What Does Instagram Restrict Mean
Instagram’s Restrict mode is a subtle version of blocking people. It basically allows you to limit people on how they interact with you on Instagram without unfollowing or blocking them. It’s one of the safest ways to avoid interacting with someone on Instagram without letting them know. The Restrict feature hides comments, and messages from the restricted person. For instance, if someone is harassing you by repeatedly commenting wrong things and you don’t want to block them, you can restrict them. The person will be able to comment but others cannot see it. Restrict lets you take ownership of your interactions on Instagram in a harmless way. It’s a beneficial feature that is loaded with goodness. Let’s check in detail what Restrict does on Instagram.
What Happens When You Restrict Someone on Instagram
Let’s go into the details of what happens when you restrict someone on Instagram in terms of features like comments, messages, likes, followers, etc.
Can Restricted People See Your Posts, Stories, Etc.
Yes. Restricting people has no effect on the visibility of your stories, posts, Reels, or IGTV video. That means restricted people can still see those things and so can you.
What Happens to Likes When You Restrict Someone
The restricted person can like your posts and the likes will be visible to everyone. In other words, restricting someone doesn’t hide their likes from others.
What Happens to Comments
Comments are one of the main areas that get affected by restricting someone. When you restrict a person, even though they will be able to comment on your posts, these comments will not be public. Only the writer and you can see them. That means the writer would think that the comment is public and everyone can see it but that’s not what happens in reality. Technically, even you won’t be able to see the comment directly. The comment would be hidden behind the Restricted comment text under the post. You will need to tap on See comment to view the comment. Now Instagram gives you two options to manage restricted comments. You can either Approve the comment so that everyone sees it or you can delete it. That way nobody sees the comment including the writer. The safest way is to neither approve nor delete the comment. The comment stays hidden for everyone else except the sender, thus not raising any doubt in their mind. Tip: Looking for your old Instagram comments? Here’s how to find out all the comments you made on Instagram.
Will I Get Comment Notifications From Restricted Accounts
No. You will not receive notifications for comments made from restricted accounts. You will have to check the post manually to view restricted comments.
What Happens to Earlier Comments
The comments that the restricted person had made before you restricted them will remain unaffected. Those comments will stay live on your profile. You will have to manually delete them if you want to.
What Happens to Activity Status
If the activity status feature is enabled for your account, restricted people cannot see when you are online or the last time that you were online in messages.
Can Restricted Account Message You
Similar to comments, the person can still message you. But those messages will go in the Message requests folder present in your inbox. Even the old chats from that person will move under the Message requests folder. However, you will not receive new message notifications from the restricted account. You will have to manually visit the Message requests folder to see the messages. If you open the received message, the person will not be able to see that you have read it. You will need to Unrestrict the person to reply to the message. Then only the restricted person will see the read receipt. When it comes to group chats, you will get a warning that the group consists of a restricted account. You can choose to stay or exit the group.
Can Someone Call or Video Call You When Restricted
No. Restricted accounts cannot voice or video call you.
Does Restricting People Hide Followers and Following List
Restricting people doesn’t have any effect on the visibility of your followers or following list. They can still see the lists.
Does Restricting People Have Any Reverse Effect
Restrict is a one-way street. It only affects the other person and that too in a stealth mode. You can still see their posts, stories, comment on them, etc. However, you won’t be able to chat with them until you unrestrict them. Moreover, restricting someone doesn’t hide them from the Who viewed my story section. That means if you restrict someone and you view their story or they view yours, both of you can still see each other under the story views section.
Does the Other Person Know When You Restrict Them
Fortunately, no. The other person isn’t notified in any way when you restrict them. That’s the beauty of the Restrict mode. You can avoid people silently.
Is There Any Way to Know if Someone Has Restricted You on Instagram
There isn’t any direct way to know if someone has restricted you. However, you can ask a mutual friend to look for your comment under the post. If the person is able to see it, then you aren’t restricted. However, chances are that the person might have approved the comment. Similarly, you can look for the green online symbol in chats. Again, this is not a foolproof way to check as anyone can deactivate the activity status.
How to Restrict Someone on Instagram
You can restrict an Instagram user in four different ways. All methods will have the same impact as mentioned above.
1. Restrict Someone From Comments Directly
Open the post having the comment from the user that you want to restrict. On Android, touch and hold the comment. On iPhone, swipe left on the comment. Tap on the information icon (i) and select Restrict from the menu. You can even restrict multiple accounts in this manner. Select multiple comments first and then hit the (i) icon.
2. Restrict Using Profile
Open the Instagram profile that you want to restrict. Hit the three-dot icon and select Restrict.
3. Restrict Using Messages
You can restrict someone from their message thread as well. Open the chat and tap on their name. Tap on Restrict.
4. Restrict From Settings
You can restrict someone from settings as well. Go to Instagram Settings. Tap on Privacy > Restricted accounts. Search for the person that you want to restrict and hit the Restrict button next to their name.
How to Edit or Remove Someone From Restrict List
You will find all the restricted accounts under Instagram Settings > Privacy > Restricted accounts. To unrestrict someone, tap on the Unrestrict button next to the name of the contact. You can also open their profile and tap on the Unrestrict message. Alternatively, tap on the three-dot icon on their profile. Then choose Unrestrict from the menu.
- What’s the difference between Instagram Restrict and Block? Block, as you know, completely cuts the connection between you and the blocked person. The blocked person won’t be able to see your posts, stories, Reel, etc. That means they cannot like, comment, or even send a message. There are ways to find out if someone has blocked you on Instagram. On the contrary, Restrict mode only affects comments and messages primarily. The person will be able to comment but only they can see it.
- What happens to comments when you unrestrict someone? When you unrestrict someone, the restricted comments will continue to stay restricted. You can still approve or delete them.
- When you unrestrict someone, do you have to follow the person again? Restricting someone doesn’t make you unfollow them. So if you restrict a person and later decide to unrestrict them, you won’t have to follow the person back since you never unfollowed them in the first place.
Avoid Harassment on Instagram
Apart from Restrict on Instagram, you can temporarily limit unwanted comments on your profile to avoid bullying and trolling. You can even block people only from commenting. And if you are using Instagram in stealth mode, find out how to check someone’s story without them knowing.
