What happens when you restrict someone on Instagram?

People use the restrict feature to turn off read receipts on Instagram, but most of them are not aware of what happens when you restrict someone on Instagram.

Instagram has debuted several features, such as private Instagram profiles, and the ability to appear offline, to provide a level of control and privacy for its users.

"Restrict" is indeed one such feature, but it's not very clear what is going on when we choose that. So let's see what happens when we restrict someone on Instagram.

What happens when you restrict someone on Instagram?

Restricting someone can be helpful if you want to limit interactions with someone you know personally, such as an ex-partner or an annoying friend, without completely blocking them.

The feature provides a middle ground between blocking someone, which completely cuts off communication, and allowing unrestricted access to your content and messages

If you are thinking about restricting someone on Instagram, but don't know what to expect, here's what happens when 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, until you approve them.
• You will not receive any future notifications for comments that the user may post.

You can rest assured that Instagram does not notify the restricted person when you restrict them.

However, keep in mind that there are ways to tell if someone restricted you on Instagram. Therefore, it's possible for them to potentially figure it out through these subtle cues.

How to tell if someone restricted you on Instagram

But, perhaps, sometimes we might find ourselves on the other side of the field. We keep posting comments on a user's posts and no one ever reacts to them. What is going on? Perhaps you've been restricted by that user.

While there are no foolproof ways to find out if someone has really restricted you, there are some telltale signs that you could use.

Here's how to tell if someone restricted you on Instagram:

• Check the user's profile if you can see their active status (for example "Active now" or "Active 2h ago"), right under their messages. If you can't see anything, then that might be a sign of restriction.
• Alternatively, try to leave a comment on their posts and ask a friend if they can see your comment, right after you posted it. If they cannot, then you have probably been restricted and the comment has not been approved yet (or deleted).

It is good for their users and their mental health to have a full set of options to limit one's interactions on their posts, especially since the app does not give you any notifications that such restriction has happened.