Check your notifications on another device: what to do when Instagram asks

"Check your notifications on another device" means that Instagram doesn't recognize the phone or browser you're logging in from. It has sent a login request to a device where your account is already logged in, and it waits for you to confirm the login there. Open Instagram on that device, tap the request, check the device and the place, then tap Approve.

If the request doesn't come, or you don't have that device anymore, there are other ways in: a login code, a backup code, or Instagram's recovery steps. This guide takes each case in turn, with the steps from Instagram's own help pages. Instagram moves its menus from time to time, so the names on your screen can be a little different.

What does "Check your notifications on another device" mean?

Instagram's help pages describe this screen as part of two-factor authentication. According to Instagram's two-factor authentication page, two-factor authentication asks for more than your password. It does this when someone logs in from a device that Instagram doesn't recognize. You then "enter your login code or confirm your login attempt".

This screen asks you to confirm. Instagram calls the alert a login request. According to Instagram's login requests page, you get an alert whenever someone tries to log in to your account from a device or web browser that Instagram doesn't recognize. The alert shows which device tried to log in and where it is. You can approve it or deny it.

Instagram says that the alert can appear in three ways on your other device:

• as a push notification
• in Activity, the list of notifications in the app
• as a notification inside the app

A new phone, a browser you haven't used before, or a service that logs in for you can all be a device that Instagram doesn't recognize.

How do you approve or deny the login?

Use a device where you're already logged in to the same account, for example your old phone. Then:

1. Open the login request. Tap the push notification, or open Instagram and look in Activity.
2. Read the device type and the location in the request.
3. If you recognize the device, tap Approve. The new device can then use your account.
4. If you don't recognize the device, tap Deny. Then follow the steps on the screen to reset your password.

Instagram asks for a new password after Deny for a reason. If someone tried to log in with your current password, the new password stops them.

Before you tap Approve, compare the request with what you did. It should come at the time you tried to log in, from the type of device you used. If you didn't try to log in at that time, deny it. Then go to Password and security and Where you're logged in, as Instagram's login activity page shows. Log out the devices that you don't know.

What if the notification doesn't arrive?

A missing push notification doesn't always mean that there is no request. Check two things on the device where you're logged in:

• Push notifications. Instagram says that you may need to turn on push notifications from Instagram to get login requests. Make sure that your phone allows notifications from Instagram.
• Activity. Open Instagram and look in Activity. The request can be there even when no push notification appeared.

If there is still no request, and the login screen gives you another way to confirm, use a code. Instagram's two-factor authentication has three ways to get a code:

• Authentication app. An app such as Duo Mobile or Google Authenticator makes the code. Instagram recommends this method.
• Text message. According to Instagram's text message page, Instagram sends a 6-digit code to your confirmed phone number.
• WhatsApp. Instagram sends the code on WhatsApp. This method works only after you turn on the text message method.

A backup code is the last option. According to Instagram's backup code page, a backup code lets you finish the login when Instagram can't send a code because of connection or delivery problems.

What if you no longer have the other device?

If your old phone is lost or broken, you can't approve the request on it. If you still have the phone number, or the authentication app on another device, use a code as above. If you don't, there are two more ways.

Use a backup code. This works only if you saved your backup codes earlier. Instagram shows the list only to a logged-in account, so you can't get it from the login screen.

Ask Instagram for help. If you lost access to the phone number or email address on your account too, Instagram's page about lost access gives these steps:

1. Open the Instagram app. At the bottom of the login screen, tap Forgot password?.
2. Enter your username, then tap Continue.
3. At the bottom, tap Try another way.
4. Tap No longer have access to these?.
5. Follow the steps on the screen to send a support request.

Instagram is clear about one limit. If you can't get into the email address you signed up with, and your Instagram and Facebook accounts aren't linked, Instagram says it can't give you access to the account.

If you think that another person took your account, go to instagram.com/hacked in a browser. Instagram's hacked account page describes the recovery steps: a login link, a security code and, for some accounts, a video selfie to confirm who you are.

How do you see this screen less often?

Do these steps while you can still log in:

• Tap Trust this device on your own devices. Instagram offers this option after a two-factor login. Instagram says you then won't have to enter a security code on that device again. Don't tap it on a public or shared device.
• Save your backup codes now. In Accounts Center, go to Password and security, then Two-factor authentication, then your account, then Additional methods, then Backup codes. Copy the codes or take a screenshot.
• Add an authentication app on a second device. According to Instagram's page on multiple devices, you can connect up to five devices to the authentication app method. Then one lost phone doesn't leave you without codes.
• Keep one device logged in. A login request needs a device where your account is already logged in. If you log out everywhere, there is nowhere to approve it.

You can also turn login requests off or on. Tap Menu, then Security, then Two-factor authentication, then Additional methods, and use the switch next to Login requests. Instagram lists login requests as an additional method, so your main way to get codes stays on. But with login requests off, you don't get the alert when someone tries to log in from a device that Instagram doesn't know.

Why can connecting iLS cause a login request?

iLS (instagram Last Seen) is an independent service that shows when one person you already message on Instagram comes online. It signs in to your account with an automated browser. It uses a connection in the country that you pick under Where you usually use Instagram. To Instagram, this is a new device, so it can ask for an extra step when you connect:

• A code. If Instagram sends a verification code, iLS shows a box for it. If the code doesn't come by email or WhatsApp, and Instagram offers it, you can press Send the code by SMS instead.
• A step iLS can't finish. Then the connect page can show this message: "We couldn't confirm the login — Instagram may have shown an extra step (an authenticator app or a security check). Try again."

If a login request comes to your phone right after you press Connect account, it is probably the iLS sign-in. Its location should be in the country that you picked, not where you are. A request at another time, or from a place that doesn't match, isn't from your connect attempt: deny it. How to connect your Instagram account to iLS explains each step and each error message.

Know the limits before you connect. iLS works only with a person you already have a DM conversation with, and only when you both have activity status on. To read the status, it opens the conversation, which can mark their messages to you as read. It never stores your password, only the logged-in session, encrypted. Using iLS breaks Instagram's Terms of Use, and Instagram can restrict your account: what that risk is and how to lower it. If you log out the iLS login or change your password, the checks stop until you reconnect, as fixing common iLS problems shows.

What can't the login request tell you?

• Who holds the device. The request shows a device type and a place, not a person.
• How long you have. Instagram's help pages don't say how long a request stays open.
• Why Instagram didn't recognize the device. The help pages don't say what makes a device or browser new to Instagram.
• Whether the login is safe. Approve gives that device access to your account, so approve only a login that you started.