What does user not found mean on Instagram

What does user not found mean on Instagram:

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platform. Millions of users uses it each day.

For some specific cases, Instagram doesn’t shows the actual reason. For example, if you see User not found, it doesn’t always mean that the user doesn’t exist on the platform. This is to protect the privacy of users.

But what is the reason of user not found error message then? Well, in this article I will share 5 different possible causes of this error. By the end of this article, you will get an understanding of why this error is showing and what could be the reason for the person you are looking for.

Reason 1: Username is changed:

This is the most common reason of user not found error. If the user name is changed, you won’t be able to search for that user.

User name is also known as Instagram handle. Instagram allows to change it at any time. Popular Instagram channel doesn’t changes their handle only for this reason.

In some cases, even if you find the user by searching using their old user name, it will land you on user not found error screen if you click on that. This is due to cache on Instagram, it keeps showing old info for some time.

You can also try to visit that page from a web-browser. Open any web browser and go to https://instagram.com/username. Replace username with the user handle that you are looking for. If you see a page with an error message Sorry, this page isn’t available, it means that this user doesn’t exist.

What you need to do:

Without the new user name, you can’t find that person. You have to contact that person from any other channel or you can contact anyone who is a mutual friend of both of you.

You can also search the following list of any other person, if you know that you both have followed him.

Once you get hold of the new handle, you can search it and find the new account.

Reason 2: You might have been blocked:

There is a high chance that your account have been blocked by that user. But, before you move to any conclusion, always double check if this is the reason or not.

When someone block you on Instagram, you can’t see their profile and it shows user not found error. Even if you try to search for that user, it will show no result.

If you have talked to the person before via direct messaging in Instagram, you can still chat with that user. But, if you are thinking that you can visit the profile from the chat window, then you are wrong. It will show you user not found error if you click on the profile image in the chat window and once you move to the profile page.

What you need to do:

If you think that someone blocks you on Instagram, you can confirm it by searching and visiting the profile from any other account.

If you don’t have multiple accounts, you can open any web browser and try to visit https://instagram.com/username, where username is the Instagram handle of that user.

If you don’t see the profile, and if your account is not logged in to Instagram in that browser, then you are not blocked. For some other reason, this account is not visible.

Reason 3: Account is deleted:

Instagram account can be deleted. It deletes everything associated with that account, including all posts. If you found that the username is not changed and you are not blocked, then this might be another reason of Instagram user not found error.

Whenever an account is deleted, the user name also gets deleted. If you can still see that user in your follower’s list, this will be removed pretty soon.

What you need to do:

You can’t do anything if the account is deleted. It is a sole decision. If it was a business account, maybe the business is closed or maybe they started a new account.

You can only connect with the person in another platform to get more info on it or if it was a business, you can check on their website or any of their other social media accounts.

Reason 4: Account is disabled:

Instagram account can be deleted or it can be disabled. Deletion is a permanent thing. But a disabled account can be enabled again. The user might disable an account if he or she wants to take a break temporarily.

You’ll still see the user not found error if you visit a disabled profile.

What you need to do:

You can only visit the profile once it is reactivated by the owner. Until that, Instagram will keep showing the user not found message. Also, this profile will be removed from the search result and from follow/following lists from all users.

Reason 5: The account is suspended:

If the account violated any Instagram guideline, Instagram might suspend that account. If they founds frequent reports for an account, or if the account posted contents that violates Instagram TOC, it will suspend that account.

Sometimes, accounts might get flagged for no reason, or by mistake. It will be reactivated if the account user contacts Instagram for a review.

Instagram can also ban an account permanently. There is no way to get an account back if it is a permanent ban.

What you need to do:

You never know what happened to that account. You can only contact the owner of that account to get more details.

Conclusion:

The user not found error is quite common for Instagram. In this post, we have seen five different reasons for this error and possible ways to check for it. The best way to know what happen to that account is to check with the account owner. For business accounts, you can check their website or their accounts on any other platforms. For personal accounts, you can connect with him or her on any other platform.

If you find any other reason of this error, please drop a comment below to help other readers of our blog.