How To Know If Someone Blocked You On Their Instagram Story

Learn how to know if someone blocked you on Instagram Story in just a few quick steps - no third party apps needed!

Key Points:

How Do You Know If You're Blocked From An Instagram Story?

If you're unable to see Stories posted to your friend's account, they may have blocked you from viewing their Story specifically - or they have their Story set to Close Friends (and you're not on the list).

Here are a few ways to tell that you've been blocked from an Instagram Story.

You Can Access The Story From Another Account (Or A Friend Can)

If you're able to view a user's profile or Story from a different account, or if a mutual friend's account has access, it's likely because your specific Instagram account was blocked from viewing the Story.

You can either create a new Instagram account to test this out, or ask a friend with a secondary account to see if they can access someone's Story.

This Story Is Unavailable Error

If you're able to see the ring around a user's profile picture, but receive an error upon tapping it, it could be because you've been blocked or restricted.

However, keep in mind that sometimes this has to do with an Instagram glitch or because someone who was tagged in the Story has privacy settings set.

Someone Tagged In The Story Has You Blocked

If someone blocked you on Instagram and they're tagged in the Story of the primary account (or if they have a private account themselves), you may be restricted from viewing that person's Story.

How To Block Someone From Your Instagram Story

You can block a user's profile from viewing your own Instagram Story via the Instagram app by following the steps below.

Tap the menu icon on the top right corner of your profile page.

Under Who Can See Your Content tap Hide Story And Live.

Tap Hide Story And Live From.

From here you can choose to hide your story from specific users, set your Close Friends list, adjust message reply settings, sharing settings, and saving settings.

How Do You Know If Someone Muted Your Stories On Instagram?

Knowing whether or not someone muted your Story on Instagram can be tricky. Oftentimes suspicion might be aroused because you're noticing someone actively posting and engaging with other users, but not appearing in your list of Story viewers.

Unfortunately there's no definitive way of knowing whether or not another Instagram user muted your Stories.

How To Mute Someone's IG Story

You can mute an Instagram user's Story by visiting their profile page.

Tap and hold down their profile picture and select Mute.

Confirm Mute Story.

How To Tell If Someone Blocked You On Instagram?

There are a few ways to know if someone blocked you on Instagram, without using third party apps.

You Can't Search For Them

Start by typing the person's username in the search bar. If they don't appear in the search results, either they deactivated or deleted their account or they blocked you.

View Past Interactions

If the Instagram user previously commented on one of your posts, check to see if their comment still appears.

If so, click the username / profile link to access the person's profile.

If you can see the profile but their feed is empty with a No Posts Yet message, that means they've likely blocked you.

View Past Conversations

Similarly, you can view your direct messages to see if you can access the user's profile page.

As before, if you can see the profile but their feed is empty with a No Posts Yet message, that means they've likely blocked you.

Check From A Different Account

You can either create a new account or ask a mutual friend to check their profile for you. If you can access their profile page and feed from a fake account, that means you've been blocked on your personal account.

How To Block Someone On Instagram

You can block users via the Instagram app and desktop site by following the steps below.

Via Mobile

Visit the person's profile page.

Tap the three dots to the right of their profile, or tap the Following button (if you're following them)

Tap Block and confirm your choice.

Via Desktop

Visit the person's profile page.

Click the three dots to the top right of their profile.

Click Block and confirm your choice.

What Does It Look Like When Someone Restricts You On IG?

If you suspect you've been restricted from someone's Instagram account, there are a few things you can check.

The Visibility Of Your Engagement

When a user restricts you, you can comment on their posts but your comments will only be visible to you.

To test this out, either create a new account or ask a friend if they can see your comments on a specific post.

Direct Message Status

If all of your messages appear as delivered rather than seen, even if the user is active, they may have restricted you. Keep in mind that this could also be due to their privacy settings, so don't take this as definitive proof.

How To Restrict An Instagram Account

To restrict a user, open the profile you want to hide content from.

Tap the three horizontal dots on the top right corner.

Tap Restrict.

Confirm your choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when you mute someone's Story on Instagram?

When you mute someone's Instagram Story, you won't see their Story appear in the top of your feed. You'll have to access their profile directly to view their Story.

Can someone tell you looked at their Instagram Story if you blocked them?

Only if you block them after viewing their Story. Otherwise, you have no way of accessing their Story in the first place.

How to soft block on Instagram?

If you'd rather not outright block someone, you can take the following steps to 'soft block' a user:

Unfollow them (or remove them from your follower list)
Mute their Stories and posts
Restrict them from viewing your content

When you hide someone from your Instagram Story will they know?

No, Instagram doesn't notify users when they're restricted or blocked.

Why can't I see someone's Instagram Story?

Either the user simply didn't post a Story, or they blocked/restricted your account from viewing it. Additionally, they may have their Story set to only Close Friends or a user tagged in their Story has private restrictions.

Can someone block you from seeing their Instagram Stories?

Yes, you can block and restrict users from seeing your Instagram Story. Learn how here.

How do you know if someone is hiding their Story from you?

Learn how to see if someone is hiding their Instagram Story from you in our guide here.

Can you hide one Story from someone?

Yes, but you'll have to undo the settings if you want the user to see your next Story. Here's how:

Click the menu icon (More) on the bottom left then click Settings.
Click Hide Story And Live
Click Hide Story And Live From
Select the user you want to hide your Story from.
Repeat the above steps and unselect the user to unhide your Story from them.

When someone hides their Story from you can you still see their highlights?

No - highlights are still part of the Instagram Story feature. Blocking someone from viewing your Instagram Story also blocks them from viewing your highlights.

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