How can you tell if you’ve been blocked? That is a question that pops up all the time, and not just for phone calls. There are multiple methods of blocking on social media as well. This article will attempt to go over the various methods and means a person can do to find out if someone has blocked them.
What can I do if I’ve been blocked? The second part of this will show what/if anything can be done if a block has been implemented.
Ways to tell if someone’s blocking you on different media
The Phone
Trying to figure out whether or not you’ve been blocked by one of your contacts can range from an irritating experience to tense to worrisome.
If you think you’ve been blocked and want to double-check, phone your contact a few times and listen to how the call finishes. A warning here: If you continue to contact someone who has blocked you after they have blocked you, they may be entitled to file a harassment complaint against you.
With that out of the way, here is how to determine if the block is actually there.
- Pay attention to how the call finishes: You are either blocked or your contact’s phone is dead if the call terminates after one ring (or, in certain situations, half a ring), and you are directed to voicemail. You may receive a message stating that your contact cannot be contacted, depending on the carrier. This usually refers to companies such as AT&T and Sprint, and it indicates that you have been blocked. Of course, you haven’t been blocked if the person returns your call.
- To double-check, call your contact again. Even if the connection is clear and your phone is unblocked, a call may be sent to voicemail; dialing again will confirm the call’s conclusion. If your call is still disconnected after one ring or fewer and goes to voicemail, your contact’s phone is either dead or blocked.
- Return the call using a disguised number. This can be done by adding *67 as a prefix to the person’s phone number. While it’s unlikely that anyone will answer a call from a restricted number. Doing so will confirm the contact’s phone status: If the call goes through normally—five or more rings, for example—your contact has blacklisted your phone number. Your contact’s phone is dead if the call still hangs up after one ring or less and goes to voicemail.
Verify if they blocked you on Snapchat
Take a look at your most recent conversations. The presence of a user in your chat history is the first big signal of whether or not they have blocked you. Only use this procedure if you’ve previously had a conversation with the person who might have blocked you before clearing your Snapchat conversations.
Now, open the Snapchat app and tap the speech bubble symbol to the left of the camera snap button at the bottom of the screen to go to the conversations page. If the user you think has blocked, you aren’t showing up in your Chat list despite having a recent interaction with them, that’s a significant red flag.
After that, utilize the username or their full name to locate them. If someone has blocked you on Snapchat, you won’t be able to discover them if you search for them. If you’ve been removed from their Friend list, you can still be able to search for them by Googling.
It is important to know the difference between being blocked or being wiped on the Snapchat platform. If a user blocks you, you won’t be able to contact them in any way from your blocked account because no record of their account would be available.
You’ll still be able to view them in your Friends list and send them snaps if they erase you from their Friends list. However, depending on their Snapchat privacy settings, they may or may not receive them. Two ways to check this are:
- a. Have a buddy search their account for the user.
- b. Log out of your existing account and establish a new one to look for that user.
The first option is the most straightforward because it eliminates all of the extra procedures involved in setting up a new account. Choose a Snapchat friend, relative, coworker, or other acquaintance who isn’t friends with the Snapchat user you think has blocked you. Request that they look up the user using either their username (if you know it) or their entire name.
If you want to establish a new Snapchat account, you’ll need to log out of your current one. Or download the program on a separate mobile device if you have one.
Check if someone blocked you on Facebook
A limitation with Facebook is If you can’t see their profile, it’s because they’ve either blocked you or deleted their account; unfortunately, there’s no way to know for sure without contacting them directly. There are two primary methods to narrow down the possibilities if a block is suspected.
Method #1
- Make sure you are logged in first. Then choose the search box. At the top of the page, tap or click the white box that says “Search” and fill in the user name you are checking on. People who have blocked you or canceled their accounts will occasionally show up in the All tab of the search results, but not in the People tab.
- Lookup the profile of the person you in question. If you can view the profile while on the People tab of the search results, it means they have just unfriended you.
- If you can’t find the profile, it’s possible that they’ve deleted it or prevented you from seeing it; but, it’s also possible that they’ve set their privacy settings so high that you won’t be able to find them on Facebook.
Try tapping or clicking on the account if you see it. If you aren’t blocked, you will have access to a limited version of the profile.
Method #2
- Go to the profile page of a contact. This must be a friend who is also friends with the person you believe has blocked you. From the contact page: Choose the Search field.
- Enter the name of a friend.
- In the drop-down box, choose their name.
- Choose an image for their profile.
- Go to the Friends tab and click it. It’s either directly below their cover photo or below the grid of photos near the top of their profile (mobile) (desktop).
- Choose the search box. Tap or click the “Search Friends” bar in the upper-right corner of the Friends page (mobile) or at the top of the screen (desktop).
- Fill in the name of the person you believe has blocked you. The results should appear in the friend list in a few moments.
- Look for the individual’s name. If the person’s name and profile picture appear in the search results, you haven’t been blocked. If you don’t see the person’s name or photo here, it’s because they’ve blocked you or deleted their account. Asking the buddy whose page you’re on to verify the account’s existence is one approach to find out.
How to tell if you’ve been bloked on Whatsapp
Check the status of your contact’s last seen status
The Last Seen status indicates when the contact last used WhatsApp. Locate the user and initiate a conversation with them. If a conversation isn’t already open, look for the user’s name and start a new one. Under the user’s name, the Last Seen status is displayed—for example, “last seen today at 10:18 A.M.”
It’s conceivable that the user has blocked you if you don’t see anything under their name. If you don’t have a Last Seen status, it doesn’t mean you’ve been blocked. The user can hide their Last Seen status on WhatsApp thanks to a privacy feature.
Examine the checkboxes
Messages sent to a contact who has blocked you always have one checkmark (showing that the message was sent) and never have a second checkmark (meaning that the message was not sent) (confirming that a message was delivered).
This might indicate that the user has misplaced their phone or is unable to connect to the internet. However, when combined with the lack of a Last Seen status, the evidence is mounting that you’ve been blocked.
Keep an eye out for changes to their profile.
You won’t see updates to someone’s profile photo if they block you on WhatsApp. Given that many individuals don’t have profile images or change them infrequently, this isn’t a conclusive indicator on its own. When this is combined with the lack of a Last Seen status and undelivered messages, it’s a sure sign you’ve been blocked.
Use WhatsApp call to contact them.
If you’ve been blocked, making a call to the user may fail or result in an “unsuccessful call” notice.
In a Group Message, look at the Participants List.
It may look like you successfully added the person when creating a group message in WhatsApp, but when you enter the group chat, they don’t display in the participants’ list. You’ll get a Can’t add participant error if you try to add a contact who has blocked you using the Add Participants area of the group chat.
To safeguard the privacy of the blocker, WhatsApp is purposefully unclear about blocked status, and it will not alert you if you’ve been blocked.
Someone blocked you on Twitter?
Blocking someone on this application is as easy as clicking a button. It does not necessitate a justification or explanation. The individual who has been blocked is never alerted that they have been blocked.
Log in to Twitter and search for the person’s name in the “Search” field at the top of any page. To view the profile, click on the name. This name will appear in Search if the account is public. If you don’t remember the username, use the real name instead. You can also look for the account using a recent tweet.
Another approach is to type the person’s username in the address bar of your browser after the Twitter URL, such as “twitter.com/username.” If you spell the name correctly, this is the quickest way to find a private Twitter account.
If everything else fails and you still can’t find the person you believe blocked you, try for a mutual buddy on Twitter. That person could be anyone who follows or is followed by the account you’re looking for. After that, scroll through the names on the list. Even private accounts will appear in this list, which can take some time.
Look at the person’s profile or summary by clicking on their name. If the person’s profile has a “Follow” option and you have never unfollowed him, you know he has blocked you at some point. Simply click the “Follow” button if you believe you are still being blocked. If you are blocked, Twitter will notify you right away, and you will be unable to follow the account.
You’ve been blocked on Instagram?
By default, Instagram does not show you a list of people who have banned you. In fact, you won’t even be notified if someone bans you on the platform.
Username search
If someone has blocked you, you will not be able to look for their username or Instagram handle in the Instagram search bar. Now, if you’re not blocked, you’ll be able to see their profile and all of their posts. You’ll see the statement “This Account is Private” if they’ve changed their profile from public to private.
If the profile does not come up in a search, the user has either deactivated or blocked your account. However, keep in mind that Instagram users can alter their usernames. As a result, it’s possible that the person you’re looking for did it instead.
Searching through your own profile
You can’t comment on a person’s post or send them a direct message if you have been blocked. Your prior comments and interactions, on the other hand, do not vanish. So, if you recall leaving a remark on one of their posts or exchanging DMs with them, open it up and visit their profile.
You have most certainly been blocked if you see their profile with no recent posts.
Because you can use this method to see if someone has changed their username, you’ll almost surely have been blocked if their new name doesn’t appear in the search bar.
Utilize Instagram’s “Unique Profile LInk”
When you create an Instagram account, you’re given a unique URL that contains your username. If you replace the username in the profile link with the account handle of the person you suspect has blocked you, you should be able to access their account.
If you open Instagram in your browser and use a direct link to look for their profile, you’ll either view their profile or get the notice “Sorry, this page isn’t available.”
Now, log out of Instagram and search the same URL in a new tab to see if the account exists. If the account is deactivated, you’ll see the same notice. However, if you look at their profile this time, they have blocked you.
Using another account
Checking other mobile or Instagram accounts to see if the account you think has blocked you exist is a good way to find out. You can tell a buddy about the username to see if it comes up in their search.
If it doesn’t appear, the account has been canceled, or their username has changed; if it appears with the same username, you have been blocked.
Shared Chats
If you’re in a group chat with the other person, you can use that channel to discover if they’ve blocked you. The other user will appear in the chat members list. If you can’t view their profile, it’s because they’ve blocked you.
What to do if they blocked you?
Once you find out that your friend or partner is really blocking you from calling them on the phone or on socie media, you have some options. So, make sure you follow the next steps depending on the situation. That’s, calling someone from a blocked phone number is different from using instant messaging apps to text others who are blocking your account.
Calling back from a blocked phone number
- Use the *67 call method from the first section. It usually won’t work as most people don’t pick up on restricted numbers, but it is a possibility.
- Message the person with an Instant Messenger. If you have this person as a contact on social media, but blocked on the phone, using this can be the fastest method to resolve the issue.
- Leave voicemail. Even blocked, voicemail is still delivered.
For Snapchat
To locate the user who blocked you on Snapchat, go to the top of the application first. Second, click the magnifying glass next to the ‘chats’ tab or the ‘snap’ tab. Begin typing the username or the full name to look the person up.
If the name shows up in the results, they will be listed under the ‘My Friends’ label if you’re still on their Friends list, or under the Add Friends label if you’ve been removed.
If the person you’re seeking for doesn’t show up when you look for their exact user ID, it’s because they’ve actually blocked you or got rid of their Snapchat account.
Look for their username or full name using a different account. The fact that you were unable to locate the user you were seeking for, in the previous stage suggests that they have blocked you. Nonetheless, there is insufficient evidence to prove it. By searching for the user from another account, you might possibly validate that their account still exists. You can choose between two options:
- Have a friend search their account for the user.
- Log out of your existing account and establish a new one to look for that user.
If these two options fail, then it is most likely the person deleted the account.
On Facebook
Facebook, like many other social media applications, has safeguards in place to prevent digital stalking. If a member blocks another member, it is very difficult to completely circumvent it. There are a few things that can be done if you have determined that the block is legitimate.
- Contact a mutual friend to verify that the blocking account is live or deleted. If it is blocked, you can ask the friend to contact the blocker and see if it was done by accident.
- Contact the person who blocked you via another means (social media, phone, mail, email) and request that you be unblocked. If this was accidental on their part, this should resolve the problem.
- Contact the platform administrators. Normally this is a dead-end for legal issues, but if the issue is critical, they may be able to point you to potential solutions.
This platform has as many safeguards as other platforms built into the application/servers to have the same limited means to restore contact with a blocker. As with others, contacting a mutual friend to pass on a message, or directly via other means is normally the only recourse.
What about Twitter?
Another very secure platform, once a user has been blocked, it is very unlikely to get unblocked. Once again, the methods to get this fixed involve contacting the blocking user and requesting it be removed or contacting a mutual friend to pass along a message.
With Twitter, you can report the account. But unless there are extenuating circumstances, legally, the company will not unblock you.
Summary
Blocking was implemented as a means of restricting unwanted attention from another party. Most of the time, blocks are done to prevent what is referred to as ‘Bad Actors’ from bothering a person or attempting to steal information.
The methods presented here aren’t to casually circumvent privacy, rather to determine if the action was done inadvertently.
Sometimes there are valid reasons to undo a block, but nine times out of ten, if a person has blocked you, it will be one of a few reasons:
- The person has blocked you.
- That person has deleted their account.
- The person has passed away and the administrator of their account has locked or closed it.
