Have you found yourself in a situation where you try to message someone or search for their username on Facebook, but you cannot see them? The whole thing becomes confusing because the person has not blocked you.
Also, you can see the person’s profile when you use a different account. The only issue is that your account cannot see them, and you are not blocked.
Thus, you must determine why you cannot see hidden profiles. However, there are several reasons you cannot see someone on Facebook but are not blocked and what you can do about it.
1. Your search is not specific
Always be specific when searching for someone on Facebook. If you cannot see someone’s profile on FB, it means you have not entered their correct details.
Generally, Facebook has many users with the same name. For example, searching for John Doe will bring hundreds of similar results.
Therefore, be specific with your search by entering their name and location. For example, enter John Doe Alaska to get results from accounts based in Alaska.
Besides location, you can filter the person by city, education, mutual friends, and work. That will help you narrow down your results.
2. You have blocked the person
If you have blocked someone on Facebook, you will not see their profile. The same happens if the person has blocked you.
You must unblock the person first before you can see them on Facebook. Do the following:
- Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
- Select Settings and Privacy.
- Click Settings.
- Go to Privacy.
- Click Blocking.
- Select Edit in the Block Users section.
- Click See your blocked list.
- Click Unblock next to the user you want to unblock.
- Select Confirm to finish unblocking the profile.
Once you block a person, you will no longer be friends. Instead, you must send them a new friend request.
3. Unfriend and re-friend the person
You may find yourself in a situation where you are friends with the person. However, you can’t see someone’s profile on Facebook, but you can message them.
You can unfriend the person from Facebook. Once done, send them a new friend request. If they accept, determine whether you can see their profile or posts.
4. The person has deactivated their account
When a person deactivates their Facebook account, Facebook will hide their profile, posts, and photos from other users. Therefore, you will not see them on Facebook because they have not blocked you.
The only solution is to wait for the person to reactivate their Facebook account. But if they fail to do so, you cannot see their profile on Facebook.
5. The person has blocked you
One way to tell if you have been blocked on Facebook is when you cannot find the user’s profile or see their posts in your newsfeed. You cannot tag them in posts or comments, send them messages, or add them to groups.
In that case, you can do nothing to correct the situation. The user must unblock you to see their profile.
6. The person has changed their privacy settings
If the user has changed their privacy settings on Facebook, you cannot view their profile and posts. Changing privacy settings is one way to tell if someone has restricted you on Facebook.
Generally, the user has changed their privacy settings to who can see their posts, photos, and other information. In that regard, they have set their privacy settings to Friends Only.
That means the user has a specific number of people they have allowed to see their posts.
7. Facebook has flagged the person
Facebook can flag a user’s account for inappropriate content or spam. If this has happened to the person you are searching for, their account may be temporarily or permanently removed from Facebook.
If Facebook removes the account, their profile and posts will no longer be visible. That explains why you cannot see them on Facebook and are not blocked.
8. Facebook has a technical issue
When Facebook has a technical issue, several services or features on the platform may not work.
For example, a technical problem could prevent you from seeing someone’s profile or posts on Facebook. Therefore, wait for Facebook to fix the problem or contact Facebook for assistance.
