How to Check if a Friend Restricted You on Facebook or Messenger

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Are you restricted on Facebook? Here are the signs

Written by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: October 21, 2025 Fact Checked

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Restricted by a Friend (Facebook)

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Restricted by a Friend (Messenger)

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Account Restriction

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Tips

Are you trying to figure out if a Facebook friend has restricted you? While you won't be notified by Facebook when someone restricts your profile, you can usually figure it out based on a combination of factors. This wikiHow article teaches you easy ways to determine whether you've been added to someone's restricted list on Facebook or Facebook Messenger. You’ll also learn how to check if Facebook has placed any restrictions on your account.

Quickly Find Out if Your Restricted

Go to a friend's profile. If you can only see public posts, but could previously see friends-only posts, you may have been restricted.
Ask a mutual friend if they can see their friends-only posts. If a mutual friend can see friends-only posts on the person's profile but you can't, you may be restricted.
If you notice a lack of recent content or are unable to see posts at all, you may be restricted.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Find Out if a Friend Restricted You on Facebook

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The "Restricted" list is different from the "Blocked" list in that restricted users can still view public posts and posts on mutual friends' pages from the person who blocked them. If you can't view the person's profile at all, you're likely blocked, not restricted. If you can see their profile, keep reading for signs you've been restricted.^{[1]
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Look for empty space in between posts. This is usually indicative of a gap between friends-only and public posts. If you've been restricted, you won't be able to see the private posts, hence the space here.
- Depending on when your friend made their public posts, you might not see a gap here, even if you have been restricted.
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See if their posts are all public. If there's a "Public" globe to the right of every post's timestamp, you know that you aren't seeing their private posts.^{[2]
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- This doesn't necessarily mean they've restricted you--they may have decided to post only public items.^{[3]
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Look for a sudden lack of posts. Not being able to see photos or other content that you could before might mean you've been restricted.^{[4]
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- It also might mean that your friend simply deleted their posts.
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Ask a mutual friend to look at your friend's Timeline. Even if you can't see private posts or their old photos, your friend may have just deleted their old information and locked down their account to retain privacy from all of their Facebook friends (not just you). You can verify this by having a mutual friend look at your friend's Timeline and tell you if they see anything that you don't.^{[5]
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- Even just asking them if your friend has posted recently when you can't see any account activity from the past month or so will accomplish this goal.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Find Out if a Friend Restricted You on Messenger

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1
Check if you can see their active status. Facebook Messenger usually displays a green dot next to someone’s profile picture when they are online. If you tap their profile, it will usually tell you when they were last active. If you can’t see this information, it may mean you have been restricted.^{[6]
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- Not being able to see your friend’s active status doesn’t necessarily mean you have been restricted. Users can disable their active status and hide it from everyone. They can also disable their active status for individual users.
If you are restricted on Facebook Messenger, the messages you send will read as “Sent” but not “Delivered.” Even if the person checks their messages, the delivery status will still read as “Sent.”
If you are restricted on Facebook Messenger, the person will not receive notifications about your messages. Your chat won’t appear on their list of chats. If they don’t respond to your messages for a long time, it could mean that they are not active on Facebook Messenger or that you are restricted.
When you are restricted on Messenger, their phone will not ring when you try to call them. If they don’t answer when you try to call them, that could be a sign that you are restricted.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Finding Out if Your Account is Restricted

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It’s in the upper-right corner on Android or the lower-right corner on iPhone and iPad. This opens your account menu.
It’s at the top of your account menu. This displays your profile.
It’s the icon with three dots. It’s at the top of the page below your cover photo and name.
This displays the status of your profile or page.
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Check your profile status. If there is a green check mark next to your profile picture, there are no restrictions on your account. If there is a red dot with a line through it next to your profile icon, there is a restriction on your account. This page will tell you what the restriction is and what you can do to fix it.
- Account restrictions could be due to community guidelines violations or something technical, like needing to confirm your account or enable two-factor authentication.

Community Q&A

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Question

I was unfriended on Facebook. I can see the public posts, and am able to read the comments and see the likes I did. Now I only see the pic. Why is that?

Community Answer

It's most likely because whoever commented blocked you. Either that, or the person's page you are on has his/her posts filtered so you can't see his/her friends.

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How can I tell if a friend has restricted me from seeing their posts?

Community Answer

The only way you can tell for sure is to ask someone else if they can see any posts from that person. If they can see posts that you can't, then you'll know that person has blocked you from seeing their posts.

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Question

Have I been restricted if I can see a friend's profile on Facebook and see their posts if I go to it, but I don't receive them on my timeline?

Community Answer

Either that, or you may have accidentally unfollowed them. Go to their page and click on the menu where it says you are friends, and see if it says unfollow.

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Tips

If Facebook itself has restricted you, you won't be able to log in to your account.^{[7]
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If a friend restricts you, respect their boundaries. If you make an issue out of it, that will likely validate their decision to restrict you, or they may decide to block you.

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