Accounts are taken over through weak or reused passwords, through phishing messages that look as though they come from the network, and through tools that were given too much access. If it happens to yours, speed and order matter more than anything else. Recovery steps differ between networks and change over time, so use each network’s own help pages for the exact buttons.
The signs
- You are logged out and your password no longer works.
- Emails from the network about a password, email address or phone number that you did not change.
- Posts, messages or follows you did not make.
- Followers telling you they received a strange message from you.
The first hour
- 1Use the network’s official recovery page, from a device you trust, not a link in a message.
- 2Reset the password to a new, long one that you use nowhere else, then change the password of the email account tied to it.
- 3Sign out of all other devices and turn on two-factor authentication.
- 4Review the connected apps and tools, and remove any you do not recognise.
- 5Check that the account’s email address and phone number have not been changed to someone else’s.
Then clean up
- Delete what you did not post, and tell your followers briefly that the account was compromised and not to click anything sent from it.
- Look at your scheduling tool: reconnect the account, and read through the queue for posts you did not make.
- Check other accounts that share the password or the email address.
If you cannot get back in
Keep going through the network’s official process, and keep the evidence: screenshots of the emails and the dates. For a business account, tell your customers on another channel.
Prevention that matters
A password manager with a different password for every account, two-factor authentication through an app rather than text messages where it is offered, and a short list of who has access. Our article on two-factor authentication and account recovery covers it in more detail.
Write the recovery steps for each network on one page now, and keep it somewhere you can reach if you are locked out.