This person unavailable on messenger notice often leaves people wondering if the recipient has blocked them or if this is a temporary issue. Fortunately, this error message does not always mean an account block and might also occur for other reasons. This post looks into the possible reasons why & when this notice occurs and how you can get around this.
Why this person is unavailable on messenger notice occurs
Facebook developer page says when you encounter the person unavailable message, it means the user has deactivated their Facebook account or deleted the messenger app. When this happens, you can’t message that person on messenger, and the notice will continue to appear unless they reactivated, recovered their account, or unblocked you. While that could be the immediate answer, these are other common reasons for the “person is unavailable” notice to appear. Quick hint: the first thing you can do in this situation is to try sending a message to the user from the Facebook web. If Facebook successfully sent your message, that might indicate you have an issue with the messenger app. You can then go ahead – clear the app cache and data, and clean reinstall it to possibly get around the person is unavailable notice.
How to Fix This Person Is Unavailable On Messenger
The reasons I have mentioned above can be a reference point for you to try and get around this situation. This issue typically does not come as a technical error unless it is an app bug, the chance of fixing it yourself is low when the recipient is definitely not available on the platform or has blocked you. Here are a few ways to solve the person is not available on messenger issue:
1. Check your internet connection strength
A good place to start is by making sure your internet connection strength is good. If the Facebook messenger app does not get enough bandwidth to operate, the app might behave weirdly. You can perform an internet speed test to see your internet performance. Do a speed test via speedtest.net. If you are on a mobile network, switch to a WiFi network and vice versa to see if that helps disappear the user unavailable notice. You can try sending a message to another person on Messenger to see if that works.
2. Try sending messages from the Facebook web
If this person is unavailable on messenger notice due to an app bug sending a message from the Facebook web can help you. Try switching to the Facebook web version and check if the issue persists. All you need to do is log in to your account on your browser (preferably a PC) and try sending a message to that person. Many people claim they can send messages on Facebook but not on messenger. It could help you reach out to the person on the Facebook web if that was indeed a mobile app bug.
3. Confirm If The Person Has Blocked You On Facebook
If the user has blocked you on Facebook, you will get the “this person is unavailable on messenger” notice which is a primary reason for this error. If the user has truly blocked you, there’s nothing much you can do about it. Either you can wait for the user to unblock you or ask them to unblock your account to be able to continue conversing. To confirm whether the user has blocked you, there are a few signs to figure it out.
They won’t appear on your Facebook friend list anymore. You won’t be able to see the user profile on Facebook; it will give you a “content not found” message. You won’t be able to send a friend request to the user. You can’t invite them to Facebook groups. You can’t see their posts on Facebook. You would be able to view the previous chat but can’t send a new message
Try searching their account on Facebook; if you are blocked, then this message should appear –
4. Check If The User Has Deactivated Their account
The “person is unavailable on messenger” notice can also appear if the user has deactivated their account for some reason. A deactivated account can’t be approached hence the notice from Facebook’s end. One way to confirm this is by asking your friend or family member to search for the account. Search by the user’s name or email (if you know their email). If the account you are looking for does not appear in the search result, that means the user must have deactivated the account. You can’t find an account via a blocklisted account, so you should consider searching for that account via your friend & family’s Facebook. Again if the user is your close friend, you can ask them directly about their account status or ask a mutual friend if they can see the user’s account on their friend list. This demonstrates two conditions –
If the user is visible on your friend’s account but not yours, be sure that the user has blocked you. If one or multiple friends can’t find the account, the recipient must have their account deactivated.
5. Find Out if Facebook Has Banned The User’s Account
Facebook holds the authority to ban any account that does not follow its community guidelines. Usually, Facebook does not suspend an account for no reason. This usually occurs when an account is caught spamming, posting violent content, adult content, or hate speech and thus gets a ban. Also, reports coming from multiple accounts can lead facebook to ban an account from their platform. There’s a chance that Facebook has triggered a temporary ban on the account. Well, how do you find out if an account is banned? Here are a couple of tips:
Try to remember if the user has posted explicate content recently. Do the users seem to someone provocative? Do you remember the user spamming lately, be it comments or posts? Did the user account seem legit? If it was something like a dummy account, Facebook might catch the user for some fake and violent activities.
If any of these behaviors corresponds to the user’s account, there’s a chance the account got banned or a temporary ban.
6. Ensure you haven’t blocked the user by mistake
Blocking users on Facebook affects both ways, whether the recipient or you. Even if there is very little chance that you are blocking the person, it makes sense to double-check you are not blocking the person unintentionally. To check if you have blocked a user on Facebook –
Open Facebook Messenger and go to that chat. Then click on the chat name, which will take you to the individual chat control menu. Scroll down to the bottom and check under the privacy and support section. If you see unblock option, that means you are blocking the user. If it’s the opposite (block option appears), leave it as it is.
7. Update the Facebook Messenger App
The latest app updates bring miscellaneous fixes from the developers and can automatically resolve the person who isn’t available issue if it was an app bug. To update your Facebook messenger – Also, make sure to allow all the required permission for the messenger app to run without trouble. 👉🏽 Also Read: How to Delete Instagram Messages [Tutorial]
8. Clear Application Cache
Application cache can interfere with the user experience. Temporary cache files of the messenger app can mess with the app functionality and force it to result in the “this person is unavailable on messenger” notice. Although it seems very unlikely that the cache memory can cause such trouble, you should try cleaning the application cache and data via app settings. To clear your app data and cache on Android: For iOS, check this guide to clear the messenger app cache. Once you have cleared the application cache and data, try logging in and checking whether the notice has disappeared. If it persists, proceed to the next step. 👉🏽 Also Read: Instagram saved posts not loading – how to solve?
9. Check your Facebook memories
You can find an account status through Facebook memory. In Facebook memories, you can find comments and likes given by the person previously. If the user name is clickable or blue, which takes you to their profile, then it indicates the user does not block you. If you can’t click on the profile name and it appears black, it means the opposite. The person blocks you, or the account doesn’t exist. To check your Facebook memories on your phone:
Open the Facebook app on your phone. On the search bar, search for Memories. Then tap on memories.
To check memories on PC:
On Facebook’s primary page sidebar, click “See More” under Explore option.” Scroll down and click on Memories.
Again checking Facebook memories won’t necessarily solve the issue but will help you be sure that the problem is coming from the user’s end that you are trying to reach out to. 👉🏽 Popular article: How to Download Apps on Vizio Smart TV
10. Try Facebook lite
Very unpopular opinion, particularly on this issue. Facebook lite has the essential features packed together to let you surf Facebook. The lite version has the messenger in it and thus does not require an additional messenger app for direct & group conversations. You can install Facebook lite on your phone and see if you get the same notice as on messenger. f you can send a message from the FB lite app means the messenger app itself has some issues that need to be fixed. Later on mobile, you can clear the app cache and data, try a fresh messenger app installation and try logging in to your account to continue your conversation.
11. Contact With Facebook Support Team
If none of the above fixes can help, then you have the option to reach out to Facebook support and let them know more about your problem. To reach out to Facebook, you can email them at their basic support email address: support@fb.com. They can see if your issue is caused by an application bug too. If you don’t find any response from them, you can reach out to disabled@fb.com which is mostly dedicated to supporting users when they lose access to their accounts. Still can’t find a solution to resolve the person not available issue? Suddenly finding out the user is unavailable on messenger is weird and confusing. Technically you can’t do much other than find out why this is happening unless this is an application bug. This article spotlights the reasons you need to know and what else you can do when you suddenly encounter this message. I hope it helps. Additional contents:
