Getting banned sucks, especially if you didn't do anything wrong. False bans are a real thing and it happens to many people in all sorts of games. Thankfully there is a way to recover your account so you can play your favorite games again.

What Is a Ban in Gaming?

A ban in gaming is a type of punishment. Bans are usually handed out due to behavioral reasons like intentionally making your team lose, voice and text chat abuse or spam, rude behavior, and the like. It could also be for more grave reasons like cheating or exploitation.

Bans are put in place to protect the experience of players from other players who exude inexcusable behavior and practices that ruin the game for the players they play with and against. Cheaters and toxic players still exist in plenty of games, but the threat of banishment at least makes them think twice about losing an account they probably spent money on.

Can You Recover a Banned Account?

Yes, a banned account is recoverable, but only if you were falsely banned by something like anti-cheat programs or player reports. If you are guilty of cheating or any reasons that might get you banned, then it’s going to be quite difficult.

Cheating is an unrecoverable offense if you are found guilty. However, there are many cases of false bans. If your account was compromised and a cheater used it to commit the offense, the support team will try to prove that it wasn't you who was using the cheats at the time of the offense and lift the ban.

How to Get Your Banned Account Back

This will not be a step-by-step guide, as it will be different for every game. However, you should always follow these guidelines as the processes are quite similar. Here’s how to get your falsely-banned account back.

Reach Out to Customer Support

Customer support is really the only way you can appeal for this. Whether it be email or live-chat support, most games will have one that you can talk to. You can usually find these on the publisher’s website at the very bottom. You can also just hit Ctrl+F and type in support if it’s hard to find on the website.

You’ll want to talk to them in a clear manner, explaining your situation and why you were falsely banned. Getting mad at them won’t get you anywhere closer to solving your problem.

Follow Up and Wait

Patience is key. Some might take a few hours, and some might take a few weeks. There’s really no guarantee.

You’ll want to follow up on your existing support ticket by emailing them. Avoid creating multiple support tickets as that could make things complicated and prolong it instead. You might also have a ticket code that you can give to a support status checker on some publishers' sites.

How to Prevent False Bans

Some false bans you won’t have any control over, though it is rare and not a problem for most people. However, getting your account compromised and the offender committing bannable offenses is something you have control over.

Use a Password Manager

Using a password manager is great when logging in to a game takes you to your browser. A password manager allows you to create strong passwords and store them for you so you don’t have to worry about memorizing them.

These strong passwords are also harder to crack, strengthening your account’s security. Here are a few of the safest password managers you can use on multiple platforms.

Use Two-Factor Authentication

Relying on a password alone sometimes isn’t enough. Especially when it’s important, like a game account that you’ve probably spent money on or a lot of time leveling up.

2FA prevents hackers from getting into your account because you need to approve the login request yourself. If your phone tells you that someone tried to log in and you don’t recall logging in, then it’s as easy as denying the request. You probably don’t even have to deny the request if they don’t have the newest authentication code.

If you’re not convinced, check out why you should be using two-factor authentication for all your important or even unimportant accounts.

Don’t Forget to Log Out When You’re Not at Home

There are plenty of cases where forgetting to log out of an internet cafe was the source of the ban. Internet cafes see plenty of cases of cheats being used in games like Counter-Strike, Valorant, Apex Legends, and so much more.

The next person could freely use cheats on your account, getting you banned. There are even cases in which logging into a computer with cheaters previously using it could get you banned as well. This is because some games use a hardware banning system, thinking that the other accounts used on that computer are the offender’s other accounts.

Keep Your Game Account Safe

Getting hacked or banned by mistake is unfortunate. You might have spent a lot of time or money on skins or leveling up your account. We hope this guide has helped you recover your account so your efforts won't be lost.

Always remember to keep your account safe to avoid getting hacked and observe safe account practices to avoid giving anyone access by accident.