The ability to block an account you no longer want to connect with is one of the many features offered by the instant messaging app WhatsApp, which shouldn’t come as a wonder as almost everyone must know it by now. There are a few telltale indications that can sort of prove that you have been blocked, even if there is no foolproof way to find out (apart from the contact informing you this, of course). In this article, we will see all the indications but before that let us first know how the WhatsApp block feature works.
How Does WhatsApp Block work?
The WhatsApp block works as a boundary between you and the account you don’t want to remain in touch with. It works like a protective line that you chose to draw between yourself and a person you don’t wish to share your life with. By blocking a particular contact, you can cease receiving their WhatsApp messages, calls, and status updates. Additionally, you can inform WhatsApp of any objectionable content. You can even call the emergency services in your area if you believe you or anyone else is in urgent danger.
However, there are certain points to notice when you block someone you will no longer be able to keep an eye on them. You can even report a person before blocking him. Another important point to note here is that both you and the person you blocked will still be included in each other’s contact lists after blocking them. The address book on your phone must be cleared in order to delete a contact.
Steps to Know if You’ve Been Blocked on WhatsApp
To answer the question “if someone blocked me on WhatsApp how do I know”, we have listed a few steps that can help you ensure that you have been blocked on WhatsApp by someone. Consider following these steps if you believe that someone has blocked you but are unsure.
Check if Nothing Is Visible Like the Last Seen of Your Contact
Even if you don’t choose to hide the last seen from your contacts, the contacts that have been blocked will not be visible which means you won’t be able to see their online activity, such as their last seen on WhatsApp if someone has blocked you.
Check If Messages Are Showing Up
The blocked contact cannot receive messages; thus, you won’t be able to send one. They won’t get any messages sent by you to a contact who has blocked you on WhatsApp at least till the time the contact has blocked you. The messages sent by you while you were blocked won’t reach them at all, even after the contact unblocks you.
Ensure that You Can See Their Profile Photo
Now that we are talking about visibility, it is also important to know that even their profile image won’t be shown if any of your contacts have blocked you on WhatsApp. You won’t receive any images to replace their WhatsApp display photo. This is another sign of confirming that someone has blocked you.
Ensure that Their Status Message Is Displayed
Even your contact’s WhatsApp status message will be concealed from you if they have blocked you on the platform, just like the last seen information. Only after unblocking the blocked contact can an unblocked contact see the status message of a contact that might have blocked him before.
Check If Their Read Receipts Are Visible
We have made it obvious that you won’t be able to send any messages to a contact who has blocked you. The blocked contact doesn’t even receive blue ticks or read receipts in that situation because they won’t receive your messages.
Check If You Can Call Them or Not
It is very well obvious that you can’t call the people who have blocked you on WhatsApp. The blocked contact is always blocked to avoid any interaction and so a blocked contact can’t call on WhatsApp or send messages until the other person unblocks you.
Verify If Even They Cannot Send Messages or Make Calls
When a particular contact is blocked on WhatsApp, both the blocked contact and you are unable to communicate with each other through the app until the contact unlocks you. This means they won’t be able to send you a message and make a call. They would have to unblock you to do that.
Things That Remain Same Even If a Person Blocks You on WhatsApp
Given below are the two main aspects that remain the same even if someone blocks you. These two factors can be misleading at times as they often confuse people that nothing is wrong and the other person is still available for a conversation. However, one can just straightforwardly ask someone in person if they have blocked you or not, and if yes then what is the reason behind that. Who knows you might end up sorting things out!
1. Group Chats Will Remain Unaffected
You may not be able to send any private messages to the person who has blocked you, but group chats are unaffected in such situations. In groups where you and the contact that has blocked you are both members, they can still receive messages from you.
2. Your Contact Won’t Disappear for Them
You should be aware that a person blocking you on WhatsApp won’t actually make you disappear from their contact list. Only after one deletes your contact from their address book or phone book will you no longer be visible on WhatsApp. You will be able to see their contact on your list but you can do nothing more than that.
How to React After Knowing Someone Blocked You?
First of all, don’t lose your cool. Things like these tend to happen and one should deal with such situations as a mature person. It is advised that you should not keep any hard feelings against someone and try reaching them in person for a conversation. Also, you should always respect others’ decisions. Remember that everyone is solely responsible for barring and unblocking contacts on WhatsApp. One can unlock someone and start having talks with them with just a long press on the contact. It’s totally one’s personal call and it should never be taken too seriously.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Ans: Reporting is different from blocking but they both appear in a loop to each other. When a person blocks someone he is always provided with an option to report the number and the same is the case when someone reports a number, he is always asked if he wants to continue reporting with blocking. However, it is up to the user if he wants to perform both the actions at once or just wants to continue with a single command. For better clarity, you may look at the pictures given below wherein both the conditions are explained with the help of images.
Condition 1: Reporting a Number
Ans:The procedure is simple. Just follow the steps given below:
- Open WhatsApp and select Settings from the More menu.
- Select Blocked contacts under Account > Privacy.
- Hit Add.
- You can either look up or choose the person you wish to block.
- To report and block the number, open a conversation with the contact and select More options > More > Block > BLOCK or Report and Block.
- Touch the contact’s name to open a chat with them, then tap on the Contact> Block > BLOCK.
Condition 2: Blocking a Number
Ans:If for any reason you feel like changing your mind and unblocking a contact, you can follow the given steps:
- Tap More options > Settings in WhatsApp.
- Select Blocked contacts under Account > Privacy.
- To unblock a contact, tap on them.
- Click “Unblock contact.” Now, calls, messages, and status updates can be made and received between you and the contact.
- You can also look for the blocked contact, tap and hold on them, then select Unblock Contact.
Ans:The process to block an unknown number on Whatsapp is also easy. You just have to follow the given steps for the same.
- Open the WhatsApp conversation with the unknown phone number.
- Press BLOCK.
- To report and block the number, select REPORT AND BLOCK or BLOCK if you simply want to block the person and not report.