Want to know how to tell if you’ve been blocked on WhatsApp?

In March 2020, WhatsApp estimated two billion active users, which makes it one of the most popular ways to communicate and connect with friends. Over the past few months, WhatsApp has rolled out a number of updates, including group calls, disappearing photos and videos, and a practical chat function, although one thing users still can’t see directly is when they’ve been stuck in the app.

According to WhatsApp, it’s all about protecting user privacy, which it is keen to do following the backlash of its new privacy policy, but how can you be sure that this contact is just busy or is really gone for good?

While WhatsApp doesn’t alert you when one of your contacts manually blocks you (maybe for the best), if you think you’ve been blocked, there are a few key signs to look out for in the app.

How to tell if you’ve been blocked on WhatsApp: you can no longer see someone’s profile picture

One of the easiest ways to detect that your contact has blocked you is that you will no longer be able to see their profile picture and instead there will be a generic user icon.

Of course, it could also mean that your contact deleted their photo or deleted their account, but if your friends can still see their profile picture and you can’t, it could be a sign that the person has blocked you.

When you’re blocked on WhatsApp, the service prevents you from seeing information like the last time the contact was online, so if your contact’s “last seen” suddenly disappeared, that might be why.

On its website, WhatsApp confirms: “Your last viewed status updates online and any changes to your profile picture will no longer be visible to contacts you have blocked.” “

Again, we must caution that this is not always the case. Sometimes it can just mean that your contact has turned off this feature in their privacy settings.

How to tell if you’ve been blocked on WhatsApp: messages you send never get two ticks

If you want to test things by sending a message to your contact, if you have been blocked, you will find that the messages you send will only receive one check mark, not two.

As a reminder, a gray check mark means that the message has been sent successfully, two gray check marks mean that the message has been successfully delivered to the recipient’s phone and two blue check marks mean that the recipient has read your message.

If you only notice one gray check mark over several days, it’s likely that your contact isn’t just in a no-go zone, and you’ve likely been blocked.

How to tell if you’ve been blocked on WhatsApp: your calls won’t connect

Another daring, but foolproof step is to physically call the contact you think may have blocked you on WhatsApp. If you try to call your contact on WhatsApp and the call rings a few times and then disconnects, chances are you’ve been blocked.

Having said that, it can also mean they’re busy and hanging up, but if this happens multiple times, it could confirm your suspicions.

If you try all of the above and notice one or more of these things within a few days, chances are you’ve been blocked on WhatsApp (and if you haven’t, your contact will likely let you know). That said, there is no way to be 100% sure, and it seems unlikely that WhatsApp will ever deploy such a feature, to protect the privacy of its users.

How to block someone on WhatsApp on Android

Unlike detecting whether or not you’ve been blocked, blocking someone on WhatsApp is a straightforward process. Here’s how to do it on Android.

1. Open WhatsApp on your Android phone, then select the three dots in the top right corner of the app and choose “Settings”.

2. Under “Settings”, search for “Account”, then “Privacy”, then tap “Blocked contacts”.

3. From “Blocked contacts”, select the “Add new” in the upper right corner and choose a contact from your list that you want to block.

How to block someone on WhatsApp on iPhone

And here is how to block someone on WhatsApp on your iPhone.

1. On your iPhone, go to your WhatsApp settings and press “Account”.

2. Under “Account”, search for “Confidentiality”, then select “Blocked”.

3. In the “Blocked” section, you will be able to view (and unblock) blocked contacts. To add a contact, select “Add new” and choose one from your WhatsApp contact list.