How to reset your Instagram password

If you've forgotten your username, enter your email address or phone number instead. If none of this works, Instagram points you to a page on its website to secure your account.

1. On the login screen, above Log in, tap Forgotten password?.
2. Enter your username, email address or phone number.
3. Tap Continue.
4. Open the link Instagram sends to your email or phone and choose a new password.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Recover your Instagram password, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: What to do if you forget your Instagram username, checked 15 October 2026

Instagram recommends a combination of at least six numbers, letters and punctuation marks, such as ! and %. Our advice for a business: don't reuse a password from another site, and store it in a password manager rather than a shared note.

1. Go to your profile and tap Menu in the top right.
2. Tap Accounts Centre, then Password and security.
3. Tap Change password, then the account you want to change.
4. Enter your current password, then your new one.
5. Re-type the new password and tap Change password.

Source: Instagram Help Centre: Change your Instagram password, checked 15 October 2026

• Check your spam folder
• Reset through Facebook verification if your Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked
• Ask your email provider to make sure you can receive emails from the @instagram.com domain
• Check you're using the right address. If the email was mistyped at sign-up, Instagram says it can't give you access

Source: Instagram Help Centre: If you didn't receive the password reset email that you requested from Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

You may have signed up with a different email address. Try any other emails, phone numbers or usernames you've used. If you can't reach the email you signed up with and never linked Facebook, Instagram says it can't give you access to the account.

1. Tap Forgotten password? on the login screen.
2. Enter your username, email address or phone number, then tap Continue.
3. If your Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked, tap Reset using Facebook.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: What you can do if your email address can't be found during a password reset, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Why you're receiving a password reset email for the wrong Instagram profile, checked 15 October 2026

It doesn't necessarily mean you've been hacked. Someone may have typed your email or username by mistake. Only people who know your password, or who click the login link in that email, can get in. Instagram's emails come from @mail.instagram.com; if one doesn't, it may be phishing, so don't click its links. If you're worried, reset your password and turn on two-factor authentication.

Source: Instagram Help Centre: Why you received an Instagram password reset email that you didn't request, checked 15 October 2026

• The link has expired. Request a new reset email
• You tapped the login option. In the email, choose to reset your Instagram password, not to log in
• The email is for the wrong account. That account was probably registered with a different email address
• Your username was changed. If you think you were hacked, ask a friend for a screenshot of your current username and follow the hacked account steps

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Links in password reset email from Instagram aren't working, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Why you're receiving a password reset email for the wrong Instagram profile, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: What to do if you forget your Instagram username, checked 15 October 2026

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