Have you ever blocked or restricted someone on Instagram? Do you know what happens when you restrict someone on Instagram? You’ll learn all about it here.
Instagram (IG) users can decide to restrict another for diverse reasons. The person could be an ex-lover, or a rude follower who has been dropping annoying comments on your posts. You can restrict anyone on Instagram. That’s the main point. Instagram introduced the feature to give users an option to boost privacy.
Here, we explained what you should expect on Instagram when you restrict someone. Keep digging deep for more information.
What Does Restriction on Instagram Means?
Restriction means to take control over your online space. Restricting someone on Instagram or any platform means to prevent the person from having direct access to you. They can’t message you directly and you won’t see their comments on your post.
Restriction on Instagram is like blocking someone on Instagram. And there are diverse reasons why an Instagram user might decide to restrict another. We will discuss that shortly.
The question is, does Instagram restriction function like other platforms? What happens when you decide to restrict a person on Instagram? Let’s discuss this.
What Happens When You Restrict Someone on Instagram
Are you curious to know what actually transpires when you restrict another Instagram user? The reason for your curiosity is understandable. Now, here’s what actually transpires when you restrict someone on the platform.
- Instagram won’t notify them:
Are you thinking Instagram would notify the person you want to restrict when you finally take the action? You’re wrong! Restriction is entirely private. Thus, when initiated, the person you restricted won’t know you did.
Instagram doesn’t notify people when they get restricted. So, you’re safe.
- Hidden activity status:
When you restrict someone on Instagram, your activities on the platform become hidden from them. They can’t see your activity or whether you’re online or offline.
They won’t see your last seen activity. Everything about you becomes hidden from the person. It will appear like you’re no longer on Instagram to the person.
- The restricted individual won’t see your online status:
Without restriction, a follower can know when you’re online or not. They can find out through your online status.
What happens when you restrict a person on Instagram? From the moment you restrict the person, you have officially turned on ghost mode.
The individual restricted won’t know when you’re online or offline. That’s the power of IG’s restriction. It completely hides your IG (Instagram) account from the person you’re trying to shut out.
- Inability to mention or tag you:
Another unique thing that happens when you restrict someone is that you become invisible to them. They can tag or mention others, but can’t tag you on their posts.
- The comments of the restricted individual becomes invisible:
When you restrict a person on Instagram, their comments become invisible. Even when they leave comments on a post, you or your audience won’t see them. It will be like they are talking to themselves.
When a restricted IG user leaves a comment on your post, only them can see their comments. Others won’t. The only way you can view their comments is to click “See Comments.” When you do, you can read their comments.
You have the option to approve or delete the person’s comment. Once approved, the person’s comment will become visible. You can also get rid of their comments by clicking on the “Delete” option.
- No message notification:
When you restrict someone on Instagram, all the person’s messages will move to the “Message Request” folder.
What does this mean? It means you won’t get notified whenever the restricted individual decides to send you a message on Instagram. The read receipt for the message will also be turned off.
The only way to start receiving message notifications from someone you restricted on Instagram is to remove the settings. But what is the point of removing the settings when you already restricted the person?
- Your activities becomes private:
Another thing that happens when you restrict someone on Instagram is that the person won’t know when you read their messages. However, they can see your Insta stories, but that’s the end. Their messages will end up in the “Message Request” folder, not directly to your inbox.
What Someone You Restricted on Instagram See
Restricting a person on Instagram limits what they can see, and how they interact with you. It puts you in total control over how you interact with the person. However, the restricted individual can still see a lot of things about you.
What can someone you restricted on IG see? The person can see your Insta stories.
Your Instagram posts will appear on the person’s feeds, meaning they would know when you publish posts on Instagram.
Unfortunately, the restricted individual can’t engage your posts like others. They can comment like everyone, but their comments will be anonymous to others.
While the comment will appear like others, they are the only ones that would know they left a comment on your post. You can still access their comments if you want. Just click on “See Comment” to read their comments.
While a restricted individual can see your Instagram posts, they can’t see your online status and activities. They can’t know when you’re online or offline. And they also can’t see “last seen” on your Instagram account.
Can You Know if Someone Restricted You on Instagram?
Yes, you can know if someone has restricted you on Instagram. But let’s be clear on one thing: Instagram won’t notify you whenever a person restricts you. You would have to figure out who restricted you by yourself.
Here, we’re going to discuss the different ways you can know when someone has restricted you. Let’s dive in!
- Find out if someone restricted you through comments:
A simple and easy way to know if someone has restricted you on Instagram is via comment. For this method to work, you need to comment on the person’s post.
If your comment doesn’t get any engagements such as likes, or replies, then you probably have been restricted. But make no mistake, not all comments get engaged. So the fact that your comment does not get any engagement is not an absolute criterion to conclude that someone has restricted you.
If your comment doesn’t get any engagement, move to the next action. If you suspect that the person whose post you commented on has restricted you, ask a fellow commenter on the same post to check if they can see your comment.
If the person can see your comment, then you haven’t been restricted. However, if the person checks and doesn’t see your comment, then they have restricted you.
Note that when a person restricts you, only you can see your comments on their posts. They can’t see your comments, likewise others who commented on the post.
- Unread messages for long periods:
Another way to know if someone has restricted you is to send them a message and see how they respond. If your message remains “unread” for a long period, then the person has probably restricted you.
If the person had always responded to your messages swiftly but chose to leave your latest messages unread for a long period, they have probably restricted you. You can also check if they post regularly.
If the person posts regularly but hasn’t read your messages, then it’s obvious they come online but don’t see your messages because they have restricted you.
Pro Tip: The fact that your messages have been unread for a long period doesn’t mean an IG user has restricted you. Sometimes, most people are too busy to read messages in their inboxes. Additionally, the person might also have tons of messages to read. In that case, they might ignore some or all the messages to focus on other things.
- Inability to view the person’s activity status:
You were able to view an individual’s activity status. You even know when the person is online. Suddenly, you can’t tell if they are online or view their activity status.
That’s a clear sign that the person has restricted you. You can’t see a person’s activity status or whether they are online once restricted.
- Inability to read user’s receipt:
Another way to find out if someone has restricted you is when you can’t read the user’s receipt.
Conclusion
Now you know what happens when you restrict someone on Instagram. The person can’t see your activity status or whether you’re online.
The restricted individual can see your Insta stories though. Your posts will appear in their feeds, and they can comment on the post. Unfortunately, only the restricted individual can see their comments on your post. You can’t see their comments, likewise other commenters.
Restricting people on Instagram is a way to gain control over your online space. You can restrict any Instagram follower you feel is going out of line. People restrict their ex-lover, friends or parents. You can restrict anyone you want.
