You went to launch a game and your password no longer works, or you got an email saying your Battle.net email address, password, or authenticator was changed without you doing it. Maybe your characters, balance, or game licenses look wrong, or friends are getting strange messages from your account. Whatever tipped you off, the situation is the same: someone else is in your Battle.net account, and you need to lock them out and get it back. The good news is that Blizzard has a real recovery path. The honest part is that how fast and how smoothly it goes depends on what the attacker changed and what security you had set up before.
Work through the steps below in order. Skipping ahead, especially past securing your email and computer, is how people recover an account only to lose it again hours later.
Confirm what the hacker actually changed
Before you start clicking recovery buttons, figure out how deep the takeover goes, because that decides which path works for you.
- 1.Check whether you can still log in at all. If you can sign in but see suspicious activity, you are in a much stronger position than if you are fully locked out.
- 2.Check your email inbox for messages from Blizzard about changes to your email address, password, or authenticator. These tell you exactly what was altered.
- 3.Note whether you still control the registered email address and phone number on the account. The fastest recovery routes depend on at least one of these still being yours.
- 4.Watch for the classic lockout: the login screen demands an authenticator approval you never set up, which means the attacker attached their own Battle.net Authenticator to keep you out.
One rule applies through this entire process. Never create a brand new Battle.net account to report or appeal the hacked one. Use only your existing account and the official support flow. Start your recovery on a device and network you have used with Battle.net before, since unfamiliar devices and locations can trigger extra security checks and slow you down.
Secure your email and PC before you touch recovery
This step is not optional, and it goes first. If the attacker still has access to the email account tied to your Battle.net login, they can simply redo everything the moment you recover. Blizzard's own guidance, found in its Securing a Battle.net Account material, says that if your email was changed without your consent you should first follow Securing a Battle.net Account, then go to the Account Hacked page.
So do this now. Regain control of the email account linked to your Battle.net login and change that email's password to something new. Then run a full security or antivirus scan on the computer you normally play on, because malware that captured your password once can capture it again. Only after your email and PC are clean should you move on to recovering Battle.net itself. This is also why recovery is not always instant: if your PC or email is still compromised, an attacker can re-take a recovered account, per Blizzard article 14319.
The fastest route is self-service password recovery
If you still control your registered email or phone number, the quickest fix is the self-service recovery tool, and it often resolves the whole problem on its own. Resetting your password through the recovery tool removes most account locks, so this is where the majority of users get back in without ever opening a ticket.
- 1.Go to the Battle.net "Can't log in?" recovery page at account.battle.net/recovery/.
- 2.Choose the option that matches your situation: Forgot password, Problem with email, Remove my authenticator, or My Battle.net Account is locked.
- 3.Complete the password reset using your registered email or phone number. A standalone walkthrough for this lives at us.support.blizzard.com/en/help/article/7081.
There is a shortcut worth trying if it applies to you. If you previously linked an external account such as Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Apple, Google, Steam, or Facebook, you can click that provider's icon on the login screen and sign in with those credentials instead. That can get you in even when your Battle.net password has been changed.
When the email was changed, fall back to SMS verification
If the attacker changed the email address on your account, or you simply cannot remember which email is on it, the password reset above may not reach you. In that case, Blizzard can send a text message to the phone number linked to your Battle.net account to verify your identity and recover access. This only works if SMS Protect or a phone number was already on the account before the takeover, so it is a precondition rather than a guarantee for every account.
The same SMS verification matters if a hacker attached their own authenticator to lock you out. If you have phone notifications or SMS Protect set up, you can verify by SMS and remove that old authenticator yourself. If you cannot verify by SMS, Blizzard states you must contact Customer Support to have the old authenticator removed. There is no self-service workaround for that specific situation, per article 18757.
If self-service fails, open a Blizzard Support ticket
When the attacker has changed your email and password and you cannot verify by phone, self-service usually will not work, and that is expected. The path forward is a Blizzard Support ticket through the Account Hacked flow. You can submit a support request even if your email was changed and even if you cannot log in at all.
- 1.Open the Account Hacked support flow and start a ticket for the affected account.
- 2.Describe what happened and provide whatever ownership details Blizzard requests so a human reviewer can verify you.
- 3.Submit and wait for Customer Support, who will review your case and, if necessary, restore your access.
Be honest with yourself about how this works. A Customer Support agent or Game Master reviews the ticket and only restores access "if necessary" after verifying you are the real owner. That means the outcome depends on your being able to prove ownership, and a ticket can be denied if ownership cannot be established. Blizzard does not publish a guaranteed turnaround time for hacked-account review, so speed varies by queue and region, and there is no official window to quote you. Recovery here is realistic, but it is neither automatic nor certain.
Lock it down so this does not happen twice
Once you are back in, the work is not finished. A recovered account with the same weak setup is just waiting to be hit again, so close the door behind you.
- 1.Set a new password you have never used on any account before. Reusing an old one undoes the recovery.
- 2.Attach a Battle.net Authenticator through the Battle.net mobile app. Customer Support will typically ask you to do this anyway, and Blizzard calls it the best security feature to keep your Battle.net account safe from hackers.
- 3.Add Battle.net phone notifications and SMS Protect so you have a verification fallback if you are ever locked out again.
The Battle.net Authenticator, found in the Battle.net mobile app, prompts you to approve a login from a new device or location by default. For tighter security, you can set it to require approval on every single login from the Battle.net Account Security page. If you ever need your Authenticator Serial Number, you can view it in the Battle.net mobile app under Authenticator and then the cogwheel icon.
One last warning. Do not pay any third-party "account recovery", "unban", or "reinstatement" service that promises to get your Battle.net account back. These are commonly scams, and the only legitimate route is through Blizzard's own recovery page and support flow. Never share your password, a verification code, or any authenticator code with anyone, including someone claiming to be Blizzard staff, and always confirm you are on the genuine Blizzard domain before entering credentials or identity details.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Blizzard take to recover a hacked account?
Blizzard does not publish a guaranteed turnaround time for hacked-account ticket review. A self-service password reset can restore access right away if you still control your email or phone, but a Customer Support ticket is reviewed by a human, so the speed varies by queue and region.
What if the hacker changed my email and attached their own authenticator?
If your phone notifications or SMS Protect were set up, you can verify by SMS to remove the attacker's authenticator yourself. If you cannot verify by SMS, you must contact Customer Support to have the old authenticator removed, since there is no self-service path for that case.
Can I get my account back if I cannot remember which email is on it?
Possibly. Blizzard can send a text message to the phone number linked to your account to verify your identity and recover access, provided a phone number or SMS Protect was added before the takeover. If neither email nor phone works, you will need to open a support ticket and prove ownership.
Should I make a new account to report the hacked one?
No. Use only your existing account and the official Account Hacked support flow. You can submit a support request even if your email was changed and even if you cannot log in, so creating a second account is unnecessary and risky.
Is recovery guaranteed once I file a ticket?
No. Customer Support reviews the ticket and restores access only after verifying you are the real owner, and the ticket can be denied if ownership cannot be established. Recovery is realistic but never guaranteed.
Are paid "account recovery" or "unban" services worth using?
No. Do not pay any third-party recovery, unban, or reinstatement service, as these are commonly scams. The only legitimate route is Blizzard's own recovery page at account.battle.net/recovery/ and the official support ticket flow, and you should never share passwords or verification codes with anyone.
