Recover a Hacked Account
Losing access to an account is stressful — but a calm, ordered response gets you back in and locks the attacker out.
1. Secure your email first
Your email controls password resets for almost everything else. If you can still log in, change its password immediately, sign out all sessions, and turn on two-factor authentication. If you cannot, use the provider's official account-recovery flow from a device you trust.
2. Reset from a clean device
Malware on your computer can capture a new password the moment you set it. Run a reset from a device you are confident is clean, ideally on a network you control. Using a VPN here adds a layer of protection if you are on shared or public Wi-Fi.
3. Revoke sessions and connected apps
Once you regain access, go to the account's security settings and sign out every active session, then review connected or authorized apps and remove anything you do not recognize. Attackers often leave a backdoor via a linked third-party app.
4. Harden against the next attempt
Set a unique, strong password stored in a password manager, enable 2FA with an authenticator app, and save your backup recovery codes offline. Check the account's recovery email and phone number to be sure the attacker did not swap them.
Prevention beats recovery: unique passwords, 2FA, and a trusted VPN on untrusted networks dramatically reduce the chance you ever land on this page again.