If I Temporarily Disable My Instagram Account, Can People Unfollow Me
If I Temporarily Disable My Instagram Account, Can People Unfollow Me?
If you didn’t know that you can disable/deactivate your Instagram account, we recommend that you read How to temporarily deactivate your Instagram account to learn more on how to do it and what happens with your account when you do.
On Instagram, you can temporarily deactivate your account. But what does this mean? And most importantly, can people unfollow you if you disable your Instagram account?
Let’s dig right in.
If I Temporarily Disable My Instagram Account, Can People Unfollow Me?
If you temporary disable your Instagram account, your account data is stored and when you reactivate your account, the data will be restored. When you deactivate your account on Instagram, your account will disappear from everywhere on Instagram. This means that the people who are following you won’t be able to see you in their following list. This also means that people won’t be able to unfollow your account while it is disabled, simply because people won’t be able to find it.
Since your account won’t be in their following list, this also means that their followings will go down with 1 person while your account is disabled, but as soon as you restore your account, it will go back to the same as it was before, meaning that the number of accounts they follow will increase by 1 user and you will be in their following list again.
This is also the reason why many people who know that they won’t be able to use their account for a while or that they will be inactive for a while prefer to temporarily deactivate their account so no one will be able to unfollow them. It is very common on Instagram that people unfollow accounts that are inactive or posts very seldom since people want fresh content in their feed (and it also might look like that person has quit Instagram). There is thus no point in following inactive accounts.
So, to answer the question: NO, people won’t be able to unfollow your Instagram account if it is disabled because they won’t be able to find it until it is activated again.
You may still lose followers, though
There’s a catch, though. When you have deactivated your Instagram account and then reactivated it again, you may find that you have lost followers. But if you have, it is not because of the fact that you have been unfollowed, because people can’t unfollow you, remember?
Instead, if you find that you’ve lost followers while your Instagram account has been disabled, it is because some of your followers have been banned, deleted their accounts, or temporarily deactivated them. As for having deleted their accounts or become banned, this is permanent, but once they reactivate their Instagram account after having temporarily deactivated it, you’ll get your followers back.
This is why you might lose followers despite having deactivated your account and it should technically not be possible to lose followers.
If you temporarily deactivate your Instagram account, Instagram will not delete any of your followers, either.
Temporarily disabling your Instagram Account
Step 1: Open your Instagram account on your PC. (This does not work on your smartphone). Login with your account credentials.
Step 2: Go to Edit Profile button.
Step 3: Scroll down to the below page and select Temporarily disable my account.
By this, you can easily disable your Instagram account. If you want to delete it permanently then follow the below steps.
With this, you can easily delete your Instagram account permanently.
Great and informative post, thank you!
Glad you found it helpful, Obiwan!
Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with!:)
Jens
Atually today i temporarily disabled my account .so i want to know that the peoples who follows me can see my account or not
When you deactivate your account, people won’t be able to see it.
Kind regards
I deactivated my Instagram account. Will a friend of mine be able to see that I viewed his story? Upon enabling it will he be able to see that I viewed his story?
thank you !!! this was helpful :))
what if instagram disabled your page what do i do? do they tell me when i am going to get my page back could i use that same user if they did disable it or no because when i try and log in they say that the user i typed in don’t belonging to anyone but when i try and make a new page what that same user that “don’t belong to someone” it says username isn’t available like i’m confused please answer back to me!
Hi Crystal!
If your account has been banned, Instagram won’t give it back to you unless you say that they have made a mistake and they decide that they have in fact made a mistake in banning your account.
If your account have been banned, you won’t be able to use the same username if you are creating a new account.
Let me know if there’s anything else:)
Jens
Will I actually get my account back easily after deactivating? I just accidentally deactivated it right now and being worried about that. I hope it won’t take more than a week. Please answer me back
Hi Thatoe,
No. If you temporarily deactivate your Instagram account, it won’t be deleted. Some people say that when you deactivate your account and not log in to it for years, Instagram will delete it, but there’s no proof. So to answer your question, yes, you will get back your account after deactivating it by simply logging in to your account again.
Hope it helps!
Don’t know if you have the answer to this question but I am looking for clarification on only being able to temporarily deactivate once a week. It remains inactive for 1 week and then “reactivates” automatically after that? [Although I’ve deactivated it once before and checked via another account after 1 week and it still shows as user not found]..or is it simply that I can only use this feature once a week. I.E. Temp deactivate on a Monday…reactivate it two days later…try to temp deactivate again before that week but unable because it hasn’t been the entire week. Hope that just made since! Overall, my concern is that I would like to keep it temp deactivated for one month and am concerned IG will permanently deactivate it due to the length of time. Appreciate your response in my long question!
Hi Mari!
Thanks for your comment.
If you temporarily activate your account (even for longer periods of time), you don’t have to worry about Instagram permanently deleting your account – because they won’t. When you decide to “reactivate” your account again, you simply log in to your account and it will still be there.
Now, temporarily deactivating your account can only be done manually by following the steps in this article, and when you want to reactive the account, you simply log in to it again.
In other words, it will NEVER reactive by itself. You have to log in to your account.
Yes, you can only deactivate your account every seven days, so if you’ve deactivated your account on the first day, then 3 days later reactivated it, you have to wait 4 more days in order to deactivate the account again.
Hope you got the answers to all your questions and don’t hesitate to contact again if you have more questions:)
Jens
I deactivated my account today. Can I reactive my account next year with the same data which I had before deactivating? I won’t be logging onto that account for an year now. Will Instagram delete my account?
Yes, you will still have the same data. No, Instagram will not delete it:)
Hope it helps!
If I have 2 Instagram accounts that I toggle back and forth on the app can I deactivate just one of them without losing the other? How can I make sure I’m deactivating the correct one?
Hi Amanda!
Of course!
Just make sure you’re logged in to the right account and then you can deactivate that specific account.
-Jens
I hadn’t been active on insta for a while and then I realized I’d been hacked. Or, at least that’s what I think because of over 7,000 i now am following that I never signed up to follow. Yes, this happened with a private account!
I just temporarily deactivated my account, but thinking I should just delete entirely.
Any suggestions?
Hi Robyn,
I would advise you to change the password to your account as well as activating two-factor authentication. Deactivating the account won’t really matter since if they have your login details, they’ll be able to activate it again.
Hope it helps!
Jens
If I disable my account, can one of my followers block me while I’m disabled ?
Hi Jen,
No, they won’t be able to block me while your account is disabled because of the simple fact that your account will be nowhere to be found when disabled:)
Hope it helps!
Jens
Like the others, I agree this is an amazing and informative post. Thank you for taking the time to write it!
Thank you very much, Zachary!
Jens
Can I temporarily disable my account for a few months without getting deleted?
Yes, you can temporarily disable your Instagram account for as long as you want.
Jens
I just disabled my account can people that I didn’t block look my account up?
Hi Monica,
If you have disabled your Instagram account, no one will be able to find it – no matter if you’ve blocked an account or not.
Hope it helps!
Jens
I have temporarily disabled my account twice. I say this because it somehow reactivated itself and a friend told me it was showing again. I was completely logged out and even removed the app so there is no way it was me. I have since changed the password but I don’t want to keep disabling it, it reactivates on it’s own, wait a week, disable it again, repeat. Instagram’s Help Center naturally has nothing which covers this issue.
Hi! May I ask how long it was between when you deactivated your account and it showed up for your friend?
I don’t have a specific time frame. About a month maybe?
That’s very strange.. It sounds like a bug/glitch, but it is also possible that the deactivation hasn’t “gone through”and so while some things are hidden on Instagram, others are still visible.
If I disable my account can my follower block me?
No,
Noone can block you if you disable your account since they won’t be able to find it.
Hope it helps!:)
are blocks disabled after reactivating my page?
The people you have blocked will still be blocked when you activate your account.
Cheers
i deactivate my insta for two months now, and i forget the password what should i do
Hi!
If you have forgot your password, simply type in your username when logging in, then click “forgot password”. You will get a link to your email that allows you to reset your password.
Hope it helps!
J
I do the both still saying user is not found
If you try to log in but it says user not found, it can either mean that you are typing in the wrong username or that your account has been banned.
Hope it helps!
J
Hi. I temporarily disabled my account. How long will it take for me to be able to log in again? Because it shows I need to wait for a few hours. Is there any way I can quicken my account recovery process?
Hi I had mistakenly temporarily disabled my instagram account. Now when I go to log in it shows it might take a few hours. Is there any way I can login quicker? And how long will it take for the account to be accessible again?
Hi!
If that is what it says, then that is probably how long it will take.
However, what you can do is try logging in to your account from a different device, for example your computer etc.
Hope it helps!
J
If I temporarily disable my account, what happens to the status of my pix on pages? Do they come back at the top as new posts or remain in their “original spots?”
Hi!
When you disable your account and reactivate it again, everything will go back to normal and all old posts will be in their original spot.
People have following apps that track who unfollows them, and they have the option to press unfollow back on the app. Will it unfollow me if my account is disabled? Because on their end it will show up that I unfollowed them.
Hi Kacy,
No, they should not be able to unfollow you through that app as your account is not visible when it is disabled.
Hope it helps!
If i deactivate my account and after few days i will reactivate my account so can I get my chat, media wd, my followers, back ?
Hi!
Yes, that is correct!
Some people still can unfollow you.
This option is only available if you sent message to them earlier.
By searching their name in message box and opening their profile.
Hi Rahul,
if you deactivate your Instagram account, they won’t be able to unfollow you since it will say “user not found”, no matter if you’ve chatted with them in DMs or not.
Cheers,
J
Yes. Got it. Thank you
what if someones username says (instagrammer) ?
Then it means they have either deleted their account, gotten banned, or that they have inactivated their account.
Hope it helps!
J
I’m not for sure if this question has been asked, but if I temporarily deactivate my Instagram account, will I lose my personal direct messages?
Hi Megan!
Good question!
If you only temporarily deactivate your Instagram account, you’ll have all your messages there when you decide to reactivate it again.
Also, nothing else disappears when you deactivate your account.
Hope it helps!
J
Not sure if this has been asked. If I temporarily deactivate my account & reactivate it, will I have to request to follow private accounts again? Also will their lines/comments be removed from pics?
Hi Michele,
Good question!
When you reactivate your account, everything will be just the way it was before.
This means that all comments will still be there and all followers will still be there.
Hope it helps!
J
hi so i accidentally liked someone’s 47 week old picture and i wasn’t sure what to do…. so i deactivated my account. will it still show them i like the picture? will it show them who i am if it does?
Hi!
As soon as you like someone’s post, they will get a notification (unless you very quickly un-like the picture) if they have their notifications activated.
If you deactivate your account, the notification will most likely say user not found, but because I have never heard of this before, I cannot say with 100% certainty. I base this on the fact that when you deactivate your account, your profile, photos, comments and likes will all be hidden. However, when you log back in all of that information will be restored, and it will be like you never left.
Hope that answers your question!
Hello,
I have a question. I deactivated my account for more than an year. Will Instagram delete my account only if I deactivated it?
Thank you
Hi!
Instagram won’t delete your account if you leave it deactivated for a long time.
Also, there is a difference between deleting your account and deactivating it.
Thanks for reading!
J
I have deleted my account on insta. Will my comments still show on other people’s posts?
Hi Lou,
If you have deleted your account, everything connected to your account will be deleted. This includes comments and likes as well.
Hope it helps!
J
I cannot find the Temporarily Dissable Account button at the buttom of my page. Please help.
Hi!
Have you done the following?
1.Head to instagram.com on a Mac or PC and log in
2.Click the profile icon (person) in the top right corner
3.Select Edit Profile
4.Click Temporarily disable my account
5.Choose a reason, enter your password, and click Temporarily 6.Disable Account
Hope it helps!
5days ago i disabled my account and the reason i gave was taking a break now when i am logging i n it showing no user exists, please help me out, i need my account back
Hi!
Did you accidentally delete your account?
Kind regards,
J
I temporarily deactivated my Instagram and when I reactivated several images are hidden and not appearing on my feed. I have waited weeks, deactivated then reactivated again, sent reports to help center daily. I’m at a loss of what to do.
Username: Samira115__
Hi Samira!
This sounds very strange. If images have disappeared in your feed, my best advice is to continue contacting Instagram for support, and then deleting and downloading the app again.
It’s worth trying everything!
Kind regards,
J
Hello , Recently my account was disabled for “violating” instagrams terms but I honestly don’t see how when I never post anything out of pocket to begin with . I believe someone kept reporting my account until it got disabled . Please let me know how long my account will be disabled because it’s already been about 2-3 days now .
Hi Priscilla!
Thanks for reading and contacting us.
It does not matter how many times someone reports your account. If you have broken Instagram’s rules, they will disable your account.
Is your account disabled so that you cannot log in or are you just limited from performing different functions, such as liking?
Either way, it is impossible to say how long your account will be disabled since it varies. However, the best thing to do is to go to your account settings and click “report problem” and appeal the decision.
Hope it helps!
J
Thanks ! & well I’m not allowed to log into it , for three days now . Everytime I attempt to it always tells me the same thing which is that my account is disabled for “violating “ terms , but I don’t recall “violating “ anything .. either way , it never lets me log in .. being disabled does mean eventually I will get my account back right ?
Hi!
It sounds like your account is permanently banned.
The only way to get your account back is to contact Instagram and tell them why they have made a mistake with disabling your account.
Hope it helps!
J
Hi, if I reactivate my account do my followers know I am back? I know there was a glitch some time ago where if you reactivated anyone you tagged in a photo previously will get a notification, even on pictures from years ago!
Hi!
Yes, I am aware of this glitch, and it should be resolved by now. If you reactivate your account, the only way for your followers to find out you are back is if they stumble across your account.
Hope that answers your questions!
J
If I blocked someone that deactivates their account frequently, will the block remain in place? Meaning, when this person finally logs back in, will their name appear back in my blocked list or do I need to find them again and block them again?
Hi Christian.
No, their account will remain blocked. You won’t have to do anything!
Cheers,
J
Does my account gets deleted if I’ve deactivated my account before one month and still not reactivated
No,
If you only temporarily deactivate your account, your account will still be there no matter how much time you wait.
To activate it again, simply log in.
Hope it helps!
J
Hi, I just temporarily disabled my Instagram account MYSELF using my mac laptop on the web. When I opened the Instagram app it went to a white blank page and it was loading, and after 30 seconds it said “your account has been disabled for violating Instagram terms”?! then there were two buttons one saying “download data” and the other saying “log out”. I chose to log out, of course, then it showed my face on the login page again. I clicked “login” and now it’s saying that they haven’t finished disabling my account and it’s going to take a few hours. I’m scared/confused did they disable it… or did I?
Hi! You do not have to worry!
It is in the process of being disabled, but when you have just disabled your account, you won’t be able to log in until a day or so.
Hope it helps!
Jens
Hi Chanel, I am experiencing the same issue. We’re you able to get back in?
Thanks!
But actually people CAN unfollow u. They can find u from their DMs and when they go to ur deactivated account they can unfollow
Hi Phoebe, thanks for the input.
Most people will just see “user not found” in their Direct Messages, but there may be exceptions.
Kind regards,
J
what happened to follow request when instagram deactivated?
All your follow requests will remain unchanged when you deactivate your account!
Hope it helps!
J
Will the likes that i made on others posts disappear also?
Hi!
Yes, the likes will disappear but only temporarily until you activate your account again.
Hope it helps!
J
hi I have a question, if a user deactivated, why in a DM when it says user not found it will toggle back and forth to follow user if the account is already deactivated? Thank you
Hi Holly,
This is just a glitch. It does not really do anything:)
Hello Jens,
Thank you for your clear article.
I have been shadowbanned for almost a month now, probably because I used the same hashtag set for more than a year. I didn’t know that was wrong. I logged out for 3 days, I erased all hashtags from earlier posts, swiched my profile from business to personal, started using Insta less, post my posts with less hashtags, wrote them but nothing seems to work. I can’t swich back to business anymore to try to promote a post but now I read that temporary disablement might work. I was wondering what you think about that, I am afraid that they block my account all together if I do that. Not sure what to do anymore, do you know if it might work or if they can stop me from getting in after that? What would you advise me?
Hi Shar!
Sorry to hear about your issues.
You should have no problems with changing from business to personal and vice versa.
My tips are:
1.Delete Instagram app
2.Download Instagram app
3.Make sure you have the latest Instagram version
3.Try to switch between personal and business
4.Start posting as usual and test not using hashtags for a while.
The Instagram engagement has decreased for most people due to the algorithm change, but being active and engaging with other people (without being spammy) is the best way.
Hope it helps!
Kind regards,
Jens
Veloce
i disabled my account and used my husband’s to check and you can still see everything. Any suggestions?
Hi!
That’s strange. When you disable your account, it should not be visible.
Do you check from a different account?
Cheers,
Veloce Team
If I send a follow request to a private account, deactivate and then reactive my account, will the other person still have my follow request?
Hi Lea!
Yes, correct. Everything will be exactly the same.
Kind regards,
Veloce
ok i just tried to temporarily delete both of my ig accounts…but i can still see them…does it take awile to go away..or should it be right then and there
Are you still able to see them? It can sometimes take some time.
Hi,, I accidentally liked someone’s photo on instergram, and panicked and didn’t unlike it,, I did however temporarily deactivate my instagram account,, my question is when i reactivate my instagram account will my like still show up on that photo?? And if so is it best to delete the account altogether and start again,, thank you
Hi Lou,
It won’t matter if you deactivate your account or not.
If you accidentally like a post and then quickly remove the like, you may or may not have been fast enough to prevent the like from showing up in their notifications. Deactivating or deleting your account won’t change anything. Plus, if you remove the like, they won’t see it when they log into Instagram. The only place where they MIGHT see it is as a notification on their phone.
Hope it helps!
This is some of the most caring and informative information I have found on Instagram online. I have been trying to understand how to use it best even though I am not a business at this time.
Much appreciation for what you are doing here!
R. Allen
Thank you for your kind words! Glad you found it helpful!
Regards
A friend has deactivated her account six days ago. I did a search from another account of mine, one she didn’t follow and from which I didn’t follow her, and it shows as an active account.
How is that happening?
I forgot to mention: since her account deactivation, the number of followers decreased by 2 and there was an increase of 1 in the following number! Maybe I was blocked instead?
Hi Charles,
Not sure about the question but do you know whether the account was deactivated or not? Or do you speculate and may be blocked instead?
If the account was inactivated, there are several reasons that the follower count and following count may increase or decrease. For example, a user is banned or deletes their account.
If the account was deactivated and it is still visible, it may not have gone into effect yet, or they have logged into their account and it has been activated again.
Hope it helps!
Hi Charles,
That sounds strange. Either it hasn’t been deactivated properly, or she has logged in after it was deactivated and it has thus become activated again.
Hope it helps!
Kind regards
Hi Charles..
I have disabled my account… will DM’s still be visible to accounts I am connected to?
Laurence
Hi!
Yes, if you have sent a DM to someone, they will still be able to see it.
Best regards
Hi there, I disabled my account yesterday afternoon, and feverishly tried to enable it back again, put in the wrong password about 48 times, and now any time I try to login it says “user not found” or when I try to reset the password it says “unknown error”. I still receive the phone codes and emails to reset, just when I click them there is that error. I read online you have to wait 7 days, is this true???? Thanks so much!
Hi!
Sorry to hear about your issue. That’s a lot of incorrect password type-ins.
Our advice is to wait 7 days as you say.
Best regards,
Veloce
Hi, if you have temp disabled your account what happens to the old DMs you’ve sent? Can the other user still see them? Is your username and profile picture still visible? Does is show user not found? Thanks
Hi,
It will say user not found. The DMs will be hidden until you activate the account again.
Hi,
I was msg to someone but after temp disabled my account the msg will also delete from their account or not
The message will reappear when the account is activated.
Great information, one question
I deactivated my instagram account then i checked my account with my sisters account
And it seems to her that i blocked her
Could anyone block me while i deactivated my account for a while?
Cause then I’ll loose my followers
Hi,
No, it is not possible since they won’t be able to view your account.
Hi! Instagram disabled my account for violating terms, I was wondering if people will still be able to see that I’ve liked their posts and comments or if it all disappears like I never did? Thanks!
Hi!
No, they won’t be able to see anything.
Kind regards
Hi there, I had deactivated my account on IG for almost a full year. Recently, I just logged back in. Over the course of about 5 days now, each day that I have been back Ive lost 100 followers. Im wondering how long Im going to keep seeing this drop. I know some accounts have been deleted or banned, but does this mean 100 people a day are actually unfollowing me since I have returned? Thanks for the help!
Hi!
Yes, either unfollow, have been banned, or deleted their account.
Kind regards
If I requested to be friends with a private account and temporarily deactivate my Instagram account after will my request to them be deleted?
Hi!
Yes, but it will still be there once you reactivate your account,
Hi there,
If you deactivate your account, will PENDING follow requests remain and appear again when you log back in?
Thanks!
Hello,
Yes, that is correct.
thank you! and this is both for people you had requested to follow and people who had requested to follow you if you hadn’t approved them yet?
Hi,
Yes!
I disable my insta account i activate again i want to disable but it is showing that try after week. What to do next
You have to wait a week. You can deactivate (and activate it again) maximum 1 time a week.
Hi,
Great Article
Recently my friend deleted or deactivated his account cause I cant search for him from account or someone else’s so I’m sure i haven’t been blocked. The DM showed ‘Instagrammer’ for a 2-3 minutes and now the DM itself has completely disappeared.
BUT my followers and following have not decreased by 1 each even till now. All other existing followers/following are the same.
So has he temporarily deactivated his account?
Yes, the account is likely disabled.
Kind regards
Hi,
I have a question in regards to account deactivation. When someone reactivates their account, do they bump up to most recent (top of the list) on their followers lists? (As if they were recently added/followed?)
Hi,
No, there is no decided place of the account and where it ends up in the list. Generally, it is random.
Hello thanks for this article, I have a question. If someone sends me a dm whilst my account is disabled, will it show up when I reactivate or will I just never see it ?
Thank you
Hi!
They will not be able to send you a message when your account is disabled.
Hi there. This article was very helpful thank you so much. I’d like to enquire that if I temporarily disable my Instagram account, will I lose my follow requests as well, if my account is private?
Hi,
No, the requests will still be there!
Hi,
If I temporarily disable my account, will my contacts still be able to read the private messages I’ve sent them? Or will they have to wait until I log back in?
Hello,
No, they can’t see the messages.
Hey. I just wanted to ask, I have an instagram block for a week and was reconsidering to temporarily disable my account to avoid losing many followers. Will disabeling my account during this one week block affect when I decide to recover my account?
Hi,
No, it should not affect it.
Cheers
So let’s say I disable my account would the comments and likes i made to other people be there after I activate it back again or would they get deleted ?
When you activate it again, they will be there.
Cheers
Hi. I have a question I hope you can answer. I was chatting with someone and then their profile pic went away and they became instagrammer. The whole thread is still there and when I start typing their name into the search bar on Dm page instagrammer automatically comes up. I assumed that is because they just temporarily disabled their account and so his name is still linked with Instagram and our thread. I also searched for him on someone else’s account and he wasn’t there. So I assume I wasn’t blocked. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hi,
Their account is either deactivated, banned, or deleted.
Kind regards
I had my account disabled for a year, and sometime ago my friend showed me he had the option to unfollow me through our old conversation. Why is this? plus i lost 30+ followers, im sure not all of them were deactivated/banned.
Hello,
This is a “bug” that enables them to see your account despite the fact that it is disabled.
When you deactivate your account does that mean people who have you block will the account still be there or will it not show up in the blocking list?
Hi,
It will not be there.
Cheers!
Hi! Thank you for the article. My account has been disabled due to the form I filled for impersonating. Although I was the one reporting it, they have been disabled my account and when I was trying to fill a form to say that this is a mistake, they sad my username is not valid. I am not a user because of them how I can fill that form and reach them? My username or url is not existing. Thank you in advance.
Hello,
The only thing you can do is try to contact Instagram. It is difficult but not impossible..
Hello. Does Instagram only let u disable ur acc for only a week? Or can u like not log back in for months and it will still be disabled? How long can it be do stabled for?
Hello,
You can only disable your account once a week. If you deactivate it and then activate it again, you need to wait a week before you can deactivate it again.
Kind regards
-Veloce
What about the messages sent to me while my account is disabled? Wouldn’t I be able to read them or they get back after 24h of disabling the account??
Hello,
You will be able to see them once you activate again.
Kind regards
If I disable my account then will I be removed from groups or not
Hi,
No. You will still be there when you activate your account again.
Kind regards
After disabling, will people still be able to go to my page from other people tagging me. Like will my username still pop up on the post they tagged me in?
Hi,
It may appear in the beginning until it has been completely recognized by Facebook, but they will not be able to visit your profile.
Kind regards