Alex Ruben
How To Find Out If Someone Has Blocked You on iMessage
Honestly, detecting if you’re blocked on iMessage isn’t always straightforward—Apple doesn’t send you some clear notification or alert. Sometimes, things just seem off: messages turning green, no “Delivered” confirmations, or inconsistent responses. This guide digs into some of those clues that tend to pop up when someone blocks you, plus a few practical things you can try. This won’t give you absolute proof, but it can help you piece together the signs. Because, let’s face it, Apple’s privacy settings make it tricky to get a definitive answer — but these tricks are better than pure guesswork.
How to tell if someone blocked you on iMessage — what to look for
Check your message bubbles and delivery status
- If your iMessages turn green unexpectedly and stay that way, it’s a good sign. Because of course, Apple makes it simple: blue means the message is sent as an iMessage, green means SMS. So, if someone was replying in blue and suddenly all your chats turn green from one day to the next, maybe you’ve been blocked or the person switched to a non-Apple device. But it can also mean they turned off iMessage or are in airplane mode.
- Look at the “Delivered” status. If you usually see it pop up under your messages and now it’s just not there, that could be a sign. On some setups, the “Delivered” info can be delayed or not appear at all—depends on settings or network issues. But if you send a message and it stays “Not Delivered” all day, and the recipient isn’t responding elsewhere, it’s suspicious.
Observe response patterns and message timing
If someone typically responds quickly and suddenly goes silent for days or weeks, that’s, uh, suspicious, but not definitive. People get busy, or sometimes they just ignore messages on purpose — which is kinda frustrating. Still, when combined with other signs, lack of responses can suggest you’re blocked. Especially if your messages aren’t marked as delivered or read, even after waiting a decent amount of time.
Test location sharing and contact info
- Tap on the person’s name or profile picture at the top of the chat. If you used to see location sharing info or their profile photo, but it’s missing now, that’s another red flag. Sometimes, blocking impacts shared info like location. But remember, they might have just changed their privacy settings.
- If you’re feeling especially adventurous, try calling them. If the call goes straight to voicemail or rings indefinitely when you used to get an answer, maybe they’ve blocked your number or set up a Do Not Disturb. On some setups, a blocked number might not ring at all, or it rings once then stops; it’s all inconsistent.
Extra tricks worth trying
Here’s where the real subtlety comes in. You can send a message from a different device or even use a web-based messaging platform linked to Apple ID. If you get replies there but not on your primary device, probably not blocked — just maybe iMessage acting up. Also, check if their account shows as active on other platforms, like WhatsApp or Instagram, to see if they’re generally offline or ignoring messages.
Sometimes, rebooting your device or toggling iMessage off and on in Settings > Messages can refresh things. On iOS, you find the toggle under Settings > Messages > iMessage. Turn it off, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on. Fancy, but it clears some bugs.
Another thing I’ve noticed: If it didn’t help the first time, usually a quick restart of the device can refresh your connection and give the system a nudge. Because — surprise! — Apple likes to mess with our head sometimes.