Published 22 Apr 2025

Instagram can be a wild ride – you expect your followers (or just random people who click on your tags) to be nice, and instead, you get a whole bunch of crazy comments under your posts, people sliding into your DMs, or just obsessively watching your Stories. All this can get really old, real fast, with the creep factor not easing the situation for you. Solution? Restrict or block them! But how do you decide what’s better for you?

In this article, we’ll explain the difference between Instagram restrict vs. block, when you’d want to use them, and offer some countermeasures if you’re the one who’s been restricted. Read on!

What Does Restricted Mean on IG

Restricting is perfect if you’re trying to avoid drama with someone you can’t fully cut off – like that nosy family member or an ex who’s still lurking. It’s private, so they’ll never know you’ve set these limits, and you won’t have to worry about any confrontation. Plus, if you ever change your mind, you can unrestrict them in just a few taps. But before you do, see below what does restricted mean on IG:

• Comments: They’re basically shouting into the void. Only they can see what they wrote on your posts unless you decide to make it public. If you’re curious, you can peek at their comment, decide if it’s worth keeping, delete it, or just ignore it altogether. No drama.
• Messages: Their messages won’t even land in your main inbox – they go straight to the “Message Requests” folder, where they can sit quietly without bothering you. And no user will ever know if you’ve read their messages or not, so you can have a magic shield against unwanted DMs as long as you want.
• Activity status: They’re out of the loop. No “active now” or “seen” indicators for them. But can restricted accounts see your story or any other activity? Yes, but they still won’t be able to interact with you like a regular follower.
• Notifications: You won’t get notifications for anything they do, whether they’re commenting, messaging, or trying to interact. Instagram takes care of it all in the background, so you don’t even have to think about it.

Blocking Someone on Instagram Means

Unlike with the restricting option, once you block someone, your profile disappears for them – they can’t search for you, see your posts, or check out your stories or highlights, which is the perfect way to reclaim your privacy if someone’s creeping a little too hard. So, what does blocking someone on Instagram do?

• Removed interactions: All those likes and comments they’ve left on your posts vanish like they were never there. And don’t worry – they can’t leave any new comments or likes, so your posts feel a lot more like yours. No more random, annoying comments on that cute vacation photo!
• Messaging restrictions: Blocking shuts down their ability to slide into your DMs, and if they try to message you, you’ll never see it. That said, the old message threads between you two will still hang around in your inbox, but nothing new will pop up. If you’re both in the same group chat, Instagram even allows you to either peace out of the group or stick around.
• No notifications: Instagram doesn’t send out a big flashing alert saying, “You’ve been blocked!” (thank goodness), but if the person’s paying attention, they might figure it out. Their comments are gone, they can’t tag you, and your profile’s nowhere to be found – it’s not rocket science. But hey, if they’re blocked, they probably gave you a good reason to do it in the first place.
• Multi-account blocking: If the person has other accounts – or might create new ones just to bug you – you can block all of them in one go. Instagram lets you block all their “current and future” accounts. Just keep in mind if you’re already following some of their other accounts, you’ll have to block those individually.

Instagram Restrict vs. Block: The Impact on Comments

Now that we’ve cleared how both options work individually, let’s tackle the differences between Instagram restrict vs. block in one fell swoop! We will start with the comment section, which is the most visited place on all of IG, where you can find a friend or start a fight. That being said, this is how restricting comments differs from straight-up blocking someone:

• Visibility: Blocking means a person can’t comment on your posts at all, so you don’t have to deal with their input. With restriction, they can still comment, but only they can see it. You won’t have to worry about their comments affecting you or your audience, and they won’t know they’re restricted.
• Notifications: Blocking gets rid of any notifications from the blocked person since they can’t interact with you at all. Restricting means you won’t get notified about their comments, but you can still see them if you manually check your posts. Their comments will show up under a “See comment” button, where you can decide whether to approve or delete them.
• User awareness: When you block someone, it’s pretty obvious to them since they can’t see your posts or comment on anything. Restricting is much sneakier – they can still comment and interact, but they won’t realize their comments are hidden from everyone but themselves.
• Long-term interaction: Blocking is great if you want to stop all interaction with someone for good. Restricting lets them keep engaging, but you can filter out their comments so you’re not dealing with unnecessary drama.

The Influence on Messages

While the comment section is an open field (unless your account is set to be private), DMs are a place for the chosen ones. However, that doesn’t mean that people there don’t go nuts every once in a while – think about overbearing in-laws or an ex with a ton of fake accounts made just to stalk you. The choice is yours, and you can enforce Instagram restrict vs. block them – just know what you’ll be dealing with first:

• Messaging access: If you block someone, users can’t message you at all, no matter what, and your DMs will be completely off-limits to them. However, if you restrict someone, they will still be able to send you messages, but those messages will get dumped into your Message Requests. You can see them if you want, but they’ll have no clue if you’ve read it or not.
• Notifications: Blocking is the cleanest option here – no messages means no notifications, end of story. With restricting, you won’t get alerts for their messages either, but they will still be in the Request folder, waiting for you to decide if they’re worth your time.
• Read receipts: When you block someone, you won’t have receipts, so there’s nothing to worry about. If you restrict someone, though, you will still be able to read their messages in the Requests folder without triggering that dreaded “seen” notification. They’ll never know how you looked, which can be kind of satisfying.
• Group chats: Blocking someone takes them completely out of your group chat world. You won’t see their messages, and it’s like they don’t exist. Restricting works differently – they can still send messages in the group chat, and you’ll see them. But Instagram will let you know if someone you restricted is in the group, so you can decide whether to stay or bounce.

Other Differences Between Block and Restrict

Use these screenshots:

Of course, there are many more points to consider when you think about restricting or blocking someone on IG. Can they see your profile? Can they tag or mention you? Can you take all of it back? Would you be able to view Instagram followers? We have the answers!

In the table below, we’ve compiled the most commonly remembered differences between Instagram block vs. restrict. Take a look!

Feature	Restrict	Block
Profile visibility	The restricted person can still see your profile, posts, and stories.	The blocked person cannot find or view your profile, posts, or stories.
Tag in photos	The restricted person can tag you in photos, but you control whether the tags are visible to others.	The blocked person cannot tag you in photos.
Mention username	The restricted person can mention your username, but you decide if it is visible.	The blocked person cannot mention your username in posts, comments, or stories.
Notifications	Notifications for restricted actions (e.g., comments) are muted, but you can choose to see them.	You receive no notifications or interactions from the blocked person.
Reversibility	It can be removed by lifting the restriction.	It can be undone by unblocking the person. All deleted interactions (e.g., likes and comments) will not be restored.
User awareness	The restricted person is not notified and may not realize they are restricted.	The blocked person may notice they are blocked (e.g., unable to see your profile or interact with you).

View Instagram Despite Blocks or Restrictions with Accountviewer

Now, you might not want to block (or restrict – it’s your call!) someone but want to figure out how to overrule someone kicking you out of their profile. Maybe it was done by accident, or maybe your angsty teen thinks you registered on IG just to spite them? Either way, Instagram private Accountviewer is your answer!

It doesn’t require you to install anything or alert anyone to your presence – all the info is sent to your personal userspace, so you won’t have to log in to Instagram either. Just choose your plan, enter the account username you want to track, and you’re good to go. Plus, if you’re curious about more than one person, you can add several accounts to your dashboard and switch between them whenever you want.

What else can Accountviewer offer you?

• Stay anonymous while browsing: You can watch someone’s stories, check their posts, and even see who’s liking what, all without them knowing you’re there. No awkward moments, no digital footprints.
• Peek into private profiles: Even if the account is private, you’ll still be able to access the content.
• Save stories and posts for later: Ever miss a story because it disappeared too fast? Not anymore. Accountviewer saves them for up to 3 months, so you can watch (or re-watch) whenever you want.
• Download what you need: Any media content is available to be downloaded! You can choose any video, story, or post and save it directly to your device in real quality. 

FAQ

What is the difference between block and restrict on Instagram?

The main difference between Instagram block vs. restrict is that blocking someone on Instagram is like hitting the big red “nope” button – they can’t see your posts, stories, or interact with you at all – while when you restrict someone, they can still see everything. Still, their comments are hidden from everyone except them, and their DMs go straight to your “Message Requests”, where you can just ignore them if you want. No drama, no confrontation.

What does a restricted Instagram account look like?

Here’s a compressed version of restrict Instagram meaning: if someone’s restricted, they’ll still see all your posts and stories, but their comments are basically invisible to anyone except them. Their DMs go to your “Message Requests”. They’ll never know if you’ve read them and won’t see if you’re active or have seen their messages.

What happens when you block an account on Instagram?

When you block someone, they won’t be able to see your posts or stories, their likes and comments will disappear, and they also won’t be able to send you messages anymore. If you’re in a group chat, you’ll still see them there, but they won’t be able to message you directly.

If you restrict someone on Instagram, can they see your likes?

Yeah, if you restrict someone, they can still see your likes on posts – just like anyone else. Restricting only affects their ability to comment or message you without you knowing. If your account is private, though, they won’t be able to see your likes unless you accept their follow request.