Most people go through the five stages of grief after a breakup - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. But there's a secret sixth phase that no one talks about: blocking your ex on IG. Seeing their account pop up in your stories every day isn't going to help you get over them any faster, and honestly, what you're doing has nothing to do with them. Still, it always stings when you're on the receiving end of an IG block.
If a Stories account you frequently "liked" has recently disappeared, you may be restricted from viewing their posts. But since Instagram sometimes glitches, it can be hard to tell if you've actually been blocked, or if the app is just experiencing some outage. (Okay, maybe that's just a "denial" phase thing to say, but if you were going to do some investigating, you'd leave no stone unturned and not try an IG hack.)
Similar to apps like WhatsApp or even iMessage, Instagram doesn't explicitly tell users if they've been blocked by another account. But with a little investigation, you can quickly unravel the mystery. Be prepared—you might not like what you find.
Search account
Even if you've been blocked by someone, their username will still pop up when you search for them through the Explore page. But to find out if you're safe, you'll need to do more than just type their name into the search bar.
on the explore page
The first thing you need to do is try to access their account. To do this, tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen to navigate to the Explore tab. Then, enter the name you're looking for in the search bar at the top of the page and click to visit its page.
If you're not restricted, you'll be able to view all of their posts along with follower count, tagged photos, and more. If you are blocked, you will receive a message that says "User not found" and the page will say that the account "has not posted yet."
on your profile
Once you've been blocked by a user, their account will no longer show up under your follower or following count. If you suspect you've been put on the virtual chopping block, try searching for the account name under each tab to see if you're still following each other. If not, this may be a bad sign.
In stealth mode
Incognito mode is always crucial when it comes to snooping, which is why you can also try searching accounts on a private anonymous window. In theory, if you're blocked, the account should appear as normal because the web page won't recognize you as a user. Just make sure you haven't accidentally logged into your account during a previous snooping session.
Follow this account again
Another test you can run to see if you've been banned from viewing an account is to try following them again. If you are blocked, the "Follow" button will briefly change to "Requested" and then switch back to "Follow" after clicking. Again, this could be another example of Instagram being unstable, but the likelihood of that is pretty low.
ask a friend
If you 're still not sure where you stand with someone, the easiest way is to ask your friends if they can see their account. If so, that's all the confirmation you need to know you've been blocked. Just make sure to choose the friends you ask wisely - you know, in case they're blocked too.
