Instagram Username Stolen After a Hack: How to Get It Back

You search for your Instagram handle and nothing comes up. Friends say your profile now has a strange new name, or someone else is using the handle you built for years. The hacker did not just log in. They took the name.

The short answer: often the hacker renamed your own account, which still exists and can be recovered with your email or phone number. Once you are back in, you can usually switch to the old name if nobody has claimed it. If the handle was moved to another account, the route is narrower and Instagram decides.

This guide separates the two situations, shows how to find a renamed account, and explains what to do when the handle is already gone.

Last checked: 5 October 2026.

#Can You Get Your Old Instagram Username Back After a Hack?

Often, yes, but only if you act before someone else claims it. Instagram's page on changing back to a username you used before says you can in most cases, as long as the name has not been taken by a new person and has not recently been removed from an active account you do not own. So the order is: recover the account with your email or phone number, change the username back straight away, then lock the account down. If the handle is already on another account, Instagram treats it as taken. Nobody outside Meta, including AwareXone, can reassign a username for you.

#Renamed or Moved: Which Situation Are You In?

A stolen username shows up in two different ways, and they need different steps. Work out which one you have before you report anything.

#Why Searching Your Old Handle Finds Nothing

A username is a label, not the account itself. When the hacker changes it, your profile link changes with it, so your old handle points nowhere or to someone else. Your posts, followers and messages move with the account to the new name.

That is why the usual advice to type your username into "Forgot password?" fails. Instagram's forgotten username page says to log in or reset your password with the email address or phone number on the account instead. If the hacker left those unchanged, that alone may get you back in.

#Case One: The Hacker Renamed Your Account

This is the more hopeful case. Your account still exists, so the job is account recovery first and the username second.

1. Ask a friend to open your profile from their own phone and screenshot it, showing the current username. Instagram suggests exactly this on its forgotten username page. The new handle helps you and support identify the account.
2. Search your inbox, including spam and promotions, for an email from Instagram saying your account information was changed. If it says your email address changed, Instagram's hacked profile page says it comes from [email protected] and that selecting "secure my account" in it may undo the change.
3. If you can still reach the email or phone on the account, tap "Forgot password?", enter that email or phone number, and choose "Send login link".
4. If that fails, go to instagram.com/hacked in a mobile or desktop browser and follow the on-screen steps.
5. Once you are in, open your profile, choose "Edit profile" and type your old username into the username field. If it is accepted, save it immediately.
6. Then secure the account as described further down, before the hacker can try again.

Instagram also says that if your account reaches a lot of people, a username change may need review before it applies, and that your followers may be notified. If you see a review message, wait for Instagram's notification rather than trying again and again.

#When the Email and Phone Were Changed Too

A hacker may change the username, email and phone number in one sitting. Instagram's page on a changed account email says it sends one message to the new address and one to the original address, and the original one carries a link to reverse the change. Look for it before you do anything else.

If the link no longer works, Instagram's page for a hacked profile describes the next options: a login link, then a support request from a mobile device using a secure email only you can access. For an account without photos of you, Instagram asks for the email or phone you signed up with and the type of device you used. For an account with photos of you, it asks for a video selfie turning your head in different directions. It says that video is never shown on Instagram, is deleted within 30 days, and that you can submit a new one if the first is not accepted.

Instagram is blunt about one dead end. Its page on lost access to your email or phone says that if you cannot access the email you registered with and did not link Instagram and Facebook, it is unable to give you access. Our guide to an Instagram hack where the email and phone were changed goes through those steps in more detail.

#Case Two: The Handle Is Now on Someone Else's Account

Sometimes the hacker renames your account and then moves your old handle onto a second account, often to sell it or to impersonate you. Other times the account was deleted, the name was released, and a stranger claimed it.

Either way, from Instagram's point of view the name is now taken. The previous-name rules say you cannot switch back to a name taken by a new person, or one recently removed from an active account you do not own. Instagram's page on usernames that seem inactive only suggests choosing an available version, with periods, numbers, underscores or abbreviations.

That leaves a short list of honest options:

• Recover your real account first. With your posts and followers back, a slightly different handle hurts less than an empty profile with the perfect name.
• If the account holding your handle copies your photos or pretends to be you, report it as impersonation through Instagram's own reporting tools, and only if that is true.
• If the handle is a registered trademark of your business, a trademark report may apply. Instagram's trademark username page says usernames are generally first come, first served, that not every use of a trademark in a username infringes it, and that you may want to contact the person first.
• Choose a close variation, tell your audience the new handle from every channel you control, and keep watching the old one.

Our article on claiming a username that someone else holds covers the wider case where you never owned the handle. A released handle comes back only if nobody else has taken it, and whether it does is Instagram's call.

#Warn Your Followers While the Name Is Wrong

A renamed account is a ready-made impersonation tool. Followers who know your face may trust messages from it even under a new handle, and the hacker may use it to push investment offers or ask for money.

• Post a short warning from any account you still control: your Facebook profile, a business Page, WhatsApp status or a personal Instagram.
• Give the new handle the hacker is using, so people can recognise it and report it.
• Say plainly that you will never ask for money or codes in a direct message.
• Ask friends to report the account as hacked, not to mass report it with unrelated reasons.

#Evidence Checklist Before You Contact Instagram

• Your original username, spelled exactly, and any earlier handles.
• A friend's screenshot of your profile showing the current username, with the date visible.
• Screenshots or links showing the old handle now on another account, if that happened.
• Every email from Instagram about changes to your account, kept unread or forwarded to a safe address.
• The email address and phone number you signed up with, and the device type you used then.
• The date and rough time you lost access.
• For a business: proof the handle is your brand, such as your website or a trademark registration.

#Lock Down the Account Once You Are Back In

Getting the name back means little if the hacker returns tomorrow. Instagram's hacked profile page lists most of these steps for anyone who can still log in:

1. Change your password, and secure the email account behind Instagram first if it was also touched.
2. Turn on two-factor authentication and save your backup codes somewhere offline.
3. Check that the email address and phone number in your settings are yours.
4. Open Accounts Center and remove any linked account you do not recognise.
5. Revoke access for any third-party app you did not add.

Our first-hour checklist for a hacked Instagram covers the wider clean-up, including posts and messages the hacker may have sent. If the hacker went further and deleted the account instead of just renaming it, see our guide to an Instagram account hacked and deleted, since you may still be able to cancel the deletion in time.

#Username Sellers and Recovery Hackers

Avoid tools that promise to grab a username the moment it frees up, and never file a trademark or impersonation report you cannot honestly support. A false report is dishonest and can turn attention onto your own account. Our guide to fake hackers offering account recovery shows how these offers work.

#If Money Was Lost or a Code Was Shared in Malaysia

If you or a follower sent money to the hacker or a fake recovery seller, deal with the money first. The NSRC's FAQ on the NFCC website tells victims to contact their bank's 24-hour hotline or call the NSRC on 997 straight away, and then make a police report at the nearest police station as soon as possible.

A fake Instagram login page or phishing link can also be reported to CyberSecurity Malaysia's Cyber999 incident response centre, which accepts reports by online form, email, phone and its app. If your phone suddenly loses service while Instagram codes stop arriving, call your carrier from another phone and ask whether your SIM was replaced.

#When a Case Review Makes Sense

Many people recover a renamed account on their own with the steps above. A second opinion helps when the email, phone and username were all changed, when your handle now sits on another account, or when the account carries a business or creator income. SocialSafe by AwareXone reviews the case first and tells you honestly whether an official route is still open, works only through Instagram's own processes, and never asks for your password, codes or backup codes. It is best effort: Instagram decides, and some handles do not come back. You can read how our Instagram account recovery works, and our Trust Center explains what we will never ask for.

#Frequently Asked Questions