Inactive Instagram Accounts? Avoid Losing Access

Do you want to know if you can recover inactive Instagram accounts? In this article, we’ll share Instagram policies toward inactive accounts. This will help you avoid losing your account, and you can take advantage of the usernames of inactive accounts. 

We’ll share a bunch of strategies to avoid losing your account so that you don’t need to start from scratch. This ensures that you can keep the same Instagram account for decades. You may want to do this whether you’re using the account for business or storing personal photos. 

Furthermore, read the article to the end for insight into how Plixi can help grow your Instagram account. Our established Instagram growth strategies have a long list of satisfied clients.

What Are Inactive Instagram Accounts?

Inactive Instagram accounts haven’t been logged into for an extended time. There is no specific time when an account is called inactive, but you can expect it to be upwards of a calendar year. 

However, if you log into your account even once, then the inactive status is removed. Also, to remove the inactive status, there’s no need to post anything or perform another action. The simple act of signing into your account will remove the inactive status.

Does IG Delete Inactive Accounts?

You might be wondering, does IG delete inactive accounts? The answer is yes. Instagram will delete inactive accounts after an extended period. However, there is no specific time for when this happens. The website does state that, “If you don’t log in for a while, your account will be deleted.”

Therefore, to avoid losing your Instagram account, consider setting yourself reminders to log in every few months. This will signal to Instagram that you are an active user, and your account will not be deleted. 

Furthermore, you may receive a warning email or push notification stating that you must log into your account to avoid deletion. Therefore, your IG account email should be monitored often so as not to miss the warning.

Claim Inactive Account Usernames

Do you know that you can claim usernames from inactive Instagram accounts? This is common practice and allows you to get your hands on popular account names. In this section, we’ll reveal the process of how you can claim inactive account names.

How To Report an Inactive Instagram Account

Do you want to know how to report an inactive Instagram account? Reporting inactive usernames allows you to grab them for yourself. However, once you file the report, it can take several months for the username to be available. That’s because Instagram may provide the user with a grace period to log in and establish activity. 

To report your inactive account, contact the Instagram customer support department. Notify them that you have noticed an inactive account, and be upfront about your desire to take the username. Instagram will then let you know if they have started the process of closing the inactive account down.

However, this process takes time, and it’s not ideal if you want the username to start a business. You can speed the process up if you believe the account name was created to pretend to be part of your business. Use the report an impersonation account on Instagram form to file a complaint.

Contact the Account Owner

You can also try contacting the account owner. This might be faster than waiting for Instagram to shut down the inactive account. The user may not need the IG account and will be willing to give it away for free. However, some people might take advantage of the situation and ask for a fee if they see you’re desperate.

Here are a few ways you can contact the owner of an inactive IG account:

• Instagram direct message: You can try sending the account owner an Instagram direct message. This allows you to keep the communion on the platform, and you may get a response fast. It depends on whether the account owner monitors notifications for their direct messages. 
• Other social media platforms: Consider contacting the Instagram inactive account owner on other social media platforms. For example, they might be inactive on IG but log in daily on FaceBook, X, or LinkedIn. Therefore, the response time on those platforms could be faster. 
• Business contact details: Does the account holder have a business? Then, you can reach out to them through their business contact details. For example, send them an email to the support department and ask to speak to the account holder. 

Prove Your Right To Use the Account

You can ask Instagram to get hold of the Instagram username if you believe you have the right to ownership. This includes account surnames that impersonate your likeness or business. However, you’ll need to provide documentation and make a case for why you believe you have the right. 

Why Use Inactive Usernames

Are you wondering why it’s worth the trouble to go after inactive usernames? There are a few reasons why usernames are more important than you might think. Here are some of the top reasons why you should go after specific inactive usernames:

• Brand name: Another Instagram user may have the username for your brand name. This isn’t ideal and can confuse your customer base. They may search for your brand name on IG and find that it’s a random account. This situation gets worse if the account holder is impersonating your brand. Therefore, you should seek to get back the account name. You’ll have an easier time making the claim with Instagram if you have a trademark or other legal protection. You’ll need to organize business documents and LLC registration to make a case. 
• Cool name: You may simply like the sound of other Instagram usernames. In this case, you don’t have a legal case for taking the name from another user. However, you can grab the name once it becomes available. Note that other users may also be waiting for the same inactive Instagram username. Therefore, you’ll need to act fast once it becomes available. 
• Your name: You may want to claim the IG username that is an exact match of your name. The difficulty of this depends on the popularity of your name. Having an IG account for your name can make you look more professional when building a personal brand.

Understand the Instagram Inactive Account Policy

Make sure that you know the Instagram inactive account policy to avoid losing your account. This is especially important when you have an account full of pictures and contacts you want for the future. 

In a nutshell, Instagram deletes your account after a period of inactivity, which isn’t specified. Also, this policy might change, so ensure you keep up with alterations.

Can You Restore Deleted Instagram Accounts?

There is no option to recover a deleted Instagram account. However, you can reach out to Instagram customer support and appeal to recover your account. This can sometimes work, but it’s not a reliable method of recovering your account. 

You can go to the Help Center to try recovering your account. Here is the process you can expect:

1. You will receive a notice stating that your account will be deleted. You’ll also see a Request Review button that you need to press. 
2. Here, you need to enter your username and full name and give an explanation of why Instagram should give your account back. 
3. Next, Instagram will review your appeal, which can take up to 24 hours.

Back Up Your Instagram Data

There are a number of reasons why you may lose access to your Instagram data. It could be because your account is inactive, or you get hacked and cannot recover your account. In any case, you should create a backup of the Instagram account data. This means you can access the data on your hard drive or cloud-based service after losing access to your Instagram account. 

You may have a large library of personal photos and videos that you want to keep and look back on your life. Alternatively, there might be important business material that you’ll need for future use. 

Consider using Instagram download tools to retrieve all account data quickly and efficiently. Some of these tools are free, while others require a fee. Make sure that you use a legitimate tool that won’t take your data for use without your consent.

How To Avoid Losing Your Instagram Username

Are you worried that you might lose your Instagram username and have to start with a new account? Here are some of the top tips that you should follow:

1. Don’t pick trademarked names: Do not pick an Instagram username that is a trademark of an existing business. Even usernames that sound similar to a business can get taken off your hands. It depends on if the business wants to pursue legal action. 
2. Stay active: Make sure to remain active on your Instagram account. Log in every few months and interact with posts. This takes just a few minutes of your time and can save you from losing your Instagram account. Consider setting up reminders in your calendar to remain one of the active users on the platform. 
3. Follow community guidelines: It’s important to understand and follow the Instagram community guidelines. That’s because you can potentially get banned when not following the platform’s rules.

Should You Worry About Inactive Instagram Accounts?

To conclude, there’s no reason to worry about your Instagram account being inactive if you take a few month’s break. It’s only the users who are taking long breaks and don’t interact much with the platform that becomes inactive. 

Also, you have a range of options to take usernames from inactive Instagram accounts. This can come in handy when you want to change your username to one that is more appealing. For example, you can contact the username’s owner or report the inactive account to Instagram. 

Are you looking for strategies to grow your Instagram account? Then, take advantage of the services provided here at Plixi. We provide a combination of an in-house algorithm and Instagram influencers to target specific audiences. So what are you waiting for? Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today.