More than two billion people use Facebook to connect with their loved ones, friends, and colleagues, share details of their lives through photos and videos, do a livestream, find good deals, and even run businesses on it.
With all this data uploaded to the platform, Facebook has taken steps to protect it by increasing security measures and enforcing guidelines more strictly than before. Unfortunately, this has led to some users being locked out of their Facebook accounts, and they’re not sure how to unlock them to continue using or accessing the service.
However, what most people don’t know is that Facebook can disable or lock your account at any given time, restrict your activity even while logged in, or keep you from accessing your account altogether.
Why You’re Locked Out Of Your Facebook Account Is Locked
There are several reasons why you’re locked out of your Facebook account, which can be difficult and frustrating to undo. These reasons can be categorized into user or system error, disregard for the Terms of Use and Community Standards, site maintenance, or security and include any of the following events:
- You’re logged in on multiple devices, which signals to Facebook that your account may have been hacked.
- Facebook may think that you’ve violated one or more of its rules.
- You may have received a phishing message that misdirected you to a fake ‘Facebook’ website, and you logged in. When this happens, the cybercriminal may use your credentials to access your Facebook account, and Facebook detected and flagged the activity.
- Someone reported your account as fake and requested for its removal, reported your content as abusive, or marked it as spam. Facebook automatically flags your account in such cases while investigating the reported content or account.
- Violating the terms of use and Community Standards by using a fake name, posting content that violates these terms, impersonating someone else, or constantly violating the rules of the platform.
- Your account appears to pose a security threat, which can range from general suspicious activity to promoting, illegal content, harassing other users, unsolicited contact, inappropriate or spam advertising and more.
- Joining too many groups. Facebook limits users to a maximum of 200 groups, and if you go beyond that your account may be locked or disabled.
- If you posted too many messages on someone’s wall or group, it may be considered spam, especially if posted within a very short time span.
- If you’re under age and not part of a High School group.
- You have sent out too many friend requests to others beyond the maximum limit of 5,000, though this is rare.
- In some cases, malware, which prompts you to scan your computer, may signal to Facebook that your account has either been hacked or there’s some suspicious activity. Check out our guide on nine tips to use for better privacy on Facebook privacy.
How To Access a Locked Facebook Account
If you’re sure your Facebook account is clear of all the above reasons, and you think it has been locked or disabled by mistake, reach out to them directly so that your concerns are adequately addressed.
You can also complete and submit an online form and Facebook will investigate the issue. However, Facebook doesn’t guarantee that you’ll receive a quick response within a specific time, so you may have to wait for a response from them, which could take several weeks.
If you got locked out of your Facebook account because you forgot the email address or password you used when creating your account, you can recover or reset your account provided you have some information like your email or phone number.
If you prefer to reset your account, you’ll need to answer your security question that you picked when you created your account, which will prove to Facebook that you’re who you say you are.
Alternatively, you can pick a friend on Facebook that you trust and give them the nominated URL and retrieve a security code. Enter this code and once you’re done with any of these security checks, your account will still be visible but you’ll have to wait at least 24 hours before trying to access it again.
How Tto Avoid Your Facebook Account Getting Locked Again
We’ve looked at some of the major reasons why your Facebook account can be locked or disabled, but sometimes it may happen without warning so you won’t have control over it. Here are a few things you can do to avoid getting locked out from your account again:
- Limit the number of friend requests you send out
- Read and adhere to Facebook’s terms and conditions
- Limit the number of posts you make within a short span
- If you’re using Facebook for business marketing, add other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and others to your marketing strategy, and build a fan base on them
- Don’t click on links from emails that purport to be from Facebook as they may misdirect you to phishing sites and cybercriminals could easily hack your account with your credentials
- Use a reputable antivirus or security software that can nuke any malware or virus
Get Your Social Life Back
Getting locked out of your Facebook account can be frustrating because you’ve probably shared a lot about your personal life, which you may not get back if you can access your account. We hope you now know how to gain back access to your account using the ways listed above, and keep yourself from getting shut out again.
If you intend to leave Facebook altogether, we have a guide on how to download and delete your data from Facebook and permanently close your account by deleting your Facebook pages, groups, and accounts.