How to find your Instagram backup codes (and log in without them)

On a phone: the Instagram app or a mobile browser

1. 1

   Open a device that is still logged in

   Use the Instagram app on a phone or tablet, or instagram.com on a computer. If no device is logged in, use the situation table below.

2. 2

   Open your profile, then Menu

   Tap your profile picture (bottom right), then Menu (top right).

3. 3

   Open Two-factor authentication

   Tap Password and security, then Two-factor authentication, then the account you want codes for.

4. 4

   Open Backup codes

   Tap Additional methods, then Backup codes. Your list appears.

5. 5

   Save the list before you leave

   Copy it, take a screenshot or save it another way, as Meta suggests, then move it somewhere safe (see the storage section).

6. 6

   Replace the set if you need to

   On the same screen tap Get new codes. Meta’s heading for this step is “Cancel your current backup codes and get a new set of codes”, so your older list is cancelled.

Get new codes

The set you saved earlier is cancelled when you tap Get new codes, so replace your stored copy in the same minute. Changing the phone number for text codes also ends with a backup code list that Meta tells you to save: compare it with your copy.

Also documented by Meta

• The Meta AI support assistant. From the Help Center it needs you to be logged in on that browser, and Meta says its login help began with select cases in the US and Canada in March 2026. Meta warns that AI can make mistakes.Source: Instagram Help Center; Meta Newsroom
• Meta Verified support. If the profile already has Meta Verified, Meta lists email and chat support for subscribers. Meta does not say whether it covers lost two-factor codes.Source: Instagram Help Center
• Some third-party guides also suggest trusted contacts, a privacy-rights request or subscribing to Meta Verified after losing two-factor codes. No Meta page we read documents any of them for that.
• Start recovery from a device and network you have used for Instagram before. Meta says its systems recognise the device you usually use and familiar locations. That is why we suggest it; it is our inference, not a Meta rule.Source: Meta; Meta Newsroom

FROM META’S PAGES
Secure email address that only I can open: 
Email address or phone number I signed up with: 
Device type at sign-up (iPhone, Android, iPad, other): 
Does the account show photos of my face (video selfie)? Yes / No

MY OWN PREPARATION
Username: 
Approximate month and year the account was created: 
Email addresses and phone numbers that were on the account before: 
Devices and places I usually log in from: 
Two-factor method I used (authentication app, text message, WhatsApp): 
Last time I logged in successfully: 

I cannot log in to my Instagram account @[username] because I lost access to my two-factor login codes ([lost phone / new SIM / no saved backup codes]). I am the owner of the account.

What I tried: [backup codes: none saved] [authentication app: on the lost phone] [login link to my email: not available].

Account details: created around [month, year]; signed up with [email or phone]; device at sign-up: [iPhone / Android / other]; I usually log in from [city, country].

I can complete a video selfie. Please send the next steps to [secure email address].

[ ] A mailbox that was never used with this Instagram account
[ ] A unique password, kept in a password manager
[ ] Its own two-factor login turned on
[ ] No forwarding rules and no shared access
[ ] Open on a device I control, with notifications on
[ ] Mail from Meta comes from fb.com, facebook.com, facebookmail.com, instagram.com, meta.com or metamail.com addresses (or their subdomains). Check the sender domain before I click.

Set up a second way in, while you still can

• Add an authentication app on a second device. Meta says up to 5 devices can connect, and that 1 device must set the app up first.Source: Instagram Help Center
• Update the email or phone number on the profile before you lose the old address or number. Meta’s lost-access page says you must still be able to log in to change it.Source: Instagram Help Center
• Link Instagram and Facebook in the same Accounts Center. Meta says it cannot give you access if you lose the email you registered with and never linked Facebook. It does not promise access if you did.Source: Instagram Help Center

How to store them

• Keep a copy that does not live only on the phone that receives your login codes.
• Use a password manager entry, or a printed copy kept at home.
• Meta lists copying to the clipboard, a screenshot or saving “in some other way”. A screenshot sits in your camera roll, which may sync to a cloud account and is visible to anyone who unlocks the phone.

Instagram backup codes for @[username]
Generated on: [date]
[ ] The list is saved in a password manager entry, not in a note shared with anyone
[ ] A printed copy is in a safe place at home
[ ] No copy lives only on the phone that receives my login codes
[ ] I cross each code off here when I use it: 
[ ] An authentication app is set up on a second device
[ ] The phone number on the account is current
[ ] The email on the account is an inbox I can open
Review this list after any new phone, new SIM or new email.

Anyone selling a 2FA bypass is selling a scam

Meta documents no bypass, and says the backup code list is visible only while you are logged in, so nobody outside your account can read or recover your codes.

Our recovery scams guide lists more patterns.