Introduction
Getting blocked on Instagram can be frustrating, especially if it’s by someone whose content you enjoyed viewing. When you are blocked, you are no longer able to see that user’s profile, photos, videos, stories, or anything else they post on the platform. However, there are still some ways you may be able to view the content from an account that has blocked you or that you have blocked.
Methods To View Content Of A Blocked Instagram Account
It’s important to note that Instagram’s terms of service prohibit using third-party apps, bots, or other methods to access a private Instagram account that you are not authorized to view. Attempting to circumvent a user’s privacy settings could potentially violate their terms and result in consequences like account suspension. With that said, here are some above-board methods to potentially view blocked Instagram content:
Create A New Account
One way to view a private or blocked Instagram account is to create a brand new account yourself. When setting up the new account, do not connect it to your phone number, email address, or other personal information that could link it back to your main account that is blocked. Use a different name, profile photo, and bio information.
Once your fresh account is setup, you can attempt to follow the private account you wish to view. They may accept your follow request from this new “blank slate” account, allowing you to see their content. However, many users are cautious about accepting follows from accounts with no followers, posts or other engagement, so this method is not guaranteed.
Check Other Social Platforms
Many Instagram users also maintain a presence on other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok etc. If the person has public accounts on those platforms, they may share some of the same photos, videos or updates that they post on Instagram.
Do a search for their name, username or other identifiable information across the different social sites. If you’re able to locate their other social accounts, you may be able to view some of the similar content they post across platforms.
Ask A Mutual Friend
If you have any mutual friends or followers in common with the user who blocked you, you could reach out to one of those connections. Explain the situation and ask if they would be willing to share screenshots or clips of certain posts or stories from that user’s account.
This approach does involve getting a third-party involved and could be seen as a violation of privacy by the user whose content you’re trying to access. So exercise caution and maybe only use this as a last resort if the other methods don’t work.
Use A Content Viewing Tool
There are some third-party apps and web utilities that claim to allow you to view private or blocked Instagram accounts and download photos, videos and stories from those accounts, even if you don’t follow them or they have blocked you.
One example is the tool Qoob Stories, which requires you to simply enter the username of the account you want to view. It will then allegedly pull all of their content like posts, stories, highlights etc. and let you view and download it from within the Qoob app.
Other similar tools include PromInsta, InstaLocker, and Glassagram. Most of these apps are paid services requiring a subscription, and their ability to truly access private blocked accounts can be hit-or-miss.
It’s difficult to evaluate the legitimacy and safety of using third-party apps to access blocked private content on Instagram. They could potentially violate terms of service and put your account at risk. Proceed with caution if using these types of tools.
Instagram’s Privacy Settings
At the end of the day, Instagram’s core privacy and blocking settings are in place to allow users to control who can and cannot see the content they share on the platform. When you block another user, the intent is to prevent them from viewing anything you post, whether that’s your profile, individual posts, stories or other content.
While the methods outlined above could potentially allow you to view some portion of a blocked user’s Instagram activity, there’s no guaranteed way to circumvent their privacy settings entirely within the bounds of Instagram’s terms.
The ethical concerns around trying to view someone’s social media content after they have explicitly blocked you from doing so are also worth considering. In most cases, the healthiest approach is to respect the user’s privacy preferences and resist the urge to find loopholes for viewing their blocked account.
Unless the user is posting content about you specifically or somehow directly involving you, it’s generally best to move on once they’ve blocked you and find new Instagram accounts to follow that are open to you viewing their shared posts.
Conclusion
In summary, while there are some methods that claim to reveal content from blocked Instagram accounts, they exist in a grey area of legitimacy. Creating new accounts, checking other platforms, asking mutual connections, or using third-party viewing tools are potential options, but none are officially sanctioned by Instagram. These methods also raise ethical privacy concerns around circumventing a user’s block settings.
My advice is to weigh whether it’s truly worth the effort to pursue this blocked content, or if the healthier path is to respect the user’s preferences and privacy by letting it go. There’s an immense amount of great public content on Instagram to explore outside of what’s been blocked from you specifically.
