Figuring out if someone blocked you on Instagram requires a bit of sleuthing

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It’s an unfortunate reality that, sometimes, you have to put Instagram’s block button to use. Whether you’re ridding your feed of a person you no longer wish to communicate with or have grown tired of seeing certain photos popping up (among other more serious reasons for blocking someone), blocking is a necessary evil that many of us have had to use at one point or another. Occasionally, though, you might be the person being barred from commenting or viewing another’s posts – and you may not even realize that you’ve been blocked. Although the app won’t give you any sort of warning or notification when this happens, there is a way to see who’s blocked you on Instagram — just not quite how you think.

As convenient as it would be, you can’t just access a list of people who’ve blocked you. If you’re no longer seeing someone’s posts and can’t figure out why, check their account to see if they’ve actually done the deed. If you’ve got a close-knit group of follows and keep inventory of who you communicate with, it’ll be pretty simple to tell if someone’s blocked you, as you’ll probably stumble on their profile before long and realize that you won’t be able to view their posts or Stories.

If you interact with a much larger amount of people, though, it might take longer for you realize someone has cut you out of their digital life. To confirm it’s happened, you must search for the profile you believe to have blocked you. If the profile is public, you’ll know you’re blocked if you see a “Follow” button and “No Posts Yet” instead of photos. If you try to follow them, nothing will happen. If the person is private, you won’t be able to search for them normally, so search for mutual friends who also follow the person, and check the mutual friend’s feed for any possible likes or comments the person has left. Once you find their profile that way, you’ll see that you can’t follow them, and know you’ve been blocked.

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Instagram isn’t the only platform that’s fairly subtle in how it lets you know you’ve been snubbed. Facebook will not notify you that you’ve been blocked, and just like with Instagram, according to Refinery29, you’ll only find out when you discover that you aren’t able to see a person’s profile. Twitter, however, does let you know that you’ve been blocked if you try to follow someone. According to Lifewire, if you visit the user’s profile, you’ll see a message from Twitter saying you’ve been blocked, and you will also not be able to see their tweets or username when you search.

If you’ve recently had a falling out with someone or are concerned they just may not want you around anymore, use these methods to check and see how your social media standing is on Instagram. And if you have been blocked, it’s understandable to be sad, but don’t worry too much; unless someone has also reported you for abuse or spam, you won’t receive any punitive measures from Instagram for it happening.