Detecting When You’ve Been Blocked on iMessage – A Step-by-Step Guide

Quick Links

• Your iMessage Is Sent as a Text Message
• Read Receipts Are Not Appearing
• You Can’t Reach Your Contact by Call or on Other Apps
• You Can Reach Your Contact From Other Numbers

Key Takeaways

• An iMessage sent as a green text message and the absence of read receipts may indicate, but not confirm, that you’re blocked.
• Before jumping to conclusions, try to reach your contact through third-party messaging and social media apps.
• There isn’t a sure-fire way to find out if someone blocked you on iMessage. You’re only likely blocked if you can’t contact your recipient anywhere.

Sent a couple of iMessage texts but not receiving a reply from your contact? You may get worried and wonder if the other person has blocked you. Here are some signs that may indicate you’re blocked on iMessage.

You’re likely only blocked if you encounter all the listed scenarios. If you see only one or two signs, it’s probably due to other reasons, not because you’re blocked, which we’ll also explain below.

1. Your iMessage Is Sent as a Text Message

Typically, iMessage text bubbles are blue. If your iMessage is sent as a green SMS text message, it’s possible you’re blocked. That’s why your iPhone can’t recognize their Apple device and send an iMessage successfully to them.

However, there are other reasons why your iMessage is sent as a text message as well. For example, if the other person’s Apple device isn’t connected to the internet, the Messages app will fall back to SMS and send your message as a green text bubble.

2. Read Receipts Are Not Appearing

Typically after you send an iMessage, you’ll see a read receipt indicating when the other party opened it. If you’re blocked on iMessage, read receipts won’t appear anymore because the text never reached their device in the first place.

At most, you’ll see aDelivered status if their device received your iMessage before they blocked you.

Still, an innocent reason why read receipts are not appearing is because your contact has disabled them for privacy purposes. It’s a common setting for smartphone users who prefer the privacy of reading and replying to messages at their own pace.

If your target recipient’s internet connection is spotty, a blue iMessage text you sent may also not have aRead orDelivered status for quite a while.

3. You Can’t Reach Your Contact by Call or on Other Apps

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If someone blocked you on iMessage, they would have to block your phone number entirely. It’s impossible for users to block a person on iMessage while still allowing phone calls from them.

Therefore, to test if you’re blocked, try calling your contact. If the call isn’t going through, don’t panic first. It may be because they’re busy at that time or facing issues where they can’t receive calls on their iPhone .

Besides calling, you can also drop them a message on third-party messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as social media apps like Facebook and Instagram.

If you’re unable to call them and can no longer find their profile on social media platforms, unfortunately, it might mean that they’ve blocked you everywhere to prevent you from reaching out to them.

However, it might not just be you that they’ve blocked. With smartphones becoming increasingly entangled with our lives, people may choose to enable Focus mode and go on a digital detox by deleting their social media to take care of their health and ensure they’re not easily contactable.

4. You Can Reach Your Contact From Other Numbers

If you can send an iMessage and call your contact normally from someone else’s phone, it may indeed mean that the other party has specifically blocked you.

However, before jumping to conclusions, check if the issue lies with your device and its settings. Smartphones act up from time to time, causing iMessage to not work and users to be unable to make phone calls on their iPhones .

Overall, there isn’t one sure-fire way to instantly know whether someone has blocked you on iMessage or not. It’s usually a combination of indicators.

If you’re facing all four issues we listed in this article, it’s safe to assume your contact has blocked you on iMessage. Otherwise, it may be simply that the other person is caught up with work and simply need some time to themselves.

You can send a follow-up text if you haven’t heard from them but avoid double or triple texting incessantly. Then, simply wait for them to reach out to you instead.

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