How to Recover a Hacked Facebook Account

Facebook is one of the world’s biggest social media services, with over 2 billion users at the start of 2020. While they take security relatively seriously on the platform, it’s easy to slip up and lose access to your account to a bad actor. If someone can figure out your password or gains access to your account through other means, it can mean a lot of trouble—both for you and the people on your friend list.

So what should you do if someone hacks your Facebook account? Here are the steps to take when you lose your Facebook account.

1. Act Immediately

If you receive an email from Facebook about suspicious behavior, you need to take action straight away. The longer that a person has access to your account, the more likely it is that they’ll be able to change key information that makes it harder for you to win back control.

2. Change your Facebook password

If you can still access your account, then the first step should be to change your password.

Log into your Facebook account, click the dropdown arrow at the top of the screen, then select ‘Settings.’

Now click ‘Settings.’

In your account settings, click ‘Security and login’ on the left side of the screen.

Please enter your current password and your new password twice to confirm it. We recommend using a password generator and password manager for security.

3. Facebook Account Recovery

If your password is no longer working and you suspect someone has changed it, then your next step is to use Facebook’s account recovery options.

Go to the Facebook login page and click ‘Forgotten password?’

Enter an email address or phone number associated with your account and click ‘Search.’

Choose whether to log in via your email, Google account, or telephone number, then click ‘Continue.’

Enter the code you received via text or email and click ‘Continue.’

Enter your new password and click ‘Continue’ to confirm.

4. Family and Friends Recovery

If you can’t recover the account yourself, a friend or family member can help you recover the account instead.

Have your friend log in and go to the profile you need to recover. Click the three dots under the profile name, and select ‘Find support or report profile.’

On the report window, select ‘I can’t access my account,’ then click ‘Next.’

Click ‘Recover this account.’

Click ‘No longer have access to these?’ at the bottom of the window.

Enter an email address or phone number you currently have access to, then click ‘Continue’ to get in contact with someone from Facebook Support.

5. Report it to Facebook

If none of the other methods are working, you should report the hacked account directly to Facebook.

Go to the hacked account report page, and click ‘My Account Is Compromised.’

Enter your email address or phone number, then click ‘Search.’

Enter your most recent password and click ‘continue’ to report your account. Facebook may provide you further instructions to aid in account recovery.

Facebook may request that you upload a photograph of your ID to prove your identity.

Once you’ve saved your Facebook account, you should follow our account security guide to keep it safe.

If you think your Facebook account may have been hacked, you can order immediate help from us here – we got more options to run through.

Facebook image by TY Lim from Shutterstock.com