What Happens When You Restrict Someone on Facebook Messenger?

Quick Tips

• When you restrict someone on Facebook Messenger, the platform hides the conversation from your main chat list.
• It restricts the person’s ability to contact you, so you won’t receive notifications for their messages or calls. They can’t see your online status or read receipts.
• The reverse is also true. You can’t call or message them, view their online status, or read receipts.

What Does Restrict Mean on Messenger?

The Restrict function is a nice blend of mute and block on Messenger. The mute function only silences notifications from a conversation. Block is an extreme solution and cuts all ties with the person.

If you don’t want to block someone on Messenger outright, you can permanently restrict them and protect your profile. How? Well, let’s check out the implications of restricting someone on Messenger.

Tip: You can check out our in-depth post on restrict vs. block on Facebook for better understanding.

What Happens When You Restrict Someone on Facebook Messenger?

First and foremost, the feature removes the conversation from your chats list and moves it to the Message Requests folder. Furthermore, it restricts them from contacting you via Facebook Messenger, seeing read receipts, or seeing your active status.

If You Restrict Someone on Messenger, Will They Know?

Notably, the company doesn’t send any notification when you restrict someone. Moreover, it will not affect anything on their end. The chats will remain as is, they can send messages or call you like usual (though you’ll not get notifications for them).

However, there are ways to discover if someone has restricted you on Facebook Messenger. And if that person is smart enough to apply those methods, they can figure it out.

What Happens to Incoming Messages and Calls?

If you restrict someone on Messenger, can they still message or call you? Technically, yes. They can send you messages or call you. However, there will be:

• No notifications – You won’t receive any notifications when the restricted person sends a message. The same goes for voice or video calls. Your phone won’t ring when the recipient calls you on Messenger.
• No read receipts – Even though the messages are delivered, and you can read them later, the restricted person can’t see if you’ve read their messages.

Additionally, the same restrictions are applied to you. Even you can’t send a message or call the person. You must unrestrict the person before sending a message.

What About Group Messages?

Restricting someone does not affect your existing group messages. They can see your messages in the group, and you can see theirs. However, when you create a new chat group and try to add them, the app alerts you about the restricted accounts on Facebook.

What About Previous Messages?

As mentioned earlier, Facebook hides your current chat thread from the Messenger app when you restrict someone. Notably, it doesn’t delete any past messages; it simply hides them from view.

Can You Still Read Messages From a Restricted Account in Messenger?

Yes. Though you can’t see new messages in the default Chats tab, you can still read them. Search for the contact’s name at the top and open the conversation to check all new and previous messages.

Can the Restricted Person See My Active Status?

The ability to restrict someone limits the person’s reach to see your profile and other online activities. The restricted contact can’t see when you’re online or if you’ve read their messages.

Notably, you also can’t see their active online status on the platform.

Does Restricting Someone on Messenger Restrict Them on Facebook?

No, restricting someone on Messenger doesn’t restrict them on Facebook. It only limits their ability to contact you on the platform.

Can the Restricted Person See My Posts or Stories?

The restricted person can see all the previous posts. However, they can’t see any new posts or stores unless they are public or you’ve tagged them.

Do I Remain Friends with a Restricted Account?

Yes, you continue to remain friends with restricted accounts on Messenger. Facebook won’t automatically unfriend someone.

How to Restrict Someone on Facebook Messenger

Note: Facebook uses an identical UI on Messenger for iOS and Android. The steps to restrict someone on Messenger remain the same on both platforms.

Step 1: Open the Messenger app. Select a conversation with the contact you want to restrict.

Step 2: Tap the contact name at the top.

Step 3: Select Restrict under Privacy and Support.

The restrict function on Messenger indeed gets the best of Mute and Block add-ons and delivers an excellent solution to keep your Facebook account spam-free.