Blocking People
There are two ways to block or unblock someone on Instagram. You can block or unblock someone on Instagram quickly by going directly to their profile. From your privacy settings, you can also view your blocked accounts list, where you can choose to block other people or unblock someone on the list.
To block or unblock someone from their profile:
- Tap their username from their Feed or story post, or tap
and search their username to go to their profile.
- Tap
(iPhone/computer) or
(Android) in the top right.
- Tap Block/Unblock (iPhone/Android) or Block/Unblock (computer).
- Tap Block/Unblock again to confirm.
To block or unblock someone from your privacy settings:
Tap
or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
Tap
in the top right, then tap
Settings.
- Tap Privacy, then tap Blocked Accounts.
- To unblock someone on your blocked accounts list, tap Unblock to the right of their name. Tap Unblock again to confirm.
- To add someone to your blocked accounts list, tap
in the top right and search for the person you’d like to block. Tap Block to the right of their name, then tap Block again to confirm.
Keep in mind:
- People aren't notified when you block them. Learn more about blocking people.
- After you block someone, their likes and comments will be removed from your photos and videos.
- Unblocking someone won't restore their previous likes and comments.
- You can delete their comments from your posts. You can also block multiple people from your comments.
When you block someone from commenting, they can still view your photos and videos. Any new comments from them won’t be visible to anyone else except for them.
To block someone from commenting on your photos and videos:
Tap
Tap
- Tap Privacy, then tap Comments.
- Next to Block Comments From, tap People.
- Enter the name of the person you want to block, then tap Block next to their name.
To unblock someone from commenting on your photos and videos, tap Unblock next to their name and then tap Unblock again to confirm.
Keep in mind that when you block someone from commenting, it doesn't remove their previous comments. Learn more about blocking people.
By default, anyone can see your profile and posts on Instagram. You can make your account private so that only followers you approve can see what you share. If your account is set to private, only your approved followers will see your photos or videos on hashtag or location pages.
Tap
Tap
- Tap Privacy.
- Tap next to Private Account to make your account private.
- Click your profile picture in the top right corner, then click
- Click Privacy and Security.
- Below Account Privacy, click to check the box next to Private Account.
- Tap your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
- Tap
- Tap Privacy and Security.
- Below Account Privacy, tap to check the box next to Private Account.
Things to keep in mind about private accounts
- Private posts you share to social networks may be visible to the public depending on your privacy settings for those networks. For example, a post you share to Twitter that was set to private on Instagram may be visible to the people who can see your Twitter posts.
- Once you make your account private, people will have to send you a follow request to see your posts, your followers list or your following list.
- Follow requests appear in
Activity, where you can approve or ignore them.
- If someone was already following you before you set your posts to private and you don't want them to see your posts, you can block them.
- People can send a photo or video directly to you even if they’re not following you.
When you block someone, that person won't be able to find your profile, posts or story on Instagram. People aren't notified when you block them.
Likes and comments
- After you block someone, their likes and comments will be removed from your photos and videos. Unblocking someone won't restore their previous likes and comments.
- People that you block can still see your likes and comments on posts that were shared by public accounts or accounts they follow.
Mentions and tags
- After you block someone, they won't be able to mention your username or tag you.
- If you block someone and then change your username, they won't be able to mention or tag you unless they know your new username.
Direct
- After you block someone, your messaging threads with them will remain in your Direct inbox, but you won't be able to message them.
- If you're in a group message with someone you've blocked, you'll get a dialog asking whether you want to stay in the group or leave. If you choose to stay in the group, you'll be able to see messages from the person you blocked in the group.
- If the person you blocked sends you any messages in Direct, you won't receive those messages, and they won't be delivered later if you unblock them.
- After you block someone, they won't be able to join a room you create if they're logged in to their Instagram account.
If you don't want to block someone, you can remove them as a follower or block them from commenting on your photos and videos.
If you no longer want to block someone, you can unblock them.
No, someone you blocked won't be able to mention your username on Instagram. If you block someone and then change your username, they won't be able to mention you unless they know your new username.
You can report abusive photos, videos and messages that are sent to you on Instagram:
- Open the conversation in the Instagram app.
- Tap and hold the individual message you'd like to report.
- Tap Report.
- Select a reason for why you're reporting the message and then tap Submit Report.
If you'd like to report a post from Feed that was sent to you in a message, you can tap the post and report it. If you want to stop someone from sending you messages or message requests, you can block that person or report their profile.
Instagram reviews up to 30 of the most recent messages sent in reported conversations that involve accounts based in the European Union.
Yes, after you block someone, their likes and comments will be removed from your photos and videos. Unblocking someone won't restore their previous likes and comments.
People that you block can still see your likes and comments on posts that were shared by public accounts or accounts they follow.
If you restrict someone:
- They won’t be able to see when you’re online or if you’ve read their messages.
- Their new comments on your posts will only be visible to that person, and you can choose to see the comment by tapping See Comment. If you want others to be able to see their comment, you can tap Approve, then tap Approve to confirm, or you can delete it or ignore it.
- You won’t receive any notifications for future comments from that person.
Note: You can also restrict multiple people from your comments.
There are multiple ways to restrict someone on the Instagram app for Android and iPhone:
To restrict someone through Direct:
- Tap
in the top right and tap the chat with the person you want to restrict.
- Tap the person's name at the top right of your chat.
- Tap the current status.
- Tap Restrict at the bottom.
Keep in mind that:
- Your chat with the restricted person will move from your main Direct inbox to Message Requests, and future messages from people that you’ve restricted will automatically move to Message Requests.
- You’ll be able to see the person’s message without the person knowing that you’ve seen it. You can then choose to delete the message or block or unrestrict the person.
- If you’re in a group chat with someone that you’ve restricted, you’ll get a warning that you’ll see a restricted account’s messages. You can choose to stay or leave the group.
To restrict or unrestrict someone through a comment on your post:
- Go to your post and tap View all comments.
- Swipe left over the comment (iPhone) or tap and hold the comment (Android).
- Tap
(iPhone) or
(Android) and then tap Restrict [username] or Unrestrict [username].
If a restricted person comments on your post, you can tap See Comment to reveal what the comment says, or you can tap Delete to delete the comment. If you tapped See Comment, you can tap Approve, then tap Approve to make the comment visible to others, or you can tap Delete to delete the comment.
Keep in mind that you won’t receive notifications for any future comments made by someone that you’ve restricted.
To restrict or unrestrict someone through your settings:
Tap
- Tap
in the top right.
- Tap Settings and then tap Privacy.
- Below Connections, tap Restricted Accounts.
- Tap Continue.
- Search for the account you’d like to restrict and tap Restrict next to their username, or tap Unrestrict to unrestrict someone.
To restrict or unrestrict someone through their profile:
- Go to the profile of the person you want to restrict or unrestrict.
- Tap
- Select Restrict, then tap Restrict Account or Unrestrict.
To restrict someone on the Instagram Lite app for Android:
To restrict or unrestrict someone through their profile:
- Go to the profile of the person you want to restrict or unrestrict.
- Tap
- Select Restrict, then tap Dismiss.