Restrict on Instagram – Metricool
If you are a social media manager or have an online business presence, it is possible that on more than one occasion you have come across a troll, a user that leaves unwanted comments on your posts. Right?
An action you can take to solve this problem is to restrict on Instagram, and this is what we are going to talk about in this post.
What does restricted mean on Instagram?
By restricting an account on Instagram, you are limiting their access to your profile.
This means they do not have the same opportunities to interact with you, as a user that you have not restricted.
Now you know what it means to restrict someone on Instagram, but what does this decision mean for the unwanted user?
What happens when you restrict someone on Instagram?
The first thing you must know is that if you decide to restrict an account on Instagram, the app will not notify the user that you have limited their activity.
The person you have decided to restrict will not know you have made this decision regarding their account.
And what comes with this restriction?
✅ Comments are not public
While an unrestricted user can comment on anything you post, a comment from a restricted user is not visible to everyone else.
The only people who can see it is you, as the owner of the account, and the restricted user that has commented. Although, if you want to, you can make it visible to everyone else.
✅ Activity is private
When you restrict an Instagram account, they can continue seeing the stories you post, like anyone else.
However, although they can respond to your story, they cannot see if you are online or if you have read the messages that they have sent you. Similarly, their reactions to your stories would appear in your message request box, rather than in your direct message box.
Do you want to restrict on Instagram but don’t know how? Keep reading!
How to restrict on Instagram
The option to restrict Instagram accounts is available to every user. You can do this in two different ways, but don’t worry, we will explain them easily to you!
Restricting a user through their profile
The first and most simple way to limit the activity of a user is to do it through their own profile.
Just follow the steps!
1 Open your Instagram account
Remember to open the account that you want to restrict the user from.
2 Go to their profile
Go find their profile either through the search option or by going through your followers.
3 Click on ‘···’
The button with the three dots is at the top-right of their profile. Click on it and Instagram will offer you all the available options.
4 Choose ‘Restrict’
The final step is to press Restrict, which is the first option you’ll see.
Instagram will confirm that you have restricted this user.
Restricting a user through Settings
The other way to limit an Instagram account is to do it through your account settings.
1 Go into ‘Settings’ in your account
You will find this section on your profile. Click on the three horizontal lines at the top-right.
2 Click on ‘Privacy’
Here you can edit everything related to your account, but what we are interested in at the moment is the Privacy button.
3 Choose ‘Restricted Accounts‘
In this section, you can see the accounts that are restricted from your profile. If you have not restricted any, this section will be empty.
4 Search for the profile you want to restrict
Here there is a search bar to find the user you want to restrict access to.
Simply search their name and press the ‘Restrict’ button to the right of their name.
How to remove the restrictions from an Instagram accountTo go back to normal with a restricted account, all you have to do is follow the same steps we went through earlier. Instead of the ‘Restrict’ button, you will see ‘Cancel restriction’.
Differences between restricting and blocking
Despite both options mean limiting a user’s access to our Instagram account, it is important to point out the differences between restricting and blocking.
What’s exactly the difference between them?
➡️ Access to your account.
This is the main difference between blocking and restricting. When you restrict an account, the user can still follow your profile and see everything you share without any problems.
While blocking a user means you “prohibit” them from seeing any part of your profile, such as the posts you upload, your stories, or any content from your Reels.
➡️ Interaction with your profile.
As we said earlier, users that you have restricted can still comment on your posts, but only you and the user can see it. It is not public.
At least they can interact with your content. When you block a user, they cannot like your content, they cannot respond to your stories, nor comment on anything you post.
➡️ Knowing what has happened.
When you restrict an account, the user won’t know because their Instagram feed and access look the exact same. However, when you block someone, they do not have access to anything, not even through tagged photos of you.
Because of this, it is likely that if it was an account you interacted with quite a lot, they will suspect that you have blocked them.
What other options are there to limit content to certain users? If you are not willing to block or restrict an Instagram account, you can also hide your story from certain users, or report an account if you feel it necessary.
Now you know how to restrict on Instagram if you ever need to use it, regardless of whether you have a personal account, business account or you are a content creator.
Want to start your Instagram business strategy? This guide will become your best friend!
Instagram Block vs. Restrict: When You Should Use Each …
Blocking someone on Instagram is a good way to take control of your engagements on the social media app, but blocking someone you know in real life can make things pretty awkward—after all, they’ll know you’ve blocked them.
Luckily, Instagram has the Restrict function to avoid those awkward situations.
This article will break down the differences between the Block and Restrict functions so that you can decide which option is best when trying to avoid someone.
What Instagram’s Restrict Feature Does
We know what blocking does—it prevents someone from interacting with you on Instagram and viewing your posts. But what exactly does Instagram’s Restrict function do? To put it plainly, it helps you avoid unwanted interactions with other users without alerting them.
Introduced as an anti-bullying feature, Instagram’s Restrict function gives you more control over what comments both you and your followers see on your posts by limiting what restricted accounts can post on your profile.
When you restrict someone, their comments and messages will be hidden from your profile. It’s like keeping the restricted user behind a privacy window where they can see you, but they can’t exactly interact with you as normal and they don’t realize that this is the case.
The tool comes in handy when dealing with repeat bullies who leave negative comments on your Instagram posts and who may harass you in your Direct Messages.
Think of it as a soft block, a toned-down version that offers similar capabilities, but in a limited manner.
Block vs. Restrict: How It Affects Access to Your Profile
When you block someone, your feed and Stories are hidden from them. Although they will be able to see and access your profile, they can only see the data at the top of your profile, such as how many people you follow, the number of people who follow you, and the number of posts on your feed.
What they won’t be able to see, however, are your actual posts, even if your profile is open to the public.
Conversely, when you restrict someone, not much changes on their end in terms of the visibility of your profile and posts. They can still view your Stories and feed, and you can see theirs.
Blocking someone prevents them from being able to comment on your posts. But when you restrict them, you can both comment on each other’s posts.
The difference is that the comments made by the person you’ve restricted will only be visible to them and no one else.
In other words, they will not know their activity has been restricted. Essentially, they will continue to enjoy the ability to comment on your posts, without these comments impacting you or other followers. As for your comments on their posts, nothing changes. They will still be able to see them.
The restricted person’s comments appear along with others under your post, but under a protected message. You will not receive a notification when they comment on your post, so you can only view their comments by opening the post and going through the comments section.
To view the comment, tap See comment. You can then choose to either Approve or Delete it.
If you approve it, it’ll be visible to everyone, like the rest of the comments. If you delete it, neither you nor the restricted person will be able to see it. Either way, they will not be notified of the action you have taken.
Block vs. Restrict: How It Affects Messages
When you block someone, you cannot message each other. But it works differently when you restrict an account.
Here are the implications:
A restricted person can message you. However, their messages arrive in the Requests folder.
You will not receive notifications when they message you. You will only be able to see their messages if you manually view your message requests.
If you do view their message, they will not be notified by the “seen” text in the chat, so they won’t know when you’ve read the message.
To reply to a restricted person’s message, tap Unrestrict at the bottom of the screen. You can also select Delete to get rid of the message. If you do not wish to engage with that person further, tap Block.
Other Differences Between Blocking and Restricting on Instagram
There are some other differences between blocking and restricting on Instagram when it comes to seeing activity status, tags, mentions, and notifications.
Just like the block option, when you restrict someone, you can no longer see each other’s active status, so you will not know when they were last online and vice versa.
Unlike comments and messages, a person you’ve blocked or restricted can still tag and mention you. If they’re blocked, you won’t be notified about it, but if they’re restricted, you will. That means Instagram’s restrict function doesn’t work with tags and mentions.
Blocks remove all kinds of interactions, so you will not be notified. When you restrict someone, you don’t receive notifications about their messages and comments, but you do get notified when they tag you.
Block vs. Restrict: Will the Affected Person Know?
There is no direct way to know if someone has blocked you. However, there are ways you can find out, like visiting their profile. This isn’t the case with the restrict feature though.
A restricted person will never know if they have been restricted. Everything appears normal on their end as they can still comment on your posts, send you messages, and view your profile like any other user. The difference is only on your end.
How to Block Someone on Instagram
To block a user, go to their profile, tap the three-dot icon at the top-right of your screen, and select Block.
How to Restrict Someone on Instagram
There are three methods to restrict a person on Instagram:
Directly from comments.
Through your account settings.
From their profile.
We’ll explain each of these methods below…
On an Android phone, follow these steps:
Tap and hold the comment from the person you want to restrict.
Tap the information icon (an exclamation point in a bubble) at the top and then the Restrict button.
On iOS, follow these steps:
Swipe left on the comment.
Tap the information icon (an exclamation point in a bubble) and then Restrict.
How to Restrict a User From Your Settings
To restrict a user from your account settings, you can follow these steps:
Go to your profile and tap the three-bar menu icon in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy > Restricted accounts.
Now search for the account you’d like to restrict, then tap the Restrict button next to the chosen account.
How to Restrict a User From Their Profile
You can also restrict an account using their profile page.
To do this, follow these steps:
Go to the Instagram profile you want to restrict.
Tap the three-dot menu at the top-right corner
Select Restrict.
Which Function to Use to Avoid People
Your decision to either block or restrict someone on Instagram depends on your reasons and on how much access you want to give that person to your profile.
If you don’t want them to interact with you in any way or to see anything on your profile except the basic info at the top, you should block them.
Just ensure you’re okay with them knowing that they’ve been blocked. If you want to avoid someone without them knowing, then restricting is your best bet.
New to Instagram? 10 Top Tips for NewbiesWhen you’re getting started on Instagram, there are a few tips and tricks to bear in mind to make sure that you hit the ground running. The popular app is part photo-sharing site and part social network, and finding the right balance on how to use it, and following certain rules of etiquette can make you a popular, and engaging user.
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About The Author
Aya Masango
(80 Articles Published)
Aya is a freelance writer with a passion for brands, marketing and life in general. When she isn’t typing away, she’s keeping up with the latest news, pondering on the essence of life, and thinking about new business opportunities. Most productive when working in bed.
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What to Know About Restrict, Instagram’s New Anti-Bullying Feature
Bullying is a big problem for Instagram, one that the company’s head, Adam Mosseri, has vowed to take on. As TIME explains in a new feature, the company is trying to build artificial intelligence that is capable of rooting out complex behaviors — ranging from identity attacks to betrayals — that make users feel victimized. That will likely take years. In the meantime, the company is developing ways for users to fight this scourge themselves, with the assistance of machines. Enter Instagram’s newest feature: Restrict. There are already some options for dealing with bullies on the platform, like flagging content that will be sent to moderators for review. But in user research, Instagram has found that teenagers — a demographic at high risk — are reluctant to report or block peers who bully them. “They are often seen as very harsh options, ” says Francesco Fogu, a designer who works on well-being. Both can betray hurt feelings. And while blocking a bully essentially shuts down contact between two accounts, it also means that a user can no longer monitor what the bully is doing.
Instagram will soon start testing a new feature, Restrict, that is meant to give users the ability to “put some space” between themselves and bullies.
Courtesy of Instagram
Restrict, which has not been previously reported on, is more like a one-way mirror. While it’s obvious to someone when they’ve been blocked — because they can no longer find that user on the platform — it won’t be obvious when they’ve been restricted. They will see that user’s posts in their feed like they usually do. But they will no longer see when the user is online or has read their messages. And, behind the scenes, that user will have more oversight. “The goal here, ” Fogu says, “is to basically put some space between you and them. ” When it comes to posts, the user will have the ability to review any comment that the bully writes on one of their photos or videos. They can approve the comment so everyone can see it, delete it so no one can see it, or leave it forever in a pending state: invisible to everyone but the bully, who will have no indication that anything is out of the ordinary. The user doesn’t have to read the comment either; it will show up behind what Instagram calls a “sensitivity screen, ” requiring the user to tap on the comment to approve or delete it. Do nothing, and it stays hidden in a pending state. When it comes to direct messages, the restricted person will still see conversation threads they’ve had with the user in their main inbox. But, on the other end, the user won’t be notified when the bully sends them a message and won’t see the thread in their main inbox; instead, restricted threads will be diverted to the area reserved for message requests, where things like spam are typically relegated. If a user seeks the messages out and wants to respond, they’ll have to un-restrict the bully to do so. Restrict is also designed to create “friction” when it comes to tags and mentions, “to make it harder for a bully to find you and to harass you, ” Fogu says. Normally, Instagram will automatically suggest handles when someone is trying to tag or mention another user. If a bully is trying to tag a user who has restricted them, however, they’ll have to know the user’s handle and type it out completely.
Fogu describes Restrict as a “holistic” approach to combatting bullying. However encompassing it might be, one hurdle Instagram has to overcome is making sure users actually know about it. The company has launched other tools meant to help users protect themselves from bullies in the past — like a filter that will hide comments containing certain keywords that a user designates — but many remain unaware that such tools exist. To overcome this, engineers and designers are experimenting with ways they can alert users to the new tools while they’re using the app, rather than ferreting them away as additional options in user settings. If a user seems to delete comment after comment that another user makes on their posts, for example, that might be the moment for a pop-up that tells them about Restrict. Mosseri, who sat down with TIME to talk about bullying in mid-May, has said he wants to lead the industry in the fight against this perennial problem. By doing extensive user research, his hope is to develop a deep understanding of what bullying looks like on social media and create tools that other companies may eventually adopt. He believes that getting into the messy details, rather than slinging the equivalent of a sledgehammer, is key. “You have to go deep into the nuances if you’re going to come up with more sophisticated answers, ” he says. “On the issue of bullying, we want to be generative. We want to think about new and interesting ways to address the issue. ” Instagram will start testing Restrict in the next few weeks and plans to roll it out to all users before the end of the year. Correction, July 8 The original version of this article misspelled the last name of designer Francesco Fogu. It is Fogu, not Fugo.
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Frequently Asked Questions about restrict instagram meaning
Introduced as an anti-bullying feature, Instagram’s Restrict function gives you more control over what comments both you and your followers see on your posts by limiting what restricted accounts can post on your profile. When you restrict someone, their comments and messages will be hidden from your profile.Jun 3, 2021
While it’s obvious to someone when they’ve been blocked — because they can no longer find that user on the platform — it won’t be obvious when they’ve been restricted. They will see that user’s posts in their feed like they usually do. But they will no longer see when the user is online or has read their messages.Jul 8, 2019
When you block a person, neither of you can exchange direct messages. When you restrict a person, they can still send you a message. … As mentioned above, even if you see their message, they won’t be notified if you’ve read the message or are online.Jan 31, 2021