The social media giant Facebook, owned by Meta Inc. formerly known as Facebook Inc., is so popular in the whole world that it does not matter where you live, whether it is a developed or poor country, whether it is a metropolitan city or a backward village, you find people having Facebook accounts. This can be understood from the fact that there are around 4.8 billion users of Facebook around the globe.
When you are such a big and multinational company, you have to adhere to the laws of that nation where you are working and ultimately these laws as well as many other rules and regulations must be followed by the user. But sometimes users post something which violates the rules and regulations of Facebook which leads to their account being locked. Though, this is not the only reason which could block a Facebook account. There are various other reasons for this to happen.
So, if you are a Facebook user too then you must have faced this Facebook account temporarily locked problem sometime. However, worry not as solutions for the locked Facebook accounts are discussed in this article.
But, before we jump onto that, it is necessary to go-through reasons that could lead to blocking your Facebook account so that next time you avoid this situation.
Reasons for a Locked Facebook Account This is very simple to understand as there is only one umbrella reason containing various clauses each having different specific reasons. This umbrella reason is that you must not violate any of the rules and regulations set by Facebook itself. And the specific reasons which you should avoid doing are as follows—
Clear Out Process of Facebook There are various users who open fake or duplicate Facebook accounts for non-social activities and Facebook keeps eyes on such activities and if any account is found suspicious, Facebook blocks such accounts. This is done periodically so that no such account can be created.
Involved in Illegal activity This is kept under very serious offense by Facebook as well as every nation’s basic law that if any user of Facebook is found doing any illegal activity through its account, then its account will be blocked immediately and has to face the consequences as per the law.
So, it is always advised that you should always use your account under legal limits.
Ignoring Warnings from Facebook If you are going against some of the minor rules of Facebook then Facebook does not directly lock your account but gives you a warning that what you have done is against Facebook’s terms, you should avoid doing it again and again. Facebook sends these warnings through app notification, email or registered phone numbers.
Accountable for Suspicious Activities Accessing other accounts is a serious suspicious activity, and doing this comes under hacking for which Facebook can temporarily or permanently ban your account. Also, if you are a victim of your account being hacked you can deactivate the account of the hacker by complaining to Facebook but if you complain without any reason then you get yourself into trouble and Facebook can lock your account. So, you should not overuse this feature of Facebook.
Sending Too Many Friend Requests to Add Friends Adding friends to your account is the best thing Facebook put in its original version but as this platform became famous people started taking advantage of this by sending a lot of friend requests. After that Facebook set the limit of sending or accepting friend requests. That limit is 20 friends per day and if you are going beyond this limit Facebook treats you as a spammer or robot and puts your account under suspicion which ultimately may lead to your account being suspended temporarily.
How to Recover a Locked Facebook Account? Facebook gives you as a user priority to use your account and gives you timely warnings if you are not adhering with its terms, but it does not tolerate any suspicious activity. You must follow these terms of Facebook otherwise your account may get locked and then, Facebook sends you a notification, “For security reasons, your account has been locked temporarily” .
And, if you have received any such notification recently then, here are some solutions you could use in the future to get your account back.
One thing you should keep in your mind is that only Facebook has the authority to activate your account again and no one else can do this as various third-party websites claim that they can get your account back by paying some bucks.
So, you should not be trapped in such spasms while searching ‘How to unlock a Facebook account’ and may use the below given possible methods—
Method 1: Wait for Approximately 96 hours and Meanwhile Clear Your Cache Files If Facebook has locked your account temporarily then, it is advised by the experts to not do anything as Facebook itself activates temporarily locked accounts after 2 to 3 days. And, if you keep trying to log in again and again then, things become worse as Facebook may keep you under the spammer category.
After the given time, go to your browser, clear the cache files and history then, try login with your account.
Most probably it will work as Facebook gives its every user privilege but, if Facebook does not enable your account even after 3 to 4 days then, as said above – your account might be under suspicious activity, and you may use other methods to get your account unlocked.
Method 2: Verify Your Identity with Facebook If your account was tried to be accessed by someone and Facebook has locked your account so, when you try to login Facebook does not allow you to do so until you prove that it is your account. So, for that reason, you can get yourself verified by following the given steps:
STEP 3: You will receive an eight digit code on your registered mobile no. (If you choose the mobile no. verification method) and on your email ID (if you choose email address for your identity).
STEP 4: Enter the six-digit code and get yourself verified.
Once Facebook confirms your identity then it enables your Facebook account, and you can access your account by simply login to it.
Method 3: Identify Your Contacts from Your Friend List It is a whole new method of Facebook to unlock your account by using your trusted contacts from your friend list. To do this you can use the given steps:
STEP 1: In your browser, go to the Facebook home page and then go to the Facebook identification page.
STEP 2: Provide your registered mobile number, email address or Facebook username and then click on the search option to search your locked account.
STEP 3: Click on the option “No longer have access to these” after that enter the email address and click on Continue to confirm the email address.
STEP 4: After confirmation, click on the “Reveal my trusted accounts” option for the verification purpose.
STEP 5: Now type your friend’s name that you have registered as a trusted contact.
STEP 6: This will send a verification code to your trusted contact and some more instructions will appear on your screen. So, follow these instructions and enter the code your friend received to get your account enabled.
Method 4: Submit an Appeal to Facebook If none of the above-given methods work then, the last but not the least thing you can do is make an appeal to the Facebook help center to open your account.
Facebook has a proper system to resolve these problems and you can do this by following these steps:
STEP 3: After this, type your full name which you have chosen for your account during the signup time i.e., while doing Facebook registration.
STEP 4: Attach your ID by selecting the “select files” option to prove your identity to Facebook.
STEP 5: Click on the send button to submit your appeal to Facebook. After this Facebook enables your account so that you can access it.
Measures to Prevent Facebook from Temporarily Locking Your Account If you want to use Facebook without any fear of getting blocked or any other interruptions, you should know all the terms and conditions of Facebook, as well as your post, should adhere to the local laws.
Here are some of the preventive methods you can read to avoid such situations—
1. Read Facebook’s terms and conditions:
Though the page of terms and conditions contains various clauses and sub-clauses which you avoid reading most of the cases but Facebook has written important terms in bold letters, you should not skip those and read them carefully so that you could know what may lead to getting your Facebook account locked.
2. Avoid using VPNs and proxy servers:
Sometimes you use VPNs to change your country location and in various cases, VPNs change your country location depending on the speed of the server which seems suspicious to Facebook. And, if you use VPN on your device for any other app then, you should disconnect your VPN while you use your Facebook account.
3. Signing-in from many devices:
When you sign in to your Facebook account from your device, this device gets registered to your account and if you sign in from too many devices then Facebook keeps your account under suspicion if the location of these devices does not match that means if you login at the same time from more than one location and more than one device then your account might get be locked by the Facebook.
So, when you do not use a device you must log out your account from that device and clear your history to avoid such a situation.
4. Avoid spam and scams:
Sometimes you get unwanted contents or requests from unknown people on Facebook which include bulk messages, links or photos. All these are considered as spam, which in most cases contains hidden malicious software programs or spyware and clicking to these links leads to giving the access of your account to the spammer.
So, if at any time you find that you are trapped into a spam, here is how to deal with it to secure your account;
First of all, change your account password.
If it is happening repeatedly, consider unfriend, block or report that account/person.
Review your activity and remove any spam you find.
Go to your login history to check any suspicious activity.
Check all linked apps or games and delete those which you do not trust. Remove any post, photo, page, group or event that you did not create.
FAQs for Locked Facebook Account Q.1: Does clicking on every link I receive may lead to getting my account blocked?
A: The answer to this question is a big Yes, as there are thousands of cases where users receive malicious software programs or images which violate Facebook’s terms and conditions. So, it is always advised to not click every link unless it is sent by someone you know very well.
Q.2: What is Phishing? Is Phishing a reason for Facebook to block my account?
A: When someone sends you some malicious or suspicious message or link to gain the access of your Facebook account, this is known as phishing.
Yes, if the person who is phishing in your account becomes successful and sends spam from your account then Facebook may disable or block your account immediately.
Q.3: How do I avoid getting phished and ultimately avoid my account being blocked?
A: First of all, look out for suspicious messages such as those which demand money or offer gifts and never click such messages as these contain malicious software programs.
Also, enable two-factor authentication to your account so that it becomes difficult for spammers to get access to your account.