Blocked Vs. Restricted on Instagram: Which Approach is Right

Blocking someone on Instagram is a good way to take control of your engagements on the social media app, but blocking someone you know in real life can make things pretty awkward. After all, they'll know you've blocked them.

Have you ever desired to look at an Instagram profile, however; you could not view it? The main reason for not seeing the account is either you are blocked, or the user did not accept your follow request. Well, in such a case, there is an easy solution for you. With IMGLookup, you can now get access to all private Instagram accounts.

Luckily, Instagram's Restrict feature helps you avoid those awkward situations. This article will help you understand what the Block and Restrict features do on Instagram and how they differ so that you can decide which option is best when trying to avoid someone.

What is the Difference Between Restricted and Blocked on Instagram?

The main difference between restricting on Instagram and blocking is the accessibility to your profile. As we mentioned, a restricted person can still interact with your feed and profile. You won’t see the comments or direct messages unless you want to.

The Block feature, on the other hand, completely removes a person’s ability to find you on Instagram. Blocked Instagram accounts won’t be able to view your profile and posts or interact with you in any way.

As your follower count grows, you may find the need to block or restrict a variety of reasons, including unwanted interactions. Don’t worry; Instagram allows you to block or restrict as many accounts as you like.

If you’ve accidentally blocked or restricted a user, unblocking or removing restrictions is easy. From your main feed, click on your profile icon to bring you to your Instagram profile. Then click on the three-bar menu at the top of the screen.

Once the menu appears, click on “Settings” then “Privacy”. For restricted users, tap on the “Restricted accounts” tab to take you to your list of restricted accounts. Then click on the “Unrestrict” tab next to the specific account you want to give full access to your profile.

The same procedure applies to blocked accounts. Instead of the “Restricted accounts” tab, you’ll utilize the “Blocked accounts” tab.

What Happens When You Restrict a User on Instagram?

When you restrict a user, they won’t be able to see you whenever you are online, or you have read their messages. Also, when you restrict a user, their direct messages won’t land in your inbox, and their comments will only be visible to others if you approve them.

Messages Won’t Land in Your Inbox.

Messages from restricted users land in your inbox’s ‘requests’ tab. Instagram will not even send a notification for these messages. Further, the sender will not see a ‘read’ receipt even if you read their chat.

Their Comments won’t be Visible.

The ‘Restrict’ feature is handy for hiding comments from an unwanted user. And while the restricted person can comment on your posts, they won’t be visible unless you approve it.

To make them visible, you must head to your post’s comments by tapping on ‘View Comments.’ Next, tap on ‘See Comments’ to approve it.

Your ‘active’ Status Will be Hidden.

When you restrict someone, they won’t be able to see your activity status. So, you can happily scroll through your feed without them bothering you.

What Happens When You Blocked a User on Instagram?

The block feature offers a way to filter out a user from seeing your posts or even finding your profile on Instagram.

Blocking a user is super simple. Users aren’t notified when you block them. However, a user can click on your profile and discover that you have blocked them.

1. The blocked user cannot find your profile: Blocking someone on Instagram means that they won't be able to search for your profile or find it through hashtags or location tags. Your account essentially becomes invisible to them.

2. Direct messages are disabled: When you block a user, any existing conversations or direct messages between you and the blocked person will be removed from your inbox. Additionally, the blocked user will no longer be able to send you direct messages, and any new messages they try to send will not be delivered.

3. Mutual connections are affected: If you and the blocked user have mutual followers or follow each other, blocking them will remove them from your list of followers, and you will no longer follow them. Similarly, they won't be notified of the block, but they may notice the absence of your profile from their followers' list.

How to Manage Blocked Accounts?

Managing a blocked Instagram account can be frustrating, but here are some steps you can take to address the situation:

Confirm the block: Make sure that your account is actually blocked. Check if you can still log in and access your account.

Review Instagram's guidelines: Familiarize yourself with Instagram's terms of service and community guidelines to understand if you might have violated any rules.

Appeal the block: If you believe your account was blocked in error or if you want to understand the reason for the block, you can submit an appeal to Instagram.

Contact Instagram support: If the appeal process does not resolve the issue, you can try reaching out to Instagram's support team for further assistance.

How To Manage Restricted Accounts

Managing restricted accounts on Instagram involves controlling the interactions and visibility of a specific account. When you restrict someone, their comments on your posts are only visible to them, and their direct messages go into message requests.

Here's how you can manage restricted accounts on Instagram:

1. Restrict the account: To restrict an account on Instagram, follow these steps:

• Open the Instagram app and go to the profile of the account you want to restrict.
• Tap the three dots (...) in the top right corner of their profile.
• From the options that appear, select "Restrict".

2. Direct message restrictions: Messages from restricted accounts go into your message requests folder, which you can access by going to your inbox and tapping on "Message Requests". From there, you can choose whether to accept, delete, or report the message.

3. Unblock a restricted account: If you decide to unrestricted an account, follow these steps:

• Go to the profile of the account you want to unblock.
• Click the three dots (...) in the top right corner.
• Select "Unrestrict".

Final Thoughts

Restricting and blocking users on Instagram are a few options the platform offers to manage how people interact with you. You can choose to temporarily limit unwanted or negative comments, turn off comments, use comment filters, or report comments for abuse or spam.