Identifying TikTok Issues: Was I Blocked or Did They Delete Their Account?

TikTok feels like home, so imagine logging in and realizing you can no longer find your favorite videos. It can feel like a gut punch. What happened? Did you get blocked? How do I know if someone has deleted his TikTok or blocked me on TikTok?

First of all, relax! You're not alone. An increasing number of people can't find the profiles of people they once interacted with. There are many reasons why profiles suddenly become unavailable, so let's take this step by step.

Account deletions, username changes, blocking or being blocked on TikTok, and even geo-restrictions can affect who you can interact with. If you understand how it works, you can better manage your TikTok interactions and navigate the platform confidently.

How do I Know if Someone Blocked Me on TikTok: Signs to Look For

When you block someone, you're removing their ability to contact you via DM, view your videos, and even engage with you via comments or likes. TikTok does not notify users that you've blocked them, so you can block someone without worrying they'll get a pop-up!

You can see who you've blocked on TikTok, but there is no functionality to see who has blocked you.

So, after absorbing the initial shock of not seeing a familiar profile in your feed, you'll have to dive deeper to find the cause. How do you know if someone blocked you on TikTok? Here's the complete guide to getting certainty.

Interaction History Disappears

Go to your Inbox and look for your previous conversations. Can you see the messages you previously exchanged?

If they've deleted or deactivated their account, their profile picture and username will be blank, but all the messages will remain for a period. If they've deactivated the account, messages will stick around. However, if they've deleted their account, the messages can disappear 30 days after they've started the account deletion process.
If you no longer see the chat history, check whether you can see their comments or likes on your posts. Their comments will gradually disappear if they have deactivated or deleted the account. However, if their user name and profile pic on their DMs and comments have been replaced with "Account not found," you've unfortunately been blocked.
Select the "Comments" tab in your Inbox. Are all the comments from that person gone? You've been blocked if the interaction history and comments are gone and the person's profile is inaccessible.

Unable to Send Messages

TikTok's default privacy settings mean you can only message someone if you follow each other if your DMs are set to "Everyone," or if you've messaged each other before. Go to your Inbox to check your chat history.

If the chat history is still visible in your Inbox, the person may have deactivated or is in the process of deleting their account. You can still read the messages but can't see the profile or their posts and videos anymore.
However, you've been blocked if you see "Account not found" where their username should be. You cannot send or receive new messages from this person. To get certainty, send a test message: Type their username in the "To" field. You've been blocked if you get a "Couldn't find this account" error message.

Can't Find Their Profile

If the blocking comes as a shock, you may be looking for more answers. What if that person just changed their privacy settings? TikTok does not notify you when someone blocks you. It also does not provide a list or tab to see who blocked you on TikTok. So, the next step is to try searching for the person's profile.

Make sure you have the correct @username down to the last character, and use the TikTok search box to look for their username. Your suspicions may have been confirmed if the account doesn't appear in your search results.
You could also use the person's @username to navigate directly to their page. Combine the username with the URL in your mobile browser, like this: www.tiktok.com/@username. If you get a "Couldn't find this account" error or see only a blank profile with no bio or content, you've been blocked.
The final step is to ask a trusted friend to check if they can still find the person in the search results and see their videos and messages. If the friend can see the person but you still can't, the news is not good: you've been blocked.
If neither of you finds it, the account may be deactivated or deleted. The final alternative is that the person might have changed their username. In that case, you can search for their old display name or nickname and hope you get lucky.

How do I Know if Someone Deleted Their TikTok Account: Signs to Look For

If you suddenly can't see a TikTok user anymore, you may have been blocked. In the previous section, we discussed how to find out if someone has blocked you on TikTok. However, there are several other reasons why a favorite TikTok account can suddenly become unavailable or disappear from your feed.

Let's look at how to know if someone deleted their TikTok account.

Disappeared Content

Sometimes, people need to take a break, and that's when the TikTok deactivation feature comes in handy. They can reactivate their account when they're ready to come back. However, deletion and deactivation look similar to their followers. Their profile might disappear from your follower list, and their content could be unavailable for viewing.

Check their content. If someone has deleted their TikTok account, all their videos will permanently disappear. Their unique username will disappear from any videos you've reposted and carry a generic TikTok user tag.
Check Your DMs. If you have ever exchanged messages, go to your Inbox tab to find the conversation. If their account was deleted or deactivated, their profile picture and username would be blank. However, the messages may still be there.
Check their comments. You won't see their comments on your videos in your Comments tab.
Finally, use a search engine to look up the TikTok @username. If their TikTok account doesn't appear in the search results, it has been deleted. However, if Google does come up with an index of cached links to the person's TikTok posts or profile, click on each to check if the links work. If the links are there but don't work when you click them, the account has been deactivated (or recently deleted).

Profile Not Found by Anyone

If you can't find someone's TikTok profile, don't panic! There are several ways to double-check search results for a TikTok user. First, go to the TikTok search bar. Type in the @username. If you can't find the account, the account has either been deleted or deactivated, the username may have been changed, or the person may have blocked you. Let's narrow it down:

Use Google or another search engine with the exact TikTok username as a search keyword. If the TikTok account doesn't appear in the search results, it has been deleted.
If there are still cached links to the person's TikTok posts or profile, but they don't work when you click them, the account has been deactivated. Be aware that if someone deletes their TikTok account, it automatically gets deactivated for 30 days. After 30 days, the cached links to the account will gradually disappear.
Next, ask a friend to see if they can find the account name in the TikTok search bar. If your friend can see the person but you still can't, you've been blocked.
If neither of you can find the account, you can be confident that the account has been deleted.
The only other reason it might elude both of you is if the user has changed their username. In that case, try searching for their old username or display name.

Error Messages

You may encounter an error message that indicates an account has been deleted. Go to the search box and enter the @username.

You won't see the user if you've been blocked, or you might see a "Couldn't find this account" message. In some cases, you may see a blank profile with no content.
If the account has been deleted, you may still be able to find it through the search function for a short period. However, once you click to check a deleted account profile, you'll see a message saying that the user is no longer on TikTok.

What Does a Deleted TikTok Account vs what does a deactivated TikTok account look like

TikTok allows users to delete or deactivate their accounts at any time. However, TikTok does not provide a pop-up that says, "this account has been deleted" or "the user has deactivated their account."

There is no immediate way to tell if someone deleted their account or just deactivated it. That's partly because of TikTok's privacy measures, but the tech also plays a role: deletion is permanent. Deactivation is temporary—you can reactivate your account at any time.

If you take a break from digital life, you can close or delete your TikTok account. But it's a big step. TikTok values the platform's diverse content, so TikTok gives you ample time to ensure you don't regret your decision. Therefore, closing and deleting your TikTok account is a two-step process. It has big implications for what happens to your TikTok profile in the next few weeks.

Deactivated TikTok Account

Deactivating your TikTok account allows you to put it on a temporary hold. This is what it means to you as a user:

People won't see your account, and you won't have access to the platform or any of its functions. You must reactivate your account to lurk! However, TikTok will preserve your account just as it is. If you decide to reactivate your account, you can get right back to where you stopped.
Your DMs should remain visible to you and your chat partners. If someone tries to view your messages from their Inbox, your profile and name will be replaced with a generic profile logo.
All the Duets or Stitches associated with your videos should still be visible to others.
However, your profile and your videos won't be visible to anyone.
You can reactivate your TikTok account by logging in as usual. Tap "Reactivate" to pick up where you left off.

How long before TikTok Deletes My Inactive Account?

How long can you take a break before TikTok deletes your inactive accounts? TikTok's inactive account policy gives you a guaranteed 180 days of grace. After that, they may reset your username to a randomized numeric username. This scenario is unlikely, but if you have heaps of great content on TikTok, don't take any chances!

Deleted TikTok Account

A deleted account is permanently removed from the TikTok platform. Once the user enters his password and clicks the final button to delete the account, TikTok deactivates the account immediately and freezes all activity on it for the next 30 days.

Your account won't be visible to the public during this time, although your DMs may still be visible. After 30 days, everything will be deleted entirely from TikTok unless you cave in and log in to reactivate the account before the 30-day grace period runs out. After 30 days, it's irreversible. TikTok will permanently erase all content and user interactions.

Other Reasons Why You Can't Find Someone on TikTok Anymore

There are many reasons why you sometimes see fewer videos or someone vanishes from TikTok for a while.

Username Change

It's easy to change your @username or nickname on TikTok. If a favorite TikTok handle disappears, the person may have felt playful or had another reason for wanting a fresh start.

Search for the old username, nickname, display name, or even their real name. The TikTok database is vast, and changes aren't always instant, so you may get lucky.
You could look up their contact details on a different social media platform or look for their username via a search engine. If you find links to TikTok posts or an account, click to check if it works. If the links are inactive, their account may have been deleted or deactivated.
Some TikTok users might take a temporary break. If you ever exchanged DMs, your conversations are an easy way to tell if their account was deleted or deactivated. Go to your Inbox tab and scroll to find your conversation with the person.
If their account was deleted or deactivated, you would notice their profile picture and username are blank. However, all of your messages will still be there.

Account Ban

TikTok may remove single posts or impose account restrictions on users who violate its content guidelines. On rare occasions, TikTok may permanently ban a user from the platform. Banned accounts cannot be discovered via the search function, and all their content is deleted from the platform.

Geo-Restrictions and Country Bans

Country—or regionwide geo-restrictions and even a change in geolocation can affect the TikTok algorithm. For instance, US-based users see mostly US-based content or users likely to appeal to US-based audiences. If you change your location to Finland, you'll start seeing much more Finnish content in your feed.

However, geo-restrictions and country bans have a far more dramatic effect on your ability to find someone on TikTok. Some countries ban certain apps for various reasons. In some countries, TikTok is banned entirely, meaning users cannot access the app without a VPN (Virtual Private Network). If that sounds harsh, remember that recent events and heated exchanges in Congress have proved that geoblocking is not a farfetched scenario, even in the US. It's better to get a VPN for TikTok to ensure you never miss out on your favorite content!

Conclusion

In conclusion, not being able to find someone's TikTok profile can be disheartening, but there are several reasons why this may happen. Whether they have blocked you, deactivated their account, or changed their username, there are specific signs to look for to determine the cause. If you cannot find a profile at first, work through our steps carefully and consider all the possibilities before jumping to conclusions.