's minimum in most countries: its Terms of Use say you must be at least 13, and its underage report form adds that the limit may be higher in some places.

#What Malaysia's Under-16 Rule Means for Your Account

Malaysia now sets a minimum age of 16 on the largest platforms. MCMC's 1 June 2026 media statement says the Child Protection Code under the Online Safety Act 2025 took effect that day. From then, licensed social media services, Instagram included, must allow only users aged 16 and above to register and use their features, with age checked against government-issued records.

For accounts that already exist, the same statement says platforms will verify age progressively over up to six months. Users identified as under 16 get one month to download or transfer their data, including photos and videos, before any restriction or suspension. MCMC's FAQ adds that users who do not complete the check, or cannot be verified as 16 or over, will be unable to access existing accounts once any grace period ends.

MCMC's Under-16 page sets out three tiers:

• 15 and below: no social media account of their own.
• 16 and 17: social media allowed, with parental controls and privacy set to the highest protection by default.
• 18 and above: free to use social media, with platform safeguards still in place.

So in Malaysia a 14-year-old can pass Instagram's 13 check and still lose the account under local law. That is not an error to appeal.

#Under 16? Save Your Photos Before the Deadline

If you are under 16 and Instagram has flagged your account, spend the month on saving what matters, not on trying to get past the check. Instagram's page on exporting your information describes the steps in Accounts Center:

1. Open Settings, then Accounts Center (some people now see Meta Account instead).
2. Choose "Your information and permissions", then "Export your information".
3. Tap "Create export" and pick the Instagram profile.
4. Choose "Export to device", select what to include, and start the export.
5. Download the file from "Available downloads" once it is ready.

Instagram says the export link can take up to 30 days to arrive, and that you have 4 days to download a finished export. Start early, because both clocks run inside MCMC's one-month window.

#For Parents: What Helps and What Makes It Worse

Parents in Malaysia are not the target of enforcement. MCMC's FAQ says regulatory action is not intended to be imposed on parents or guardians, and that the duty to verify age sits with the platforms. What you can do is guide the next step.

• If your child is 16 or 17 and was wrongly flagged, help them complete the check with their own document.
• If your child is under 16, help them export their photos and messages before the deadline.
• For a 16 or 17 year old, Meta's Family Center announcement says parents can supervise a teen's Instagram, Facebook and Messenger from one place, starting at familycenter.meta.com/supervision.
• Do not submit your own ID or selfie for your child's account. Instagram's Terms of Use say you must give accurate information and must not misuse appeal channels with fraudulent appeals.

MCMC's page says a child under 16 may use social media through a parent's account with that parent's supervision, while its FAQ calls child use of adult accounts a risk platforms are expected to detect. That is a family decision, not a way to restore the child's own account.

#Why Adults Get Flagged as Under Age

Adults land on these screens more often than they expect, usually for dull reasons.

• A wrong birthday added years ago, sometimes on an account set up by a younger sibling or for a shop or pet.
• A recent birthday change. Instagram's page on editing your date of birth says changes are limited and may trigger an age check.
• Mismatched dates across profiles. The same page says dates of birth must match across all profiles in your Meta Account.
• A report from someone else. Anyone can use Instagram's form to report an account as under the minimum age.

If the birthday changed without you, someone else may have been in the account. Secure your email, then follow Instagram's hacked account steps before you deal with the age review. Our first-hour guide to an Instagram hack sets out the order.

#Mistakes That End Age Appeals

• Using an older sibling's or parent's ID, which breaks Instagram's Terms of Use.
• Editing the ID digitally to hide details, which Instagram says it will not accept.
• Changing the birthday again and again, which hits the change limit and draws more checks.
• Opening a new account with a false age. Instagram's Terms say you may use the service only if Meta has not previously disabled your account for breaking its policies.
• Sending several appeals or extra documents instead of one clean submission.
• Following an age check link from a DM, email or WhatsApp chat.

The NSRC guidance on what to do after a scam explains that order. Our breakdown of fake Meta support accounts in Malaysia shows how these offers usually look.

#When Expert Recovery Help Makes Sense

Most age screens are handled in the app in minutes, on your own. A second opinion is worth it when you are an adult and the account carries a business or income, when an age flag and a hack are tangled together, or when an appeal failed and you are unsure why. SocialSafe by AwareXone, AwareXone's recovery service, reviews what happened and tells you honestly whether an official route is still open. We do not help anyone under a platform's minimum age get around it. Our Instagram account recovery service explains the review, and our Trust Center lists what we will never ask you for. TikTok runs a similar process, covered in our guide to the TikTok age appeal.

#Frequently Asked Questions