Struggling to Create a Facebook Account? Here's Why and What to Try

Many individuals and businesses are discovering a frustrating new reality: creating a Facebook account in 2025 is an incredibly difficult task. Users report that attempts to sign up, even with legitimate personal details and various email addresses, often result in an immediate ban. The process typically involves an automated message about an "appeal" being submitted, which is shortly followed by a notification that the account is permanently disabled, leaving no path for human review.

From Growth to a Gated Community

This aggressive gatekeeping isn't a bug; it's a feature of a mature platform that has shifted its priorities from growth to defense. Unlike a new social media site that would do everything possible to make signing up easy, Facebook is no longer focused on acquiring new users. With a massive, established user base, its primary challenge is now combating a relentless onslaught of spam, bots, and fake ("smurph") accounts.

This situation is comparable to Yahoo's evolution in the late 2000s. Once the gold standard for user-friendly registration, Yahoo was forced to make its signup process more difficult to fight account takeovers and abuse. Facebook is in the same defensive posture today. The automated systems are designed to be highly suspicious of any new profile, and legitimate new users are often caught in the crossfire. The platform is willing to sacrifice the few stragglers who don't have an account yet to protect the integrity of its existing network.

How to Increase Your Chances of Success

While the process is challenging, there are several strategies that may help you successfully create an account:

A Phone Number is (Unofficially) Mandatory: The single most important factor appears to be tying the new account to a valid phone number. While Facebook doesn't always state this explicitly, email-only signups are highly likely to be flagged as suspicious and blocked by the automated systems.
Mind Your Browser Fingerprint: Facebook analyzes your browser setup to assess your legitimacy. A highly customized browser with numerous extensions, privacy tools, ad-blockers, or non-standard settings can make you stick out. To avoid this, try signing up using a "vanilla" browser profile—a clean installation of a major browser like Chrome or Firefox with no extensions enabled.
Manage Your Expectations: If you do manage to create an account, be prepared for a subpar initial experience. Without any data on your interests or connections, Facebook's feed and suggestions will likely feel empty and irrelevant. The platform is no longer optimized for a "cold start," as it assumes most valuable users have a long history on the service.