⚙️ TECH-HELP · SAN DIEGO · SOCIAL LOCKOUT

Locked out of your Instagram or Facebook page? Here's the way back.

Hacked, disabled, or you've lost admin access — and the page that brings your North County San Diego customers in is out of reach. There's a real recovery path for each of those. Work the triage below to find yours.

↓ Start the 60-second triage Text PJ instead

Operator-honest tech-help · no jargon · no upsell to something you don't need.

The social-lockout triage

Work these in order · figure out which of three things happened first · recovery is real but it takes patience

Identify which of three problems you actually have. Each has a different path. (a) Hacked — someone changed your password/email and you can't log in. (b) Disabled or restricted — Meta locked the account for a policy reason. (c) Lost admin — the account is fine but the only person with admin access (often a former employee or a marketing person) is gone. Be honest about which one — it decides everything below.
If you were hacked, act fast and use the official channels. For Instagram, go to instagram.com/hacked. For Facebook, go to facebook.com/hacked. Use the option to recover even if your email or phone was changed — Meta can send a code to a previous email or have you verify with a video selfie. Do this from a device you've logged in from before. Speed matters: the sooner you start, the less the attacker can do.
Check your email for Meta's account-change notices. When a hacker changes your email, Meta usually emails the old address a "this was changed — was it you?" link with a window to reverse it. Search your inbox (and spam) for messages from security@facebookmail.com or Instagram. That "revert this change" link is the single fastest way back in if it's still within the window.
If the page is disabled, request a review — don't make a new one. If Meta disabled the account or page, there's an appeal/review form in the notification or in the Account Status section of Meta Business Suite. Submit it once, clearly, and wait — resubmitting repeatedly or making a brand-new page makes things worse and can get the new one flagged too. Disabled pages are often restored on appeal; it just takes days, sometimes longer.
If you lost admin, work the Page ownership path. A Facebook Page is owned through a Business Portfolio / Meta Business Suite, not by one person's login. If a former employee has admin, the cleanest fix is to ask them to add you as admin — five minutes if they cooperate. If they won't or can't, Meta has a Page ownership request process where you prove the business is yours. Instagram business accounts can usually be recovered through the linked Facebook/Meta account.
Once you're back, fix the ownership structure permanently. The moment you regain access: make sure the Page lives in a Business Portfolio your business owns (not a personal profile or an agency's account), add a second admin you trust, turn on two-factor authentication, and confirm the recovery email and phone are current. The reason you got locked out is almost always that one person held all the access — don't rebuild it that way.

⚙️ Either I help now, or we make it not break again

Get the page back — or get the layer Meta can't lock you out of

Text PJ and you've got two operator-honest modes. Mode one: you're locked out right now — I help you find the right recovery channel, submit the appeal correctly, and chase the admin or ownership path. Mode two: you're in and want to stay that way — we fix the ownership structure (Business Portfolio you own, a second admin, 2FA) and build the part Meta can't touch: a simple website and a customer list you actually own, so a disabled page is an inconvenience, not a disaster.

Either way, you've got a SideGuy — a parallel layer on ground you control. The first hour is free. Operator-honest: if it's a quick recovery, I'll just point you at the right form. SideGuy is in Solana Beach — North County San Diego, real person, same time zone.

📲 Text PJ — I lost my Instagram/Facebook page

Common questions (answered honestly)

My Instagram business account was hacked — how do I get it back?

Go to instagram.com/hacked and use the recovery option, even if the hacker changed your email or phone. Meta can verify you with a code to a previous email or a video selfie. Also check your old email inbox for a "this was changed — was it you?" message from Instagram — that revert link is the fastest path if it's still in the window. Act quickly from a device you've used before.

Meta disabled my Facebook business page — can I appeal it?

Yes. There's an appeal/review form in the notification or in the Account Status section of Meta Business Suite. Submit it once, clearly, and wait — repeatedly resubmitting or creating a brand-new page makes things worse. Disabled pages are often restored on appeal, but it can take days or longer.

A former employee has admin of my Facebook page and won't give it back. What can I do?

First, simply ask them to add you as an admin — it takes them five minutes. If they won't, Meta has a Page ownership request process where you prove the business legally belongs to you. It's slower, but it's a real path. Going forward, make sure the page lives in a Business Portfolio your business owns, not a personal account.

How do I stop a social lockout from hurting my business so much?

The lasting fix is to not depend entirely on rented ground. Keep the page properly owned in a Business Portfolio with a second admin and 2FA — and build the part Meta can't disable: a simple website and a customer email or text list you actually own. Text PJ and we'll scope it.

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