Social media can be toxic sometimes. Not just it takes a toll on your mental health, but it affects your physical health as well. Taking a breather wouldn’t be wrong if you suffer from severe social media anxiety.
If you have been on a break from Snapchat and are now considering returning to it, you must think about how to unlock a permanently locked Snapchat account. The Snapchat team blocks your account if you breach their Community Guidelines or indulge in explicit content. If you were a part of any such thing, you can’t just log in to your account and get back to sending snaps to your friends, but there is a whole series of steps that you must take to reactivate your permanently locked Snapchat account.
Let’s begin our guide to how to unlock a permanently locked Snapchat account without any further delay.
Why has Snapchat permanently locked your account?
Before we dig into ways to unlock your Snapchat account, it is important to learn why the app locked your account permanently in the first place. Below we have listed some legit reasons stated by Snapchat to lock an account. Check them out!
Reason 1
Snapchat locks users’ accounts when they add too many friends to their accounts without verifying their email addresses and phone numbers. Snapchat characterizes the act as ‘strange behavior’ and blocks your account due to this.
Reason 2
Sometimes you are unable to log into your account because Snapchat has blocked it due to your participation in an abusive or offensive activity like sending spam messages/snaps or breaching Snapchat community guidelines, which include:
- Harassing or bullying anyone, including those who are not on Snapchat and whose snaps/videos you post without their consent.
- Posting explicit content
- Encouraging and participating in violence
- Spreading misinformation
- Impersonating others
- Posting or marketing deceptive content
- participating in illegal activities
- Promoting hate speech or extremist content
Reason 3
Another reason Snapchat may block your account could be because you use Snapchat through illegal third-party apps. That means, when you use applications like SnapTools, or Snapchat++ to add more functionality to your account, you get exposed to hackers resulting in Snapchat blocking your account.
Reason 4
When you try to create a new account from the same device on which your previous Snapchat account got blocked, you won’t be able to do so, as Snapchat blocks a user for breaching its Community Guidelines or Terms of Service on that device. That means once you get blocked by Snapchat for any of the above-stated reasons, you either get a new device or reset it to create an account on the app again.
Reason 5
Sometimes, you don’t break any rules and still get blocked because Snapchat thinks your account has been hacked. Snapchat accounts are vulnerable to hacking, when someone spams you with emails or signing-in reminders, Snapchat blocks your account for precautionary purposes, and as a result, you are unable to get back into your account.
So these are some common reasons why Snapchat blocks your account. Whether it’s for preventive purposes or breaching Community Guidelines, if Snapchat blocks your account, go through the following steps to get it back.
How to unlock a permanently locked underage Snapchat account?
By now, you must know that there is no one reason for getting your Snapchat account locked. So after deeply analyzing these reasons, we have come up with several solutions/fixes to deal with them hassle-free.
Snapchat might put two types of restrictions/bans on your account; temporary and permanent. While the temporary one is easy to fix, the permanently locked one can be challenging to get back.
If your account has been temporarily blocked, you can get it back by following the on-screen instructions in Snapchat’s ban email. On the contrary, a permanent ban is challenging to fix. Therefore, below we have discussed in detail different methods by which you can lift a permanent ban on your Snapchat account.
Report to Snapchat Support Team
Whenever you face an account blocking issue on your Snapchat, contacting the app’s support team is better than trying other methods. Snapchat’s customer care has become pretty responsive recently. If you are expecting a bot to respond to your complaint, you are wrong. Snapchat has dedicated people who deal with account-blocking issues. That said, if your account is permanently blocked, you might have to take some following additional steps to lift it.
- Launch Google Chrome on your device and head to the Snapchat Support link.
- Once you land on the Contact Us page, scroll down to submit your support request
- Now choose ‘I can’t access my account’ from the list of the available options, then tick the ‘What can we help you with option.
- Next, the Snapchat support team will ask you to provide further details on why your account was blocked. To simplify the procedure, you may choose the ‘I think my account was compromised’ option.
- Moving forward, Snapchat will give you general suggestions like changing your account’s password, scrolling past that, finding the identity form below, and filling it out.
- Here you need to provide basic credentials like your Username, Email ID, and phone number. Just ensure that your email and phone number match your blocked account.
- Find the ‘What information should we know question and type that your Account is permanently locked for the answer. You can further detail your answer that you think somebody might have hacked it and used it in illegal activities, as you have not accessed it in a long time.
- Once you have provided all the details, tap the ‘Send’ option and submit the form to the Snapchat Support Team.
- After submitting the form, you will soon receive an email from the team with enclosed guidelines to unlock your locked account. You need to follow the suggested instructions by the team to unlock your account.
Remove Third-party apps and Snapchat Plugins
As we previously said, some third-party apps and Snapchat plugins can get your account locked. These apps lure users into downloading exciting features like sliding into someone else’s Snapchat account, downloading stories, saving messages, obtaining new Snapchat filters etc. such tools and apps make your Snapchat account vulnerable to hacking. Therefore it is recommended to get rid of them before contacting the Snapchat Support team to lift the permanent lock on your account.
To remove the plugins and third-party apps, you need to follow these steps:
- Unlock your phone and reach the screen where all your apps are located.
- Long press the app you want to remove and go to the ‘App Info’
- Tap the ‘Uninstall’ option and confirm the removal by tapping yes
- Do the same for deleting other Snapchat apps and tools.
Reinstall Snapchat
Sometimes, just a small act resolves the biggest of problems. If your Snapchat account has been permanently locked, try re-installing the app. Doing so will remove all the glitches and temporary bugs in the app that might be causing locking issues. Here is how you can reinstall the Snapchat app on your phone:
- Unlock your phone and head to the menu where your Snapchat app is located
- Long press the app and tap ‘un-install’ to remove the app
- Press ‘Yes’ to confirm your actions
- Now head to the Play Store/App Store to re-install the app
- Type ‘Snapchat’ on the search bar and tap the Snapchat app in the results
- Start the installation by performing the on-screen instructions and wait for the app to complete downloading
- Once the downloading is complete, enter your credentials, and you will probably be back into your account.
Reset your device
Another most overlooked solution to unlock a permanently locked Snapchat account is resetting your phone. As we stated previously, Snapchat doesn’t let you create a new account from the same device after blocking your previous account due to breaching Community Guidelines. However, resetting your phone will help you create a new one or even get back your old account in some cases.
Note: Resetting your phone will remove all the installed applications and files on your phone so make sure you have a complete backup of everything before you do this. Here is how you can reset your Android device.
- First, you need to ensure that your device is at least 75% charged; otherwise, the reset can’t be done.
- Next, make sure your Google account is logged in on your device.
- Now head to the Settings app and choose ‘System’
- Tap ‘Reset Options
- Next, choose ‘Erase All Data’ or Factory Reset
- Tap the ‘Reset Phone’ option located at the bottom of your screen
- A confirmation prompt will appear, press ‘Erase Everything’ to confirm the action
- A progress bar will appear, signifying the data deletion progress
- Lastly, your Operating System will restart, indicating a fresh setup.
If you own an iPhone (x or later versions) then follow you can reset your phone by following the steps below:
- Unlock your device and open the Settings app
- Head to ‘General’ and select ‘Reset’
- A prompt will appear to confirm the action, press ‘Erase All Content and Settings
- Follow the on-screen instructions until the Apple logo indicates the reset initiation.
- A progress bar will appear to show you when the reset finishes. Once it completes, your phone will restart with the default settings
- Keep following the on-screen instructions until your phone is set up.
That’s how you reset an iPhone. It will remove all the bugs and faulty apps from your phone.
Get help from the Snapchat Unlock Website
Snapchat has a dedicated website that helps users unlock their permanently locked Snapchat accounts. You can conveniently access the website from Chrome or any browser of your choice. Next, follow these instructions to submit your account ban complaint.
- Once you are on the website, provide your Snapchat account’s Username
- Next, enter your password
- Click ‘Log-in’
- Tick the ‘I’m not a robot’ captcha box
- Lastly, tap the ‘Unlock’ option on the next page, and your account will be unlocked.
Now go back to your Snapchat app and try logging in to your account again. Hopefully, it will re-open at once.
Verify Your Identity
Often times you can get your account back after just verifying your identity. But for that, you need to provide your accurate email address. It is always a good idea to screenshot all the credentials you enter while creating your account to cross-check whether you have entered the right credentials.
Create a new Snapchat account
While the above-stated methods will help you get your old account back, you can create a new account in case you won’t be able to unlock your previous account. However, here you must be careful of one thing, don’t use your old email address for your new account, as Snapchat won’t accept it. So if you have another email address, then only you can go for this option.
Follow these steps to create a new Snapchat account:
- First, log out from your old locked Snapchat account
- Come to the main screen on the app and tap the ‘Sign Up’ option
- Provide your First and Last name in the space provided
- Tap the ‘Sign-Up and Accept’ option
- Next, the app will ask you to provide your birthday. Enter it and press continue.
- Soon after that, Snapchat will generate a username for your profile that you can change by tapping the ‘Change my Username’ option.
- Now set a unique Password for your new account and tap Continue
- In the next step, provide your phone number, enter the OTP code sent to your code, and press Continue
That’s all! Congratulations, you have successfully created your new Snapchat account. Now add up your friends and start using the app.
Conclusion – How to unlock a permanently locked Snapchat account?
Snapchat is one of the most used social media platforms, famous for being less formal and more interactive. It allows users to showcase their everyday life via snaps and streaks. However, the app takes strict actions if you indulge in illegal or inappropriate stuff on the platform. That is one reason why your account gets temporarily or permanently blocked by the app. If you ever get caught in such a situation, you can refer to this guide to get your account unlocked. The above-stated methods will surely get your account back. Just make sure you don’t repeat the mistakes that led to your previous account suspension. Now try these methods and get your account unlocked.
