Why Can’t I Follow People On Instagram? (Explained)

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms that enable people to gain followers for business or personal purposes.

To get started, you need to follow others and build connections.

However, you cannot binge follow people on Instagram.

Instagram has certain limitations and restrictions in place when it comes to following accounts.

Here are some significant reasons you can’t follow people on Instagram and ways to avoid this situation.

Why Can’t I Follow People On Instagram?

Instagram restricts you from following people’s accounts because you might have already followed 7,500 accounts (the maximum allowable limit).

You might have carried out some suspicious activity on the platform.

Another reason could be a phone-related bug.

Unlike most other social platforms, Instagram takes necessary actions to keep the platform free from any irrelevant activities.

Because of this, it allows people to follow only a limited number of accounts.

It also blocks follow option for accounts depicting suspicious activities.

Here are six primary reasons and fixes to avoid follow restrictions on Instagram.

1. You Have Reached Maximum Follow Limit

Instagram has mentioned in its terms of service (TOS) that the users can only follow a maximum of 7,500 accounts.

It has maintained this limit to avoid any spam activities.

Although it is unlikely for you to have reached that limit, it is better to check the accounts you follow.

Fix: Filter Out The List

To avoid such a situation, we highly recommend you unfollow accounts that you interact with the least.

This will create space in your following, and Instagram will allow you to follow new accounts.

However, if you are trying to gain followers by following people and expecting a follow back, you should do that smartly.

According to our research, only 30% of people will follow you back.

This means you should always check out the list and unfollow people who haven’t followed you back.

2. You Have Followed Too Many Accounts In A Short Time

Like most social platforms, Instagram takes necessary actions to avoid any spambots carrying out mass following or unfollowing activities.

For this purpose, it never hesitates to restrict the follow option for any such accounts, either temporarily or permanently.

According to our research and various tests, Instagram allows you to follow a maximum of 60 accounts in an hour.

If you breach this limit, Instagram might consider you a spammer and impose some restrictions.

Fix: Follow People Slowly And Steadily

You just need to keep the estimate in mind while sending follow requests to people.

Although most people might not instantly accept your follow request, Instagram’s algorithm will still consider it as a follow request initiated from your account.

For this reason, we highly recommend sending calculated follow requests and avoiding spamming.

There is no harm in waiting for an hour or two after you have spent an hour sending follow requests.

3. You Are Using Third-Party Services

Usage of a VPN or any third-party software can be a potential reason for follow restrictions.

If your account is accessed from different IPs, Instagram might consider it a suspicious activity and can restrict you from following other accounts.

Instagram clearly mentions in its TOS that usage of any such third-party software that helps in mass following and unfollowing or liking and commenting is strongly prohibited.

Any account caught doing such activity will be subject to a ban.

Fix: Avoid Using Any Third-Party Software

Instagram restricts certain activities that go against its policy.

You should avoid using any such third-party software that is strongly prohibited by Instagram.

Although this software might work fine and benefit you for a short period, you will face a significant loss once you are caught.

However, Instagram’s algorithm might not restrict accounts using VPNs until they show any suspicious activity.

This means if you have accidentally accessed your account via VPN, you will not face any restriction until you take any unnatural action.

4. Your Phone Is Facing A Bug

A phone bug might be another significant reason for your follow restrictions.

Most of the time, the cache data stored on the phone or low-performance speed can be a reason for abnormal behavior of the application.

Your phone bug can be a reason for not only the follow restrictions but for others as well.

People typically witness this issue on low-end smartphones that have low memories and face performance speeds.

However, Instagram application bugs might be another reason for this issue.

Fix: Try Restarting The Application Or Phone

The easiest way to fix the issue is by restarting the phone or the Instagram application.

Close the application by logging out and then turn off your phone.

You can also opt to re-install/update the application if you have already tried logging out.

However, if the issue is not resolved, the last option (and quite unfavorable) is to factory reset your phone.

However, only do so if you are experiencing such issues or glitches in other apps as well.

5. You Might Have Muted Or Restricted Some Accounts

If you cannot follow specific people on Instagram, you might have muted or restricted them accidentally.

This issue is valid for people who can follow most accounts but are unable to follow others.

Instagram allows users to restrict specific accounts that they don’t want to interact with.

However, most people don’t remember which accounts they restricted in the past and have trouble interacting or making any connection with those accounts later on.

Fix: Lift The Restrictions Or Unmute Them

The easiest way to get out of this situation is to make those accounts accessible to you.

Follow the below-mentioned steps to lift any imposed restrictions.

Go to Settings on your phone.
Click on Privacy and enter the privacy settings.
You will see a list of the restricted and muted accounts.
Click on users you want to remove from the lists and unmute them.

6. The User Might Have Blocked You

Blocking is one of the primary reasons you cannot follow any specific Instagram account most of the time.

Whenever an individual or business account blocks an Instagram account, the blocked account will be able to see the account and the followers but cannot send follow requests.

This creates confusion when the user whose account is blocked tries sending follow-requests on blocked accounts but cannot do so.

Fix: Create Another Account

The only fix to this issue is to create another account.

You should delete your existing account by deactivating it and then creating a new account with a different username but with the same personal information.

This will allow your new account to follow anyone you want, as it won’t be on anyone’s block list.

However, remember that there is a reason the person blocked you in the first place.

You should not try to follow them, or you could come across as a stalker.

How Long Does Instagram Block You From Following Other Accounts?

The answer to this question depends on the reason behind this restriction.

However, if the restriction is because of any unsuspicious activity on your part, Instagram will remove the restriction in one or two days.

If the ban is imposed for any other reason, reach out to support to figure out the issue.

What Is Instagram Action Blocked Feature On Instagram?

Instagram Action Blocked feature restricts people from taking specific spammy steps.

Instagram always strives to keep the platform clean and might stop some people from following, liking, commenting, or messaging.

The Action Blocked feature is usually seen when a user tries to send too many follow requests in a short period.

This feature might be temporary or permanent based on the severity of your spammy activities.

How To Fix Instagram Action Blocked Issue?

The best way to fix the Instagram Action Blocked issue is by waiting for a few hours or days.

However, you should avoid taking any action on your Instagram account during this time.

Unfortunately, if the block is not lifted even after a few days, you should try contacting Instagram help, but before reaching out to the support, we recommend taking the following actions.

Try accessing the account from different locations (basically log in and log out).
Use a stable VPN.
Connect Instagram with other social platforms (this will ensure that you are a human).

Instagram has made this clear ever since their update in 2018 that no such activity will be allowed that shows robotic behavior.

Due to this, many users and businesses have avoided using such services, and Instagram has seen a significant reduction in spammy content.

5 Tips To Grow On Instagram Without Any Restrictions

Avoiding activities that violate Instagram’s terms is necessary to keep enjoying the platform’s services.

Many people fail to avoid them because of unawareness and lack of knowledge of various techniques for using the platform.

Here are the five best tips that will build your account’s trust and help you grow significantly.

1. Post Regularly

Like most other social media platforms, Instagram loves and promotes people who post regular content.

It pushes their published stories and posts to the top position and helps them get maximum reach and exposure.

Regular content also builds trust and helps people recognize you as an active social media user.

As a result, your posts will reach even the people you don’t follow, and you will significantly increase your follower count and engagement.

2. Be Active

Most people end up getting their accounts banned because of inactivity.

Instagram’s algorithm is very much active in keeping the place clean for people who are willing to connect and remain active.

Moreover, if you fail to remain active or post at different time intervals, Instagram will take down your posts.

Your posts won’t reach maximum followers and won’t get any interaction.

This will become a significant hurdle in your growth on Instagram.

3. Interact With People

Not interacting with people is one of the major mistakes many beginner Instagram users make.

Most users think they are celebrities even with a minimal following of 1,000 to 5,000.

Although this is a good number of followers, you still have to interact with people to keep growing.

However, if you are a brand owner, you can create specific posts that might boost your post’s interaction.

Be open and communicate with your customers freely in the comments and DMs.

Posts with maximum interactions gain more exposure on the platform, which increases followers.

4. Follow Specific Accounts

Following specific accounts is another major Instagram hack that beginners are mostly not aware of.

Almost all celebrities follow a small number of people but still have a considerable following.

How?

Instagram’s algorithm never works with the follow-for-follow feature.

Instead, it supports and promotes profiles that follow a specific number of people but share quality content.

Instead of sending follow requests to countless people, try to focus more on content creation and utilize other Instagram hacks.

5. Include Calls To Action (CTAs)

A call to action is another great way to gain maximum exposure on Instagram.

It prompts your audience to take a specific action, which increases engagement and interaction among your followers and you.

As an Instagram user, you should not restrict the use of CTAs to sales content.

They can be effective for generic content as well if utilized appropriately.

The best way to utilize a call to action on your post is by asking questions or opinions from your followers.

3 Tips For Getting More Followers Without Following People

Most people try to follow many people to get a follow back in hopes of increasing their following.

While doing this, they pass the Instagram following limit and carry out some irrelevant activities that result in different bans most of the time.

Due to this reason, as a business or personal account holder, you should avoid relying on follow-to-follow action and start utilizing some of the different actions as well.

Here are three of the best tips that you can utilize to gain some followers without actually following people.

1. Ask For A Shoutout

Shoutouts are a great way of getting featured on other people’s accounts.

This helps bring traffic to your Instagram account, and that traffic can increase your followers.

The easiest way to get a shoutout from other people is by offering them something in return.

In return for a shout-out, you could offer a free product sample, a story highlight, or followers.

A shoutout is a win-win situation where both parties benefit from one another to improve their business sales or engagement with the business.

2. Run Instagram Ads

It is common to think that ads work well for business accounts only in the social media world.

However, this is not actually true, especially for Instagram.

Most Instagram users who want to become influencers in the future can utilize different ad strategies and marketing techniques to gain some followers.

Instagram ads will give quality exposure to your profile and bring relevant traffic that can convert into followers.

Spending some money on ads can place your profile in front of thousands of users who follow your brand’s genre or category.

This helps gain a following and improves interaction because all the followers you will gain are highly targeted and niche-relevant.

3. Collaborate With Influencers

Collaborating with influencers is another excellent option for people who have already gained some following or have a significant budget.

If you are a small, accomplished Instagram influencer with some sort of good following, you can ask different influencers who also have a similar number of followers to collaborate with you.

You can collaborate on a podcast, a combined interview, a video message, or even a planned meetup.

However, if you are a brand owner, the only way to utilize the influencers is by paying them for sponsored posts or stories.

You need to find niche relevant influencers to take maximum advantage of those sponsored posts.