How to Know If You've Been Blocked on WhatsApp

This article explains how to tell if a user has blocked you on WhatsApp. Not all of these methods will tell you definitively if you've been blocked but can give you hints. These steps apply to all versions on all devices; some of these steps are also relevant to WhatsApp Web.

Check Your Contact's Last Seen Status

Here's how to check the user's Last Seen status. Last Seen status refers to the last time the contact used WhatsApp.

1. Find and open a chat with the user.

   If a conversation isn't open, find the user's name and create a new chat.

2. The Last Seen status is visible under the user's name—for example, "last seen today at 10:18 A.M."

3. If you don't see anything under the user's name, it's possible they blocked you.

4. A lack of a Last Seen status isn't necessarily an indication that you've been blocked. WhatsApp has a privacy setting that allows the user to hide their Last Seen status.

Check the Checkmarks

Messages sent to a contact who blocked you always show one checkmark (indicating that the message was sent), and never show a second checkmark (confirming that a message was delivered).

On its own, this could mean the user lost their phone or can't connect to the internet. Combined with a lack of a Last Seen status, however, the evidence is piling up that you've been blocked.

Look for Updates to Their Profile

When someone blocks you on WhatsApp, you won't see updates to their profile photo. On its own, this isn't a definitive clue, given that many users don't have profile pictures or rarely update theirs. Combined with a lack of a Last Seen status and undelivered messages, though, it's another indication you've been blocked.

Try Calling Them Using WhatsApp

If you're blocked, a call to the user might not connect or might result in an "unsuccessful call" message.

Check the Participants List in a Group Message

When creating a group message in WhatsApp, it may seem as if you successfully added the user—but when you open the group chat, they don't appear in the participants list. If you try to add a contact who's blocked you through the Add Participants section of the group chat, you'll get a Can't add participant error.

WhatsApp is intentionally ambiguous about blocked status to protect the blocker's privacy, and it will not notify you if you've been blocked. If you see all the indicators above, your WhatsApp contact likely blocked you. If you've been blocked, there's no way to unblock yourself. Your best course of action is to either move on or reach out to the person to find out why you were blocked.