Facebook Messenger helps us to stay connected with our family and friends. But what if someone suddenly stopped responding to your messages on Messenger? Perhaps they might block or restrict you. It can be fun for them but mentally harass you. How to know if someone restricted you on Messenger? I know you don’t have answers to these questions. That’s why you visited our blog post to find solutions for you.
Someone who restricts you on Facebook Messenger won’t receive notifications about your messages and calls. You won’t be able to see their activity status. Your messages will remain unread, and your voice and video calls will not ring on their phones. Restricting doesn’t mean blocking or unfriending someone on Facebook. Instead, it’s a kind of “Do not disturb” feature.
Adding acquaintances or friends of friends is common on Facebook. You can make voice and video calls via Messenger. However, it can be annoying to them during their busy hours. So they can restrict you on Messenger and don’t get notifications about your messages and calls. After knowing this, you might be disappointed but curious about how to know if you are restricted on Messenger.
Keep reading our article to know if someone restricted or blocked you on Facebook Messenger.
What is Restrict in Messenger?
This decade Meta did lots of work to improve users’ privacy on their social media platforms. For example, they recently introduced the restrict button on Messenger so that users can manage their interactions with others. The same feature also exists on Facebook but works differently. In this article, we are focusing on Messenger only.
Someone can restrict you through their Messenger app. Unfortunately, the feature is not yet available on messenger.com. As they tap the Restrict icon, they won’t get notifications about your messages and calls. This way, they leave you alone without blocking you on Messenger.
What happens when someone has restricted you on Messenger?
- They won’t see chat with you.
- Facebook will not notify them about you.
- Facebook will hide their Active status from you. The same happens with them.
- Your messages will remain unread. You can’t say whether they read them or not.
- They can’t message or call you via Messenger.
Facebook won’t notify you when someone restricts you on Facebook Messenger.
Restricting does not put other limits so you can see their Facebook account and activities.
How to Know if Someone Restricted You on Messenger?
You might be restless in contacting someone who is not responding to you intentionally. But they won’t respond to your messages and calls. Only fuzzy guesses remain in your mind, but you can’t confidently say whether you’ve been restricted on Facebook Messenger by them. I know how hurtful it is when someone adds you to a restricted list. The following methods will let you determine whether someone on Facebook Messenger has restricted you.
1. They are not responding to your messages
Are you not getting a response to your direct messages? Most probably, they might have restricted you on Messenger. In this case, your chat with them shifts to “Restricted accounts” and does not appear in the Chats section. They also can’t see any notifications related to your DMs and calls. For this reason, they don’t reply, and you feel left alone.
As Messenger’s Restrict option doesn’t affect a Facebook account’s privacy settings, you can check their activities on their Facebook account. Once you are confirmed, they are inactive on Facebook and do not respond to you on Messenger. Then, wait for their response.
If you find they’ve posted something on their Facebook profile and engaged on other posts. Most probably, they restricted you on Messenger to ignore you completely.
2. You don’t get the read receipt
You can’t be judgemental because it is difficult to know whether someone on Facebook Messenger has restricted you. To diagnose more, you can check whether you see the empty or filled circle with a checkmark next to your message.
This empty circle with a checkmark indicates your message has been sent but not delivered to the person for whatever reason. In contrast, the filled circle with a checkmark indicates the delivery confirmation or read receipt on Facebook Messenger. You can tap every message to see whether it is sent, delivered, or seen.
The empty or filled circle with a check mark only appears on the Android app, not the iOS app. So once they read your message, the check mark vanishes.
If you can access the profile of the person who restricted you to limit interactions, you’re actually restricted from communicating with them.
3. They don’t pick up your calls
After tapping the restrict button, someone who restricted you won’t receive a notification about your calls either. When you call them, the dialer tone rings up at your end, but their phone doesn’t ring, and they don’t get any notification. Therefore, they don’t pick up your calls. Instead, it indicates they added you to their restricted list through Messenger’s “Restrict” feature.
4. Their active status is missing
Do you want more proof of whether you’ve been restricted by someone on Facebook Messenger?
If someone’s active status is hidden, there is a high chance that restriction limits hide their activities on Messenger. Their last active status is one of them.
But remember, the Messenger app has the option to turn off the Active status, so we can’t say anything confidently, whether they have restricted you or not.
To clear your doubt, you can ask your mutual friends to check whether they can see the person’s active status. If the active status is visible to them, you have successfully confirmed your doubt.
This is how I check whether someone restricted me on Facebook Messenger. Similarly, when you restrict someone on Messenger, you won’t receive their messages and calls, and notifications related to them.
How to Restrict Someone on Messenger?
After learning “how to know if you’re restricted on Messenger,” let’s learn to restrict annoying people on Messenger. Restricting is different from unfriending someone on Facebook.
Follow the steps given below to restrict your friends on Messenger:
On the iOS app–
- Open the Messenger app on your iPhone.
- Open the Chat with someone.
- Tap his name on the top bar.
- Scroll down to Privacy & Support.
- Tap Restrict.
On the Android app–
- Open the Messenger app on your phone.
- Long press the name of a person to whom you want to restrict.
- Tap Restrict on the pop-up menu.
- Tap Restrict {user’s name} to confirm the action.
Thus, you restricted someone on Messenger to avoid their messages and calls, including related notifications.
Conclusion
It is difficult to tell if someone has restricted you on Messenger because Facebook doesn’t notify you about it. As the person who restricted you doesn’t get the notification regarding your messages and calls, so their reply is unexpected. They can see your messages and missed calls after unrestricting you. But till then no chance of a reply from them. This restriction doesn’t allow them and you to check each other’s active status.
Your friends can help you determine whether the person is available online on Messenger or only you are restricted from contacting them. Remember, you can also use the restrict feature to take a break from annoying people.
I hope this article helped you to know whether someone restricted you on Messenger from contacting them.
FAQs
What happens when you restrict someone on Messenger?
You shift people to Restricted accounts. Thus, Messenger won’t notify you about their DMs and calls.
How to know if someone blocked or restricted you on Messenger?
A blocked person’s message won’t get delivered, so they see an empty circle with a checkmark. In contrast, a restricted person may see a filled circle with a checkmark that indicates the message has been delivered but won’t get the read receipt.
Can someone restrict a group conversation on Messenger?
No, it is not possible. Messenger doesn’t roll out the option to restrict a group conversation on Messenger.