How to Fill Out and Submit the Instagram Harassment Report Form

To report harassment on Instagram, open the offending post, comment, profile, or message, tap the three-dot menu, choose “Report,” and select “Bullying or unwanted contact” when prompted for a reason. Instagram’s moderation team reviews flagged content against its Community Guidelines and can remove posts, warn the account, or disable it entirely.¹ You can also report without an Instagram account through Meta’s Community Standards portal, and you can protect yourself in the meantime using the app’s block, restrict, and hidden-words tools.

Reporting From Inside the App

The fastest route runs through the content itself. The exact steps shift slightly depending on what you’re flagging.²

A Post or Reel

Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the post (⋯ on iPhone, ⋮ on Android). Tap “Report,” then follow the prompts. For harassment, pick “Bullying or unwanted contact.” Instagram may then ask whether the content targets you or someone else.²

A Comment

Open the comments on the post. On iPhone, swipe left on the comment you want to flag; on Android, tap and hold it. Tap the exclamation-point icon, then pick a reason such as “Abusive Content.” This flags only that comment, not the whole post or profile.

A Profile

Go to the person’s profile, tap the three-dot menu beside their username, and select “Report.” Instagram asks whether the account is pretending to be someone, posting content it shouldn’t, or belongs to someone underage. Choose the fit and continue through the prompts.²

A Direct Message

Open the conversation, tap and hold the message, and select “Report.” If someone is harassing you through disappearing messages or Stories sent in DM, screenshot the content before it expires. Once it vanishes, so does your evidence.

Reporting Without an Instagram Account

You do not need an account to file a report. Instagram directs non-users to Meta’s Community Standards portal to flag content that violates platform rules.² Two specialized web forms handle common edge cases:

Impersonation: if someone created an account pretending to be you or someone you know, use help.instagram.com/contact/636276399721841.³
Accounts belonging to children under 13: use help.instagram.com/contact/723586364339719. Instagram will delete the account if it cannot verify the user is at least 13.⁴

These forms ask for the profile URL, your name, an email for follow-up, and a written description of the problem. Copy the URL from a browser rather than retyping it. A typo can derail the whole report.

What to Have Ready Before You Tap Report

A few minutes of preparation is the difference between a report that gets acted on and one that goes nowhere.

URLs for the profile and each individual post, reel, or comment. On mobile, use the three-dot menu and “Copy Link.”
Screenshots of everything, especially Stories (gone after 24 hours) and disappearing DMs (gone after one view). Capture visible timestamps where possible.
A plain-language description: who is doing what, how often, and when it started. Specifics help a moderator evaluate the situation.
Pattern notes if the harassment involves repeated messages, multiple accounts, or escalating threats. A single rude comment and a weeks-long campaign look very different to a reviewer.

If the harassment involves hate speech, name the specific language and the characteristic being targeted. Instagram’s Community Guidelines prohibit attacks based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or disease.¹ Naming the category helps the review team match the content to the right policy.

Protect Yourself While the Report Is Reviewed

Filing a report does not immediately cut off the harasser. Three built-in tools can limit their reach in the meantime.

Block

Blocking is the hard stop. A blocked person cannot see your profile, posts, or Stories, and cannot send you messages. Go to the profile, tap the three-dot menu, and tap “Block.” Instagram also offers to block any new accounts that person creates.⁵

Restrict

Restricting is quieter. The other person is not told. Their comments on your posts become visible only to them unless you manually approve each one. Their DMs route to Message Requests with no notification, and they cannot see when you are online or whether you have read their messages.⁵ This is useful when you want to keep documenting continued harassment without engaging with it.

Hidden Words

Hidden Words automatically filters offensive language from your comments and message requests. Go to Settings → Privacy → Hidden Words. You can enable the default filter, turn on advanced comment filtering, or add your own list of words and phrases.⁶ It will not stop a determined harasser, but it catches a lot of drive-by abuse.

Checking What Happened to Your Report

After you submit, Instagram sends an in-app notification confirming it was received. To track what came next, go to your profile, open the menu, then Settings → Help → Support Requests → Reports. Each report appears there with Instagram’s decision.⁷

Instagram does not publish a guaranteed response time. Clear cases such as obviously abusive comments or straightforward impersonation tend to resolve within a day or two. Gray-area content takes longer. Not every report shows up in Support Requests, so an empty entry does not mean the report was ignored.⁷

When Instagram finds a Community Guidelines violation, it removes the content and may warn, temporarily suspend, or permanently disable the account.¹ Reports are anonymous. Instagram does not tell the reported person who filed the complaint.

If Instagram Says the Content Did Not Violate Its Rules

You have options when Instagram declines to act.

Start with a direct appeal. The notification that tells you no violation was found usually includes an option to request a review, which sends the case to a different reviewer. Add context you did not include the first time, such as a pattern across multiple posts or screenshots of content that has since been deleted.

If you have exhausted Instagram’s internal appeals and still disagree, you can submit the case to the Meta Oversight Board at oversightboard.com. The Board is an independent body that reviews whether Meta’s content decisions align with its policies and human rights commitments, though it accepts only a fraction of submissions for full review.⁸

When to Involve Law Enforcement

Platform action and legal action are separate tracks, and one does not replace the other. Under federal law, using the internet to engage in a course of conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes substantial emotional distress, is a crime that can carry up to five years in prison, with higher ceilings when the victim is seriously injured or a weapon is involved.⁹¹⁰ When the victim is under 18, penalties increase by an additional five years.¹¹

If someone is threatening your physical safety, call the police. Instagram’s moderation team can remove content and disable accounts. It cannot arrest anyone or issue a restraining order. Keep copies of every screenshot, URL, and report confirmation. Law enforcement will want them if you pursue a criminal complaint.

1
Instagram. Instagram Community Guidelines FAQs
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Instagram Help Center. Report a Post or Profile on Instagram
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Instagram Help Center. Report an Impersonation Account
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Instagram Help Center. Report an Instagram User Under the Minimum Age
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Instagram. Difference Between Restrict, Mute, Block and Report on Instagram
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Instagram Help Center. Hide Comments or Message Requests You Don’t Want to See
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Instagram Help Center. Check the Status of Something You’ve Reported to Instagram
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Oversight Board. Oversight Board
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 2261A – Stalking
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 2261 – Interstate Domestic Violence
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261B – Enhanced Penalty for Stalkers of Children