How to find out if an Instagram account is in the shadowban and how to remove it

Social networks impose many restrictions to make promotion within them fair. And for the slightest violations can give a ban. One of the most annoying is the shadowban, which is difficult to check, and which at the same time greatly affects engagement rates and attracting new subscribers. In the article, we will figure out what it is, how it manifests itself on Instagram and how to get rid of it. 
 

What is an Instagram shadowban and why is it given?

A shadowban is a situation in which your posts cannot be found in the search for the hashtags used, they are not displayed in geolocations, and only subscribers see your posts, and those who do not follow you cannot see them in any way. 

Instagram's official position on shadowbans has not been announced, no one knows the exact reasons for getting them, and you can understand that you have been banned only by indirect signs. But, judging by the observations of users, it can be "caught" for: 

• Using mass following and mass liking services. There is no need to explain here that this is contrary to the rules of any social network.
• Spamming hashtags that are inappropriate for your content. If you use a lot of high-frequency hashtags like #new year, #good morning, the algorithm may consider them off-topic. Use low-frequency tags so as not to attract unnecessary attention of bots. There are also banned hashtags on Instagram. You can check if a hashtag is forbidden or not in the search. If you entered a hashtag and didn't see any posts in SERPs, or if you see a message that posts are hidden, don't use it. 
• User complaints about your content. If users often complain about your content, this is another reason to limit your activity. 
• For spam. Spam in private messages, negative comments under the posts of other users, sending monotonous comments fall under the definition of "spam". They also block for it, including not by the shadow method. 
• For autoposting. Auto-posting is not prohibited, but coupled with other reasons, it increases the risk of getting a restriction from a social network. 
• Oversubscribed limits, comments or likes: for example, if you subscribe to 80–100 people in an hour, an automatic algorithm will recognize atypical behavior and may block the page. 

We remind you that no one knows the exact reasons for receiving such a ban, except for representatives of Instagram. But while they do not even recognize its existence, much less talk about the reasons. 
 

How to check an Instagram account for a shadowban

The easiest way to find out if there is a ban is to write to technical support. Experts do not directly acknowledge the existence of a shadowban, but they can tell you if there are any restrictions on you. Other options: 

• Ask your friends to follow you: if he couldn't do it, your content is restricted. 
• Try to find your posts by hashtags — if they are not in the search results, most likely you are banned. You can also choose the 2-3 most popular, publish posts with them and find 5-10 friends who do not follow you and who agree to check the visibility of publications. Let them enter the hashtags you use in the search and see if your posts appear in the search results. 
• You can pay attention to the activity in your account.If there are much fewer comments and likes, new subscribers have stopped coming, this indicates a decrease in coverage. It may also be associated with the receipt of restrictions. Also, a sharp decrease in the number of likes, comments, and the number of new subscribers can occur due to low engagement rates. For example, if you are massively followed by bots, your engagement rates will drop and fewer people will see your content. 
• You can check the shadowban on Instagram online. To do this, simply use special services like apibossa. Enter your login or other required information, and the online service will show the result. 

The service we provided as an example shows a list of your publications and calculates the probability of getting a shadowban. If the hashtag is marked in red, then your post was not found for it. If green, then the system was able to find it in the search results. The service checks only posts with hashtags. If you don't use them, it won't help you. 

It is better to use all methods of verification. And if they all point to getting a ban, remove it. Otherwise, engagement rates will drop, and promotion will be very difficult. How to remove it, read on. 
 

How to get rid of a shadowban on Instagram

The easiest way is available to those who have a personal profile. Just write to support and report that the profile was hacked 3-7 days ago. Be prepared to provide a scanned copy of your passport or other document to verify your identity. When the account is "restored", the ban will be removed. 

Also, the shadowban is removed automatically after a certain period. Therefore, you can get out of it. But it is important during the ban not to repeat the actions for which you were blocked. Otherwise, instead of a shadow one, you can get a regular ban, and you will have to create a new Instagram profile. The technical support of the social network, telling how to get out of the shadow ban, advises you to wait at least 14 days. But if you do not sit back and act, you can speed up the process of lifting restrictions. 

If this does not help or you have a business page, it will be harder to remove the shadowban. To do this, you need to eliminate the reason for which it was issued. For example: 

• Delete posts with hashtags. There are two options here - find all the hashtags that could have blocked you and remove posts with them, or delete all posts with tags altogether. What to choose is up to you. If you use hashtags in every post, you have to put in some serious work. 
• Stop using mass following and mass liking services, remove their apps from your profile. 
• Remove controversial content. If you have posts that cause negative emotions, they can be complained about. Remove them so users don't have a reason to report your profile.
• Not being active. Do not subscribe to anyone: firstly, the bot may consider this as another manifestation of violations. Secondly, they will not be able to subscribe to you in response. Like and write comments only to friends, so as not to cause the automatic algorithm to suspect spam or mass liking.
• Do not access Instagram from a computer. Especially if you used it exclusively from your phone before. Automatic algorithms can consider this a hack and issue a real ban. 
• Ask tech support about it. Write to them, tell them that you have eliminated the violations and ask them to remove the restrictions. 

If you have eliminated all the possible reasons why you could get a shadowban, but the situation still does not improve, you may have received it permanently. Try to create a new profile and maintain it correctly.