How to Block/Unblock Someone on Instagram
Before jumping in, if you’re not sure how to block or unblock someone, it’s fairly easy. All you have to do is tap on the profile regardless of whether you follow them or not. Next tap on the three vertical dots sign on the top right corner and select Block. In the new pop up message, tap on Block button again and you’re done blocking that specific profile. When you block a user, the follow icon transforms to Unblock which makes it even easier to unblock. Keeping that aside, here’s is how to know if someone has blocked you on Instagram.
1. Check for Deactivation
Before we try any other ways to know if you’ve been blocked, try asking. I know it sounds like a piece of cliched advice, but simply asking a mutual friend will confirm if the user has actually deactivated/deleted their account or not. In case your mutual friend can still see the account, that means you’re surely blocked. Now you go ahead with the steps below and ascertain that.
2. Searching the User
The easiest way to figure if you’re blocked by someone on Instagram is by searching for their account. If you’ve been blocked, the user’s account won’t pop up in the search results. Like I said in the first point, if the username pops up in your friend’s account but not yours then consider yourself blocked. As you can see in the comparison below, I get the search result in just three letters of the username. On the other hand, after being blocked, the visibility is 0 even after typing the whole username.
3. Likes & Comments
As soon as you block someone, all the likes on your pictures and comments on posts will be removed. However, the other user will be able to see your likes and comments on a public mutual account that you follow. Your comments on their profile will also still be visible. Since you won’t be able to search and view your likes and comments, you’ll know if you’re blocked or not.
4. Tag or Mention User
This is usually how people figure out they’ve been blocked by someone on Instagram. You try to @mention a user in a post only to figure out that you can’t do that anymore. This is because the username won’t reflect in the search pop-up that shows up when you are trying to tag someone.
5. Direct Messages
There are chances that you have an old thread with the user you think has blocked you. You can easily check it in the Chats section. While trying to view the message thread, I was not only able to view the entire chat, but also could open the account and see their profile picture and bio (maybe a glitch?). However, the follow button was not responsive, which is another way of knowing if you’ve been blocked or not.
6. Post Visibility
Since you won’t be able to even search the user, there is no way to get to the feed. Which leaves no way to look at the posts. However, if it’s a public account, you’re in luck. There are several ways that you can use to view a public Instagram profile without even the need to sign-in to Instagram. Here’s how it works. Simply visit Mystalk website and write the username you want to check at the top. Hit search and tap on the profile to view the feed. The best part is since this is a website, you can open it on any platform.
7. Story Visibility
I’m sure most of the users tend to add stories more than posts. So if you’re curious about what the other user is up to, you can try and see their stories. Since you’re blocked, you’ll have to use a third-party app as we did previously. Here are some apps you should check out whether you’re using Android or iPhone. Note that this method will only work for a public account.
8. Make Another Account
It’s fairly easy to make a new account these days on Instagram. You can create a shadow identity although it’s not very ethical. You can either use a phone number or an email ID. Do make sure it’s not linked to the main account. Once done, search for the account you want to check.
Why Block Someone on Instagram
There are so many reasons to block someone on Instagram. Inappropriate replies could be one reason. Either way, there are ways to find out. It’s fairly easy to figure out and you don’t even need to ask around for someone’s help unless you want to be cent percent sure if someone is active on Instagram or not. Also Read: How to Use Vanish Mode on Instagram and Messenger
