Common questions
Locked out of Instagram without email access: recover or delete (UK)
First check for an email from security@mail.instagram.com, which can undo a hacker's changes. If you no longer have the email on the account and it was never linked to Facebook, Instagram says it cannot give you access. You can still ask Meta to delete your data with a written erasure request in your own name. Never pay anyone who offers to recover it.
The platform ignored my deletion request: your complaint right (UK)
A company normally has one calendar month to answer a deletion request. If it ignores you, send a data protection complaint. Since 19 June 2026 it must tell you it has got your complaint within 30 days. It must then give you an outcome without undue delay, which means as soon as it reasonably can. If you are still stuck, you can complain to the Information Commissioner within three months of your last real contact with the company. The Commissioner cannot award compensation.
Delete an old Facebook account without the password or email (UK)
Facebook only lets you delete an account while logged in, so first try to get back in. On a phone or computer you have used before, go to facebook.com/login/identify and choose No longer have access to these. If that fails, you can send Meta a written erasure request in your own name. Deletion takes up to 90 days after the 30 day cancel period.
Delete a deceased relative's Facebook or Instagram account (UK)
You do not need the password. Facebook and Instagram each have a form to memorialise or remove the account of someone who has died. For removal, Facebook asks for a death certificate, or proof you have authority plus proof of death. Instagram removal is for immediate family. Meta will never give you the login, and a legacy contact cannot read messages. This is not legal advice.
Facebook and Instagram routes for someone who has died.
Checked 25 October 2026. This is not legal advice.