How to Unlock Your Twitter Account
By Randall Blackburn
Your Twitter account can be locked for two reasons. It can be temporarily locked if you've exceeded the allowed number of failed login attempts. If your account was locked for this reason, it is automatically locked for one hour. The other reason your account may be locked is if you set your account to “Protected.” When your account is configured as Protected, your timeline and lists are locked. Your tweets cannot be retweeted and you must manually approve people who want to follow you. You can set your account to Public again in your account settings.
Too Many Login Attempts
Disable any third-party apps connected to Twitter, such as TweetDeck and HootSuite.
Wait one hour if you attempted to log in with an incorrect password and tripped the lock on your Twitter account. If you did not attempt to log in, your account may have been compromised. Your password is automatically reset.
Open the Twitter login page and attempt to log in. If you cannot log in with your existing password after one hour, request another one by opening the “Resend Password” page (see Resources). Type your Twitter username or email address, then click "Send." An email is sent to the email account associated with your Twitter account.
Check the email account, then click the link in the Reset Password email sent from Twitter.
Type a new password for your account, then confirm the password by retyping it. Click “OK.” Your password is reset.
Log in to your Twitter account with your new password.
Set Account to Public
Log in to your Twitter account, then click the drop-down arrow next to the gear icon to open the Twitter menu.
Click “Settings” to open your Account Settings screen.
Click the “Security and Privacy” tab in the left sidebar.
Click the “Protect My Tweets” check box to uncheck the option in the Twitter Privacy section.
Click the “Save Changes” button to save the settings. Your account is now unlocked and public.
Tips
If Twitter support suspects that your account has been compromised, Twitter will reset the password on your account. The next time you log in, you will need to reset your password to unlock your account.
Note that if you exceed the number of login attempts, you cannot log into your locked Twitter account for one hour -- even with the correct password.
References
Writer Bio
Randall Blackburn has worked for several Fortune 1000 companies as a technical writer over the past seven years. He has produced a wide variety of technical documentation, including detailed programming specifications and research papers. Randall has also acquired several years' experience writing web content. Randall lives and works in Austin, TX.