Can iLS get your Instagram account restricted? How to lower the risk

Yes, using iLS can get your Instagram account restricted, because reading activity status through an automated browser breaks Instagram's Terms of Use. You can lower that risk, but you can't remove it, and nobody can honestly promise otherwise.

We'd rather you know this before you connect than find out afterwards. This guide explains where the risk comes from, what iLS already does to keep it down, which of your own choices make a difference, and what to do if Instagram does restrict you.

Why is there a risk at all?

Instagram's Terms of Use don't allow accessing or collecting information from Instagram by automated means without its permission. iLS works by signing in to your account in an automated browser and reading the activity status line on your conversations. That's automated access, and Instagram hasn't given permission for it.

Instagram enforces this with its own systems. When it decides an account has been collecting data automatically, it can limit what the account can do, ask it to verify itself, or in more serious cases suspend it. Its help centre has a page specifically about accounts restricted for data scraping.

This is a deliberate choice on our side and we say so in our Terms of Service: iLS isn't affiliated with Instagram or Meta, and it can't operate within Instagram's rules.

What does iLS already do to limit it?

The aim is for your account's activity to look as much like you as possible, and for there to be as little of it as the job needs.

• One sign-in, kept. You connect once. iLS keeps the logged-in session and reuses it, rather than signing in again for every check. Repeated sign-ins are exactly the kind of thing that draws attention.
• A connection from your own country. Every check goes through a connection in the country you chose when connecting, so your account isn't suddenly active from somewhere it has never been.
• Checks spaced out. iLS reads on its own schedule rather than as fast as it can.
• Read only. It never posts, messages, follows, likes or changes your settings. It opens your DMs and reads one line.
• A 10-contact ceiling. Every contact is another recurring check on your account. The cap exists for that reason, not as a pricing tier.

Which of your choices affect it?

• The country you pick when connecting. Pick the country where your account usually signs in, not where you happen to be this week. A mismatch is the easiest way to make the sign-in look unusual. See how to connect your Instagram account.
• How many contacts you track. Each one adds checks. Track the people you actually need, not everyone you could.
• How often you press Check again. It reads Instagram right away, on your account, on top of the scheduled checks. Use it when you need to, not as a refresh button. (The Report's own Refresh never touches Instagram.)
• Keeping two-factor authentication on. It protects the account either way, and it makes Instagram's codes arrive by WhatsApp or SMS, which makes reconnecting smoother. Instagram explains how to turn on two-factor authentication.
• Which account you connect. It has to be an account with a DM thread with the people you track. If you can, avoid connecting an account you couldn't afford to have restricted, such as one tied to your business.

How do you know if Instagram has restricted you?

Instagram tells you itself, in the app: a notice when you open it, a request to confirm it's you, or features you can no longer use. Account Status in your Instagram settings lists restrictions on your account, and Instagram's help centre explains each kind.

Don't confuse this with Tracking paused in iLS. That message means Instagram stopped accepting the saved session iLS was using, which happens for ordinary reasons too, such as a password change or Instagram ending old sessions. It's fixed by reconnecting, and on its own it doesn't mean your account is restricted.

What should you do if it happens?

1. Disconnect iLS. Press Disconnect on the IG Account page. This deletes the stored session and stops every check, so nothing keeps running on the account while you sort it out.
2. Follow Instagram's instructions in the app. If it asks you to verify your identity or confirm your details, do that. If it offers a review or an appeal, that's the route back.
3. Change your Instagram password if you're asked to, or if you want to be sure no saved session stays valid.
4. Wait before reconnecting. If you decide to use iLS again, give the account time first, and consider tracking fewer contacts.

Your contacts and their past readings stay in iLS after you disconnect, so you lose no history by stopping.

What can't iLS promise?

• That nothing will happen. There's no setting, plan or technique that makes automated access safe under Instagram's terms.
• How Instagram will react. Instagram doesn't publish its thresholds, and they change. An account that has been fine for months can still be restricted.
• That a restriction can be reversed. An appeal is decided by Instagram, not by us.