How to Unblock Someone on Instagram

I love blocking people on Instagram. It feels so powerful to revoke their access to me. But that power trip is, admittedly, a little shortsighted sometimes. Occasionally, you have to walk back an impulsive IG blocking—or maybe you decide you want to turn over a new leaf and reconnect with a former nemesis. Whatever the reason, it's pretty easy to undo that Instagram block.

What blocking on Instagram does

To block someone on Instagram, just navigate to their profile and press on the three dots in the upper right, just to the right of their username. There, you’ll see options like “Restrict,” “Block,” and “Report,” plus others. 

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson/Meta

Once you hit “block,” you’ll mutually unfollow each other. They won’t be able to search for or see your profile or see your comments on public pages. You’ll be untagged from each other’s photos and they won’t even be able to see your name atop your DM thread, if one exists. (Instead, you’ll be labeled “Instagram User” and will have a blank profile photo, although the messages will still be visible.) 

Conversely, if you still want to see their content, you’ll be able to type their full username into your search bar to find them, but you’ll need to unblock them to see anything. 

How to unblock someone on Instagram

There are two ways to unblock someone on Instagram. The first is to type their full username into your search bar. Typing just a bit won’t pull them up; you have to do the full thing. When you tap their profile, you won’t be able to see their following/follower count, but you’ll see how many posts they have, their bio, and their profile picture. Where there would normally be a “follow” button under their profile picture, you’ll see an “unblock” button. Tapping that will trigger a pop-up that prompts you to confirm you want to unblock them. 

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson/Meta

Conversely, you can navigate to your profile and hit the three-line menu in the top right, then go to “Setting and privacy.” Scroll down to “Blocked accounts” and you’ll see a list of all your blocks. Find the person you want to unblock in the list, then hit the “unblock” button to the right of their name, which will pull up that same pop-up reminding you that the person (and any of their other associated accounts) will be able to follow and message you again if you go through with it. Then, confirm you want to unblock. 

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson/Meta

What to keep in mind about unblocking on Instagram

You won’t automatically follow or be followed by anyone you’ve unblocked, even if you were following each other before the block. In most cases, photos of theirs you’re tagged in will reappear in your tagged photos and comments they’ve left on your pictures will reappear, as will likes they’ve given you. Your DM thread will look normal again, too. The only lingering issue will be that you need to refollow each other, so good luck with that awkwardness, if you plan to attempt it.