When someone blocks you on Instagram, it is easy to know that they did. All you need to do is try to search for their account and notice it does not appear with all of the content it usually displays. However, it is more challenging to know how to tell if someone restricted you on Instagram.
We will go over some of the indicators that will tip you off to someone having restricted your account via their privacy settings.
How Restricting a User Account Works
The ability to restrict other Instagram accounts exists as a privacy feature. There are many reasons why someone would want to restrict another account without outright banning them. The need for discretion has led to the platform rolling out the Restrict option.
Oftentimes, you will not even know that someone has restricted your account. This is because you will still be able to view their profile and shared content, including:
- Posts
- Stories
- Reels
- Comments
You even retain the ability to like their content and send DMs to them. However, depending on how they have restricted you, there will be telltale signs that you have become restricted.
Difference Between Restricted and Blocked
Before we get into how to tell if someone restricted you on Instagram, it helps to know the difference between being restricted and blocked.
When you are blocked by someone else, you will only see a partial profile that includes:
- Profile Photo
- Follower Count
- Following Count
- Post Count
- Bio
You will be unable to perform any further actions on someone’s profile than viewing the details mentioned above.
When you are restricted by someone else, you will be able to do the following:
- View someone’s full profile
- View and write comments on posts
- Send DMs to the user account
- Tag the user account and mention them in your content
Note: While you can still send a DM to someone who restricted you, your DM will go into the Requests tab of your DM inbox. From here, the user may block, delete, or accept your DM.
How to Tell if Someone Restricted You on Instagram
To find out whether someone you suspect has restricted your account or not, use our guide below:
Write a New Comment on Their Content
Given that the original reason for introducing the ability to restrict accounts was to prevent cyberbullying via comments, try leaving a new comment and review it later on another account.
Once you leave a new comment, the person who may have restricted you has the option to either approve or reject your comment. While you will be able to see your comment regardless of whether they approve or reject it, others will not. If they decide to reject your comment, nobody else will see it.
Here are the steps to take to see whether the person you suspect of restricting you has done so:
- Leave a new comment on one of their posts
- Switch to another account
- Go to the post and try to find your comment
Note: Do this as quickly as possible before they see your comment and take action.
If you do not see your comment, you have been restricted by the user account you suspect.
Send Them a DM
Another way to find out if someone restricted your IG account is to send them a DM. If they did restrict you, your message will not go in their normal inbox. Instead, it goes to a separate area that they are less likely to view given they will not receive a notification that you sent a DM. They will have to go to the Requests tab in their inbox and manually approve your comment.
Here is what you will need to do to using the DM method to determine whether someone restricted you:
- Send the person you suspect restricted you a DM
- Wait to see if they will view your DM and display the Seen status
If you have not received a response from the user after a considerable period of time, it could be due to them having restricted you. While this is not a guarantee they have not seen it, you should have a higher degree of certainty that they have restricted you if a large amount of time has elapsed.
View Their Activity Status
If someone has restricted your account, you will no longer be able to see their activity status. This will mean that you cannot view when they were on Instagram last, or when they last viewed their DMs.
There is a way for you to attempt to see whether someone restricted you based on whether their activity status is viewable. Here is what you will need to do:
- Open the Instagram app
- Tap on your profile picture in the bottom-right of the screen
- Tap on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right of the screen
- Type in Show Activity Status into the search field
- Tick Show Activity Status to the right to enable it
You have now successfully turned on the Activity Status option. Now that this is enabled, you can view when the accounts you are following were active on the app.
If you can view the Activity Status of the person you believe may have restricted you, then your suspicions are likely correct. You can also go to their profile to determine whether you can view their Last Seen status. Again, if this is not visible to you, it is likely they have restricted you.
Note: There is also a chance that they have simply disabled the Show Activity Status feature on their account. This is why you may need to try the other methods mentioned as well.
Conclusion
While you cannot be absolutely certain whether someone has restricted you on Instagram, if you try the methods we shared earlier, you should have a good idea as to whether they may have. If all else fails and you are feeling up for it, you can ask them directly and potentially resolve the issue that led to them restricting you.
