There is no official way to know if someone blocked you on Instagram story. Nevertheless, if you suspect that someone blocked you from their Instagram story, there are still alternative ways to tell that you have been blocked. Instagram Stories allow people to share short format, vertical images, and videos that disappear after 24 hours (see Instagram blog for verification). Generally, an Instagram Story follows the privacy settings of an account. That is to say that if a poster sets their account to private, their story is visible only to followers. However, Instagram users can hide their entire story from anyone they don’t want to see, even if the person is their follower. In your case, whether you are a follower or not, you may have been blocked and I’ll tell all nobody else will because I’m a core Instagram user.
How to know if someone blocked you on Instagram story
I’ve researched on your behalf, so below are the ways you can know if someone blocked you on Instagram story:
1. Tell from their posting frequency
If you think you have suddenly been blocked from seeing Instagram stories, you can know if someone blocked you on Instagram story from their frequency of posting stories on Instagram. Some users will post stories 24/7 while some only post occasionally.
So, if the person normally posts stories 24/7 and suddenly no more, they have probably blocked you from viewing. Don’t rule out the possibility of other emergencies—perhaps, this person has been hospitalized or even suspended/banned from posting stories on Instagram.
2. Watch their behavior toward your posts
The person’s attitude towards your own Instagram account posts and stories can reveal whether they have blocked you or not.
For example, let’s say your friend always views your stories and liked your posts but suddenly stops doing so.
He/she may hold something against you or it could be nothing personal (such as being busy or emergencies), so they just forgot to view your stories or react to your other posts.
3. Inspect elements via browser
This method works on desktop (and mobile as well, using specific apps). Most desktop browsers will let you inspect elements, including Firefox and Chrome. Note that some browsers refer to ‘inspect elements’ as ‘source code’.
First, log into your Instagram account via browser. Go to the account page of the person. Right-click and select inspect element (or whatever is used by your browser).
Now, search for the HTML tag aria-disabled in developer tools (F12) within your browser on that person’s account page.
In the elements tab, if you see aria-disabled = false, you’re not blocked from seeing the person’s story. However, if you see aria-disabled = true, you have been blocked from viewing their Instagram story
Note that this method works only if the person’s account is set to public and they have not blocked your account or if the person’s account is set to private and you are following them. Otherwise, it will not work.
Note that this tag is a placeholder for a potentially actionable mouse click on their avatar to view the story.
4. Waiting till their birthday
Your friend will likely post pictures or videos on their Instagram story when it’s their birthday. However, if their story appears inactive or unusually quiet, it is possible that they blocked you from viewing it. This is a possible event if their account is still active, but not the case if their account is inactive because their phone could be bad.
5. “This story is no longer available” message
If you see “this story is no longer available”, it’s possible that the person changed the settings of their Instagram story to hide the next series from you. I tried this out myself using another friend’s account and it is a good way to know if someone blocked you on Instagram story. So, “this story is no longer available” message could mean that you have been blocked from viewing someone’s Instagram story.
6. Tell the person you can’t view their status
If you think someone has blocked you from viewing their Instagram story, message them about it. However, this method exposes that you are aware that the person blocked you from seeing their story on Instagram.
If the person is being sincere, they will admit that they blocked you from their story. Sometimes, they may have mistakenly blocked you while trying to block a different person. Also, it could be that they’ve not even posted any story at all, so they may send you a screenshot of their Instagram story for confirmation that they have not met any new story.
If you’ve been blocked but need to reach out to them, consider searching for their phone number on Instagram.
7. Use a second account
If you have more than one Instagram account, use your second account to verify whether someone blocked you from their Instagram story or not. It’s even easier if you followed the person on that account and they followed back so that if they set their story to private, you will still be able to view it.
However, if you have not followed them with your second account and their stories are set to private, you won’t be able to see them to tell if they blocked you from your story.
8. Follow them with a fake account
Consider creating a fake Instagram account with anonymous information. That way, you follow them and they follow back without knowing it is you.
To increase the chance of them following back, make sure to react or interact with their existing posts. That way, they will follow back knowing that you will engage their posts.
If they eventually create an Instagram story that does not show up on your primary account, then you now know that they blocked you from viewing their story.
Note that if their story is set to public, you will be able to view it even without following them. However, the chance is that it is private because most Instagram users, excluding businesses, set their stories to private.
9. Ask a mutual friend about their story
Ask a mutual friend if the person in question recently added to their Instagram story. This method helps if the friend you suspect sets their story to private, so the mutual friend who probably also follows them and is followed back will be able to see their story.
If your mutual friend confirms a story on the person’s profile but you can’t see it via your account, it means you have been blocked from viewing the story. Thus, you now know if someone blocked you on Instagram story.
Can you tell if someone blocked you from seeing their story on Instagram?
Even though there is no direct way to tell if someone blocked you from seeing their story, there are alternatives and clues you could use to know such as adding them with a new account or asking a mutual friend (if the person’s stories are private) or other Instagram users (if the person’s story is public).
Most users would argue that “there’s no way”—that’s true but you can still manage to indirectly get around stories hidden from you on Instagram.
But while you think someone removed you from their private story on Instagram, it could also be that they have not made any story updates within the period. This is not to doubt your suspicion—you could be right about it after all.
If someone hides their story on Instagram can you see their highlights?
If you have been blocked from seeing someone’s Instagram stories, not only will not be able to directly view them, but also you won’t be able to see their highlights (if they have).
Highlights are the saved or highlighted stories on an Instagram profile. After someone is removed from the “hide” list, they will be able to see highlights if the story was initially hidden from them.
However, if the person keeps you hidden from seeing their story, you will never be able to see the Instagram highlights.
Was I blocked on Instagram?
According to the Instagram help center, people aren’t notified when they are blocked by others. When blocked by someone, you won’t also be able to see their stories. So, what if they blocked your entire Instagram account? This is possible, and you can tell from the following signs:
1. You’re unable to search for them on Instagram
Try searching for their profile on the Instagram app. If their Instagram profile is set to public, you will be able to see their posts, which means you have not been blocked. However, if their account is set to private and you still see their account, you have not been blocked. If you find that the person unfollowed you or you have not followed them before, their profile should say “this account is private,” which also means that they have not blocked you.
If you can’t find the person’s profile on Instagram, it could mean that you have been blocked. Note that their profile will also not appear if they deactivated or deleted their account, so you need to be sure they have not deleted or deactivated before concluding that they blocked you. You can verify this by searching for their profile using another account. If you can find their profile with another account, they blocked you. Otherwise, the person has deleted or only deactivated their account.
2. Your likes and comments disappear from their posts
If someone blocks you on Instagram, your likes and comments will be removed from their photos and videos. And if they unblock you later, you will notice that you have to like their posts again. This happens because Instagram does not restore your previous likes and comments on their posts.
However, you will still be able to see the person’s likes and comments on posts shared by public accounts or accounts that you follow.
3. You can’t mention or tag the person
After someone blocks you, you won’t be able to mention their username or tag them. If they change their username, you won’t still be able to mention or tag them unless you know their new username.
4. Your messages are not delivered
If someone has blocked you on Instagram, they won’t receive any messages you send to them. Also, those messages will not be delivered later even if they unblock you.
5. You can’t join their Instagram room
If someone blocked you on Instagram, you won’t be able to join a room that they create. That said, if you come across any group they may have created but can’t join, you were blocked by the person.
6. Instagram user not found
Find and click on their profile via a comment section you have seen the person comment on. You can still see the likes and comments of someone who blocked you on posts that were shared by public accounts or accounts that they follow.
When you find the person’s username in the comment section, click their name to if they blocked you on Instagram. If you see the message “user not found” after clicking their profile, you have been blocked not just from their stories but the entire account. Note that “user not found” can also mean that the person disabled their account.
How to view Instagram story if blocked
To view a hidden Instagram story, do the following:
1. Use another Instagram account
The fact remains that you can’t view an Instagram story using the same account you have been blocked. Switch to another account, even if it means creating a new temporary one.
If the person set their Instagram story to private, you will have to follow them and then they follow you back to be able to view their stories.
If the person set their story to public, you don’t have to follow them to be able to view their story.
2. Ask a mutual friend
Perhaps, you have a mutual friend who follows the person and is followed back. Have them send you a screenshot or recording of the person’s story. You don’t need to explain the reasons to them—just ask them to send you the stories.
3. Ask the person
If you have confirmed that you have been blocked from viewing someone’s story, it could be a mistake by the person. Thus, depending on your current relationship with the person, you can inform them that their stories are not visible to you. If it was an honest mistake, they will review their hidden list and exclude you from it.
Avoid any online tool that claims to view hidden stories—these tools will steal your account password and other personal information, including your chats.
What does it mean when it says this story is unavailable on Instagram?
When you see this story is unavailable on Instagram, it could mean that (1) the user deleted the story before the 24-hour limit, (2) the story already features for over 24 hours after posting and has automatically disappeared, or (3) the user changed the settings of the Instagram story to hide the next stories from you. I have tested this out myself with another account.
If the person’s profile keeps showing with the story icon and won’t go away after you click their profile name and it still says “this story is unavailable” when you visit their profile or story lists, it could mean that the person has blocked you from viewing their story.
If you refresh and there is no more orange/pink circle around their profile name, the story has genuinely been deleted. However, this situation is not very common.
Note also that if the story has been deleted, it could be that it violates Instagram’s Community Guidelines. That’s all you need to know if someone blocked you on Instagram story.
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