How To Tell If Someone Blocked You On WhatsApp

As a widely used messaging app, WhatsApp is a great way to stay in touch with loved ones from anywhere, any time. Of course, it can also be another platform to hear from people that you’re not exactly looking to keep in touch with. Whether it’s needing to mute that overly active family group chat, turning off read receipts, or leaving groups silently, there’s plenty of ways to subtly cut down on communication with certain people over WhatsApp. Or, in situations where you need to cut off communication entirely, there’s always the option to block someone on WhatsApp.

Whether you’ve been on tough terms with someone, or have just noticed that your messages don’t seem to be delivering lately, you might be wondering how to tell if someone blocked you on WhatsApp.

Much like many social media platforms, WhatsApp doesn’t explicitly tell users if someone has blocked them. (Although Twitter, ever dedicated to drama, does boldly tell users if someone has blocked them when they visit their profile.) However, with the help of some context clues, there are some ways to potentially figure out if someone has blocked you on WhatsApp.

Sure, there’s not much you can do (or should do) if you realize you’ve been blocked by someone. But, if you’re just looking to satisfy your curiosity — or are trying to rule out technical difficulties — here are some troubleshooting tips to check if someone has blocked you on WhatsApp.

Business Insider advises first checking to see if you can read the user’s “last seen” status. If you cannot see the person’s status, it might mean that they blocked you. However, users can also choose to disable this feature in general, so this is not a guarantee that someone blocked you.

LifeWire also advises trying to add the person to a group chat, or trying to call them. If you’re unable to add them to a group chat, it is possible that this person changed their settings so that they can’t be added to groups. However, it could also mean they blocked you. If your call to them fails, this also means that they may have blocked you.

WhatsApp also adds in their Help Center that you will not be able to see updates to someone’s profile picture if they’ve blocked you. Also, WhatsApp says that messages to someone who blocked you will only show one check mark — rather than the typical two checkmarks indicating that a message has been delivered.

However, WhatsApp also writes, “We have made this intentionally ambiguous in order to protect your privacy when you block someone.” So, take it all with a grain of salt, and try to gracefully take the hint if you sense someone’s giving you the cold shoulder.