It sounds completely contradictory at first. If they already blocked you, they are gone. You can’t see their posts, they can’t see yours. The digital bridge is burned. So why on earth would you go out of your way to figure out how to block someone who already blocked you on Instagram?
Because you know exactly how toxic the internet can be.
There is a massive, widely-abused loophole on Instagram. It’s the “unblock-snoop-reblock” cycle. Someone blocks you, but a month later, their curiosity gets the better of them. They unblock you for exactly five minutes. Just long enough to watch your stories anonymously, check who you are dating, or see if your follower count dropped. Then, before you even realize they were lurking on your page, they hit the block button again and vanish back into the void.
It is exhausting. And it feels like a massive invasion of privacy.
But if you block them back? That door locks from the inside. They can never unblock you to snoop, because your block overrides theirs. Plus, Instagram now has that beautiful little feature where blocking someone also automatically blocks “any new accounts they may create.” By taking five minutes to block them back, you are permanently salting the earth. They can’t stalk you from a burner account.
The only problem? Instagram makes this incredibly difficult to do.
When someone blocks you, their profile effectively ceases to exist on your phone. You can type their exact username into the search bar, and nothing comes up. If you go to your Settings, hit “Blocked Accounts,” and try to tap the plus sign to add them manually, they won’t appear in the search results there either. You cannot block a ghost.
To block them, you physically have to land on their profile page to access the three-dot menu.
Here are the three raw, somewhat chaotic workarounds to force Instagram to load their blank profile so you can finally hit the button.
The Comment Tag Hack (The Undisputed Best Method)
This is the most reliable way to pull this off. It relies on a weird quirk in how Instagram handles hyperlinks in the comment section. You are essentially going to force the app to generate a clickable link to their profile, even though they have you blocked.
You don’t need a third-party app for this. Just your phone.
Open Instagram and go to your own profile.
Pick any of your posts. It doesn’t matter which one. Open the comment section.
You are going to leave a comment tagging the person who blocked you. Type the
@symbol, followed by their exact username. No spaces. If their username is JohnDoe99, you type@JohnDoe99.Hit post.
Look at the comment you just left. Because you used the
@symbol, the text will turn blue. It is now an active hyperlink.Tap the blue text.
Instagram’s code will panic for a split second, but it will obey the hyperlink. It will forcibly load their profile. You won’t see their grid it will just say “No Posts Yet” and show a blank follower count. But that doesn’t matter.
Look up at the top right corner of the screen. You will see the three little dots. Tap those dots. Hit “Block.” Check the box that says “Block this account and any new accounts they may create.” Confirm it.
Boom. You just blocked a ghost. You can go back and delete your comment now; the block is permanent.
The Old DM Thread Exploit
Maybe you don’t want to leave a weird comment on your own post, even for five seconds. If you have any history of messaging this person, you can use your inbox as a backdoor.
When someone blocks you, Instagram doesn’t actually delete your direct messages with them. The conversation stays buried in your inbox.
Open your DMs and scroll down or use the search bar at the top of your messages to find your old conversation with them. Tap to open the chat. At the very top of the screen, you will see their username and their profile picture (which might just be a blank grey circle now).
Tap their name at the top of the chat.
Just like the comment hack, this bypasses the search bar restriction and dumps you directly onto their restricted profile page. Tap the three dots in the top right corner. Hit block. Walk away.
The Desktop Brute Force
Sometimes the mobile app is just glitchy. If the comment trick isn’t working and you don’t have any old DMs with them, put the phone down. You are going to brute-force the URL on a computer.
Instagram’s desktop website is a lot less restrictive than the mobile app when it comes to direct URL navigation.
Open Chrome, Safari, or whatever browser you use on your laptop. Log into your Instagram account. Now, go up to the main address bar at the very top of the browser. You are going to type the direct web address to their profile: www.instagram.com/ followed immediately by their exact username.
Hit enter.
The screen will probably load a massive error message saying “Sorry, this page isn’t available.” That is exactly what you want to see. But look closely if you are logged in, and you got the username right, the desktop layout will usually still display the three horizontal dots somewhere near the top right of the white screen, or right next to where their name should be.
Click those dots. The only option that will drop down is “Block.” Click it.
A Quick Reality Check
You need to know their exact, current username for any of these methods to work. If they blocked you and immediately changed their handle to something entirely new, you are out of luck until you figure out what the new name is.
But if you have the name? Don’t let them hold all the cards. Lock the door and enjoy the peace of mind.
