BAM, you’ve just seen the ‘action blocked’ or ‘you’re temporarily blocked’ message on Instagram after using it for a while.
The message says something along the lines of, “This action was blocked. Please try again later. We restrict certain content and actions to protect our community. Tell us if you think we made a mistake”.
Most people have seen this message on Instagram and it can be disheartening to find out that Instagram has just blocked your actions.
What does Action Blocked on Instagram?
The action blocked message means that Instagram has blocked you from either following, liking, commenting, or direct messaging people.
You have spammed this action too much, so Instagram think you’re a bot, therefore, they have temporarily banned you from completing this action since it’s against their guidelines.
Why has my Action Been Blocked on Instagram?
- You’ve been following or unfollowing too many people
- You have commented the same thing under too many pictures
- You’ve been liking too many pictures in a short space of time
- You’ve been messaging too many accounts recently
- You’re using a third-party app to complete certain actions on Instagram
- You’ve been using a bot to automate your liking, following/unfollowing, or commenting
If you’ve been blocked by Instagram, I’m sure that you recognise one of these actions.
If not, you can contact Instagram and tell them that they’ve blocked your actions by mistake.
1. Use Another Device and Switch to Data
Since your IP address has been blocked by Instagram, this means that your best bet would be to switch to a different device and use data instead of WIFI.
When Instagram blocks you, they don’t block your account, they block your IP address.
Every device using the Internet has two IP addresses: a public and a private one.
In your home, your router uses your public IP address—assigned by your ISP to connect to the Internet.
On your mobile device, you have a public IP address.
So, if you use data and switch to a different device, your actions would be unblocked because you’re not associated with the blocked IP addresses anymore.
2. Wait for 24 Hours
Instagram usually only blocks you for 24 hours, sometimes even less.
In my experience, I was blocked for a few hours, so you may not even have to wait for the full 24 hours.
One of Instagram’s main priority is to block out spam and bots so that other accounts can be protected.
So, you’ll need to show Instagram that you can restrict this behaviour for a few hours before they can unblock you again.
Once you come back to Instagram in 24 hours after pretty much only being able to view pictures and do nothing else, you’ll finally be able to like, follow/unfollow, message and comment on people pictures.
3. Delete Third-Party Apps
If you’re using a third-party app, you’ll need to uninstall it right away.
The ‘unfollowing non-followers’ apps seem to be a very popular third-party app within the Instagram community.
There are also apps that credit your pictures with likes as long as you buy coins – if you’re guilty of having this, you’ll need to uninstall it.
Many apps that use Instagram API usually don’t restrict their users from abusing the features on the apps, therefore, these apps are usually the reason you’re going to get certain actions blocked by Instagram.
4. Link Instagram Account with Facebook
Since Instagram thinks that you’re a bot, you’re going to have to prove to them that you’re a genuine person by linking to another social media account such as your Facebook account.
This adds credibility therefore, there’s a very high chance that Instagram will unblock you within the 24 hours.
To link your Instagram to your Facebook:
- Tap on the 3 lines on your profile
- Tap on settings
- Scroll down to linked accounts
- Select Facebook and sign in
After you’ve done this, you need to close the app and restart your device so that the changes can be implemented.
After you’ve done this, you should be able to use Instagram just like you did before.
How to Avoid Getting Blocked by Instagram
So, I’ve shown you how to get your action unblocked on Instagram, now I’m going to show you how to avoid getting blocked by Instagram so that this doesn’t happen.
1. Don’t Use Bots or Third-Party Apps
Instagram is strict on too many actions being completed by one account.
Bots can perform actions very quickly which means that it gets noticed by Instagram because of the unnaturally quick actions.
Therefore, if you’re using a bot, you should either set the actions to be completed slowly – this will look natural to Instagram.
2. Stop Completing so Many Actions
If you’ve been the one over using Instagram to follow people or like pictures, for example, you’ll need to reduce your actions.
Don’t follow more than 60 people in a certain hour and restrict the number of pictures you like in a certain hour.