An Instagram profile is often the most personal account a person leaves behind: years of photos, stories, and messages. It is also the account most visible to a younger circle of friends, who keep encountering it long after the funeral. Instagram, owned by Meta, offers families the same two outcomes as Facebook, memorialisation or removal, but through its own forms and with its own quirks.
This guide works wherever you are; only the document proving your authority differs by country.
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Save the Photos First
Removal is permanent, and Instagram does not hand families an archive afterwards. Before you request anything:
- Save the public photos and videos directly from the profile, or screenshot them.
- If a family member knows the login, use Instagram's own Download your information tool in settings to export everything first. Meta's terms technically prohibit logging in to another person's account, so where possible do this from a device where the person was already signed in, and keep it to preserving memories.
- A memorialised account keeps the photos visible, which is why many families choose it over removal.
Route One: Memorialisation
A memorialised Instagram shows "Remembering" on the profile, freezes it exactly as the person left it, stops it appearing in suggestions and likes, and prevents anyone logging in. Any friend or family member can request it.
The address looks like instagram.com/username. If the account is private, a family member who follows it can confirm the exact username.
Search Instagram's Help Centre for "memorialization request". Attach proof of death: a death certificate, an obituary, or a news article naming the person. You do not need to be next of kin for this route.
Meta often memorialises without sending a confirmation email; the profile simply changes. Resubmit after two weeks of silence.
Route Two: Full Removal
Removal deletes the account and everything in it, permanently. Meta restricts it to immediate family or the estate's legal representative, with documents.
The death certificate, plus proof you have authority: a birth or marriage certificate showing immediate family, or the estate document for your country, such as a grant of probate or letters of administration (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) or letters testamentary (US).
Instagram's removal form for deceased users is at instagram.com/help/contact/1474899482730688. Select removal, provide the username and profile link, and upload clear scans of the documents.
Meta replies by email and sometimes asks for more evidence of the relationship. Attach everything again each time you reply; requests that make the reviewer search a thread go slower.
Common Problems
Silence
The most common outcome of a first request is nothing. Resubmit every two weeks with the same documents. Meta processes these in high volume and resubmission genuinely restarts attention.
Fan pages, tributes, and impersonation
After a death, copycat accounts sometimes appear using the person's photos, occasionally messaging relatives or asking followers for money. Report those through Instagram's impersonation reporting, which moves faster than bereavement requests and needs no estate documents.
The Facebook account is linked
Instagram and Facebook accounts stay separate even when linked in Meta's Accounts Centre. Handling one does nothing to the other, so submit both requests. Our Facebook guide covers that side.
Or Let Us Handle All of It
Departed Digital manages Instagram alongside every other account in one case: Facebook, Google, Apple, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, and more. You send the documents once, we run every platform's process and follow up until each is resolved, and you receive a written record for the family and the estate.
Packages start from £149, checkout shows your local currency automatically, and we work with families in the UK and internationally.
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