Feel like it has been a while since you have seen some profile information for a user you had followed on Instagram? Do you suspect you might have been blocked but do not really know how to test this theory? Use this article I put together to educate yourself on how to know if someone blocked you on Instagram.
Hello friends! It is your friend and expert Frankie here again with a tutorial focused on Instagram – specifically about how to find out if someone has blocked you on the service or not.
You might not be aware that Instagram does not send notifications to users when they have been blocked on the service. Therefore, you never have any definitive word that this happened officially, so you have to put the pieces together on your own.
Fortunately, there are some clues you can uncover that help to possibly shed light on the matter. With this information you can tell whether you have been blocked or not.
So what are these clues?
I will get to that shortly. The next few paragraphs are dedicated to information in the Instagram user’s profile that can help you to figure out if you have become the victim of a block.
If you use some of these guiding clues to find that you have indeed been blocked, the end of this article is all about some of the strategies of getting yourself unblocked and returning things to normal.
Ready to get started?
Frankie’s Take:
You should know that any block placed against you or someone else is reversible. One day a person might decide to block you and change their mind the following day. The process is as simple as visiting your profile and selecting the Block/Unblock options. I wrote a guide all about how to block and unblock someone with Instagram. If you are interested, give it a read.
What to Know About Blocking Someone in Instagram
Before we get too much into the subject of how to see who blocked you on Instagram, I think you should get some background information on the topic first.
You should first know that when a user gets blocked on Instagram, they can no longer search for the profile that blocked them. They cannot interact with their posts. They can’t send messages with the Direct feature (if they have a chat history with the user). They can send messages to this thread if it is still open, but those messages never get delivered.
As I mentioned in the earlier lines of this article, it is not really possible to have the 100% certainty that you have been blocked by a user, but you can track some potential clues that can provide some clear signs.
Let’s take a look together and see what the best ways of determining if someone has blocked you on Instagram.
Frankie’s Take:
Just know that the clues I refer to do not provide a mathematical certainty to determine if you have been blocked by a user on Instagram. They are just considerations that can help you along this path to being surer. I will explain a little more about this in the upcoming paragraphs.
2 Ways to See if Someone Blocked You on Instagram
Let’s get right into the core of the topic and find out how you can determine if someone blocked you on Instagram or not.
1. Viewing Their Profile and Posts
You should start by seeing if you can view their profile or posts. You can search for their profile in the provided search bar and attempt to view their stories.
If you haven’t blocked on Instagram, first, you may not be able to find their profile at all. If you are not able to view content that is connected to this account, such as the post on their feed or their follower list, this might be another indicator.
To check if someone blocked you on Instagram, first look at their profile on the network. Type their username in the search bar at the top of the Instagram app on either Android or iOS devices.
If you cannot see what they’ve most recently posted when you visit the profile, even though the search bar showed that new posts exist, you have probably been blocked.
In truth, if the user blocked you, it is likely he will not be able to see any content they have posted, and you instead will be shown the words “No posts yet”. If the user had never posted anything on their account, this is what you would see as well.
However, if you view their profile from a different account or try to Google it after logging out of your account (provided that they have not set their profile to private) you should be able to see the content from their Instagram feed and be very confident that you have been blocked.
Yet another important clue that could help you determine if the user has blocked you on Instagram involves the “Follow” button. Try to click on it as if to follow their profile and make the words “Already Following” appear.
If you do see “Already Following” show up for a couple of seconds and then it gets replaced by the traditional “Follow” button, this is another indicator that perhaps you have been blocked.
Still another way to tell is to try to view the name of followers for the user you believe has blocked you. If you cannot view the list of followers after clicking to see the list, instead getting a blanket statement like unable to load users or user not found, this is a strong indicator that you have been blocked.
If their account has been set to private, you may not be able to search their profile with your Instagram account.
You might try to view the profile from a different account (such as asking a family or friend to let you use their account momentarily) to see if you can view it. If you can, this is a good sign that you have been blocked as well.
If you are searching for a profile using the web version of Instagram, instead of the app, you won’t be able to view their profile in any capacity as it will appear to no longer exist.
You can visit their profile however, by logging out of your Instagram account and searching for them on Google. Alternatively, you could use another Instagram account as long as they have not set their accounts to private.
Frankie’s Take:
If this user has blocked you, you won’t be able to view their profile or even tell that their account exists on Instagram in most cases. Should you manage to access this profile in some way, you will not be able to see their content or posts. Their feed will be completely empty. Use this as a definitive clue to tell if you have been blocked.
2. View Stories
As is stated on one of the Instagram Help Center pages, if a user blocks you, you will no longer be able to view their profile, posts, or find their stories.
Therefore, pay attention to the activity of users that you follow. If one of them normally uses Instagram stories all the time, but lately you have not seen anything new, perhaps they have blocked you.
Get rid of any doubt by accessing the profile of a user from a different account (such as family member or a friend). If you can see the story created by this user you suspect, for one reason or another, it appears you might have been blocked.
Since it’s possible to hide stories by using specific settings, you may not be able to view a story even if you have not been blocked by this user you choose to investigate.
I’m referring to hide my story from {username} feature. This can be activated either before or after a story is created on Instagram, as you will find in the help center as well.
Frankie’s Take:
If I contact that is used to posting several stories in a day now suddenly does not post anything like short videos or photos, this should make you suspicious because it is possible that they blocked you.
Bonus: Hack Instagram
If you think that you are being blocked by someone like your partner, your child, or someone close to you, it might be worth taking a peek at their Instagram profile and see why.
There are several different ways to hack an Instagram profile. I will cover this extensively in another article that you should read.
If you are in a hurry and wish to know what the easiest and fastest way to hack into another person’s profile, I will tell you that it is a spy app known as mSpy. it’s pretty easy to use and it’s very cheap, making it worthwhile choice.
How to Get Unblocked on Instagram
If the information in the previous paragraphs helped you to learn that you have been blocked by a user, you might be thinking of how to get unblocked on Instagram.
This photo based social network doesn’t have a dedicated feature that allows you to request your account to be unblocked, since officially you can’t really determine if you have been in the first place.
However, no one prevents you from trying to contact the user with other social networks to ask them if they blocked you and what they need to lift the block and let you back in. Before you attempt this route, you should really work to try and remember any arguments or misunderstandings that might have led the person to block you on this or other accounts.
If you cannot bring to mind a time where you have offended or annoyed this particular user, they may have done this blocking unintentionally or by accident. If that’s the case, they will likely wish to unblock you immediately.
Contact the user using another social network like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, telegram, or others. You can call them on the phone, or even meet them in person.
You can be sure that if you’ve been blocked by mistake the user would be willing to unblock you as quickly as possible. If on the other hand they do not intend to unblock you, you must respect this choice. It’s everyone’s right to choose what to do with their own account.
There is always the possibility that one day whoever has blocked you might choose to undo it in their own time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is there an app that tells you who blocked you on Instagram?
As I’ve already stated, there’s no official way to know that you’ve been blocked on Instagram. Unfortunately, you never get a notification regarding somebody choosing to stop interacting with you.
By searching on Google, you will find several alternatives to get around ‘this problem.’ there are countless websites that recommend apps to figure out who was blocking you on Instagram, but these or scams that are actually quite risky and often counterproductive.
Because there’s no official way to know you’re blocked, these apps could not only be misleading and not yield any guaranteed result, but some are scams intended to steal personal information. The bottom line is you can still never be certain that you have been blocked, even with using these apps for guidance.
The main risk of relying on apps is that we provide them access to our Instagram profile and all of the data that it contains.
We would never recommend you entering login details for apps that promise to show you if you have been blocked.
There is only one app that you could use, the spy app called mSpy. however, this serves as more of a hack for the user’s profile rather than information about who they are blocking.
I can see posts on Instagram but not DMs, what does this mean?
There is a way that you can see posts on the social network but cannot see messages in Direct anymore. Instead, the chat screen appears empty and void of any messages, photos, or other content.
If this has happened, you have been blocked on Instagram Direct only. This is like being blocked only on Messenger but not Facebook. A partial block like this can be activated by anyone simply from opening a chat, pressing the information symbol, and then choosing to block the individual.
You can find out more information about this by reading my guide on how to block a person on Instagram.
Is it possible that I was blocked by Instagram?
There are situations in which Instagram can block you from doing certain actions or seeing certain content. If this happens, it may appear as though you’ve been blocked but this is not the case.
To find out if Instagram has blocked you from accessing certain features, check if you can access profiles, send direct messages, or post new content by following these criteria:
- Wait 1-2 hours without opening Instagram
- Wait one week without opening Instagram
- After updating the app
If these solutions yield full access back to your account, whichever it was, it was just a temporary ban or a glitch with the app that needed corrected.
If the issues continue, this process could take longer. I would suggest you read a related guide regarding the actions blocked by Instagram.
Conclusion
If you read the whole article, you received some valuable tips on how to know if someone blocked you on Instagram.
As I already explained, the platform does not provide a notification that tells other users when they have been blocked. There are some clues that might indicate when this occurs so that you can be more confident in your conclusion.
If you can’t get in touch with the person you believe has blocked you, you need to talk with them as soon as possible. I would not wait any longer and follow any other available methods to talk with them and find out what might be happening. You can reach out to them on WhatsApp, on Facebook Messenger, or choose traditional methods like SMS or phone calls.
In more extreme cases, I also explained the possibility of hacking their Instagram profile.
First, I would try to understand reasons why a person blocked you on Instagram and see if you can try and fix it. Friendships should never end over silly arguments that happen on social networks. There’s usually a solution that can be reached if people are willing to communicate.
Hopefully this guide helped you learn more about how to tell if you’ve been blocked on Instagram and giving you some indications of what to do next. If you have any more doubts or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with the comment section below. I will be happy to give you any explanations you might need. Good luck!
Frankie
