What is Tinder Shadowban & How to Fix It in 6 Steps

You’re using the most popular dating app… Tinder!

Everything’s going great, until… it isn’t.

You’re getting a few matches, your matches don’t reply to your messages, etc.

Well, you’re not alone, because a lot of people have been complaining about the same things, and had no idea what signs they could be.

Are you shadowbanned? If yes, what is even a shadowban?

Let’s test it out, shall we?!

What is Tinder Shadowban?

Tinder shadowban is Tinder penalizing you for doing something wrong (i.e breaking the Tinder community guidelines) without you knowing you’re being penalized.

Your profile becomes almost invisible, and it’ll take you some time until you realize something’s wrong.

Essentially, it is a punishment… from Tinder, because you’ve done something wrong, you naughty!

How to tell I’m shadowbanned?

The official Tinder doesn’t talk about it. However, we all know…

You’re shadowbanned on Tinder if you experience passiveness on the app, be it not getting matches, not getting likes, or even not having enough profiles to swipe through…

Here’s how you can specifically tell if you’re shadowbanned on Tinder:

1. If not zero, you get very few matches.

You got a lot of matches before, and all of a sudden you’re not getting any. (Or the ones that you’re getting are the ‘low quality’ matches.)

That’s because your profile, your majesty, isn’t being shown to people. You’re I-N-V-I-S-I-B-L-E.

2. You get no messages back.
Let’s say you’ve been having a few conversations going on with a few people, and you stopped getting their messages out of the blue.

It could be that they’re not getting your texts either no matter how many times you tried to reach them.

Or it can be that your profile disappeared from their matches entirely.

3. Almost zero profiles are shown to you.

There is indeed a limit of people you can swipe per day. But this time it’s a different type of story, right?

You’re swiping just as always, and recently you’re running out of ‘profiles’ to swipe, pretty damn quickly.

That’s another sign, right there. You’re not shown to people, and people aren’t shown to you.

4. “Oops! Something went wrong.”

You see the “Oops! Something went wrong” pretty f*cking often that it is starting to get annoying.

Note: Do not confuse it with error codes such as error code 5000, or others. Pay attention to the text.

You see it while you’re swiping those few profiles or when there are no more profiles to be shown.

This is what gives you that little ‘glitchy’ feeling while using the app when you’re shadowbanned on Tinder.

When put together along with the low number of likes, matches, and profiles to swipe on, this is a large sign pointing at “Shadowban”.

5. You [Tinder Gold subscribers] get zero (or a few of the fewest) likes.
You went all happy when you first saw who likes you, but now the story got kind of sad eh?

Because you’re not getting likes anymore.

You can’t get likes if you’re not seen by people. When you’re shadowbanned you’re invisible but you don’t know it.

You’re using the app without being seen by other people.

6. You got a warning from Tinder.

If you broke any of the Tinder community guidelines or got reported by people, you’ll perhaps get a warning from Tinder.

It usually looks like this:

Well, the reason why you’re shadowbanned is exactly one of those mentioned above (you broke the Tinder community guidelines, or people reported you) to begin with.

Let’s say you didn’t improve much of your inappropriate behavior after the warning… if they didn’t ban you yet, then congrats on your shadowban.

7. You can’t delete your account.

When you’re shadowbanned you’ll be facing difficulties when you try to deactivate your account.

Essentially, it’s Tinder not wanting you to disturb others, but it’s also Tinder wanting you to stick around for a little longer so that you try to do something about this passiveness of the app.

To understand it clearly, among other things such as lack of profiles to swipe, zero likes, when you’re shadowbanned on Tinder, you can’t delete your account.

It can seem like a glitch whenever you try to deactivate your account, and no matter how hard you try, you’ll end up having your profile still active.

Why am I shadowbanned?

It’s not because “Oh I’m just unlucky, always been”, trust me.

There is something you’ve done with or without knowing you’re doing something wrong.

Perhaps you didn’t hear of Tinder Etiquette, which is exactly what you should know before you get Tinder.

Here are 6 reasons you got shadowbanned:

1. You broke the Tinder community guidelines

You didn’t even read them, didn’t you?
Taken from Tinder:


Nudity/Sexual Content
Harassment
Violence and Physical Harm
Hate Speech
Private Information
Spam
Promotion or Solicitation
Prostitution and Trafficking
Scamming
Impersonation
Minors

2. You swiped right uncontrollably.

It could be detected as a ‘robotic’ move, and then Tinder gets mad at you because you’ve got no standards, you know the drill.

3. You sent the same message to a lot of people.
Another ROBOOOTIC MOOOVE! Tinder doesn’t like robots, and it can be detected as such if you send the same message to several people.

4. You ghosted people.
That’s another thing that’ll get some Tinder users mad, and knowing that user experience is one of Tinder’s biggest priorities it will get Tinder mad, which then will possibly lead to a shadowban if not a ban.

5. You restarted your account too many times.

It’s spooky. Tinder will know you’re up to no good, you’re up to something naughty; and well, take action.

6. You’ve been reported (multiple times).

Tinder will not keep someone who disturbs its users…

Getting reported is an indicator that you’re disturbing people by showing inappropriate behavior through your actions on Tinder.

You might get warned. You might just get banned. You might get shadowbanned.

The moral of the story, be nice.

How long does a Tinder shadowban last?

There has been word spread around about this Tinder 3-month rule.

It is based on the fact that Tinder clears up your data from their system after 3 months of account deletion.

I’ve seen people waiting for 3 months because of this:

“… we implement a safety retention window of three months following account deletion. During this period, account information will be retained although the account will of course not be visible on the services anymore.”
Taken from Tinder.

Again, it’s account deletion. This means that waiting for three months doesn’t work unless you delete your current Tinder account. 

In conclusion, a Tinder shadowban lasts until you completely delete your account.

This means that you can’t get rid of a Tinder shadowban unless you open a brand new account(will talk about this in detail further in this article).

Meaning, it’ll last FOREVER!

How to remove Tinder shadowban?

Tinder shadowban doesn’t just go away.

I’ve tried, I’ve been there, I’ve done that. Follow me.

Waiting for three months thinking that Tinder will delete your data and won’t remember you aren’t going to work.

You need to open a completely new account.

Here are 6 steps on how to do that correctly:

1. Get rid of your current Tinder account:

Settings > App Settings > Delete Account

A few people have been experiencing difficulties when trying to delete their Tinder accounts.

You can also check this one out Trouble with account deletion, it’s what Tinder suggests you do if you’re having such trouble.

On the other hand, find a way to get rid of it entirely. Remove as much information and photos as you can. You need to delete it!

2. Uninstall Tinder.
You have to uninstall it from your phone so that you get ready for a fresh beginning on the app.

3. Disconnect Tinder from Facebook.

Facebook > Settings > Apps and websites > Tinder > Remove App

4. New phone number, Facebook/Email, account/Apple ID, IP address, bank info(if you’re planning to use premium subscriptions, and new device.

Tinder remembers you. That’s why you can’t use anything that indicates it’s you when you open a new account.

Tinder bans your device too, so we need everything new! Nothing that you used in your previous account, not even pictures!

Note: About the IP address, unplug your internet router, wait for one minute, plug it back in, and you’ve got yourself a brand new IP address.

About the phone number: there are virtual phone numbers you can use to open a new Tinder account, which is easier than buying a new SIM card and it’s guaranteed to remove the shadowban.

4. Download Tinder with your new Apple ID/google play account, and IP address.

There must be no trace that indicates an old shadowbanned user (you).

You want to renew everything you used on your previous Tinder account.

Otherwise, your new Tinder account might end up in review.

5. Open your new Tinder account.

Note: DO NOT use your old photos, old social media (that’s why you need to open a new Facebook/Instagram/Spotify account), or old bank info with which you paid anything on Tinder!

This time you want to read the Tinder guide and avoid getting shadowbanned again.

If you feel like this is too much effort to put into it, then think of getting any other dating apps, because there’s no other way you’ll get back on Tinder.

There might just be! Check out 8 Ways to Use Tinder Discreetly Without an Account, to know more about the details.

What’s the difference between the ban and the shadowban on Tinder?

Meet ‘ban’. Visible, so much that even your eyes burn a little once you see ‘him’

You won’t be able to access your account again…matches, likes, conversations, gone. Adios.

Essentially, a ban on Tinder is Tinder’s way of removing you from the app, not allowing you to use it any longer.

Now I want you to meet ‘shadowban’:

They don’t let you know, so we haven’t met him yet. Also gets you mad.

Put simply, a shadowban it’s a form of a ban, but instead of being ‘expelled’ from the app entirely, you still get to use Tinder.

You get to use the app(in a messed up way), it seems kind of normal, then you finally smell the fishiness. No matches, no likes, no messages, etc.

It’s like sitting alone in a dusty, quiet room.

Why not just ban me?

Well, you pay for the premium subscriptions and if you’d find out that Tinder banned you, you’ll get furious and violently tap to unsubscribe to any of the subscriptions you were paying for!

Of course, they won’t ban you!

If you’re not paying for one of the subscriptions, you see that you’re not getting any matches, you feel low, and think of getting, let’s say, Tinder Gold while hopeful and thinking it’ll solve your ‘little issue’. 

You’ll stick around enough to think that your account is ok, you just need a bit of a boost through premium subscriptions.

Banning you would mean no opportunities for you to spot a problem and pay to solve it. That is one of the reasons why you get shadowbanned instead of banned.

Extra: How to not get shadowbanned?

Ok, besides reading and following the Tinder community guidelines which you MUST, there are a few other things you can do:

1. Make a decent profile, with a decent non-offending bio, photos, and anthem.
2. Opening lines. Make them irresistible.
3. Be active.
4. Don’t ghost your matches!
5. What to say on Tinder? Keep the conversations going.
6. Be nice enough to not get reported.
7. Don’t swipe right every person nor be too picky.

Alrighty! If you didn’t get the lesson, remember this:

When you’re old you’ll look back and regret spending so much time opening new accounts and resetting your internet router… Take it easy on the internet, be responsible at least.

Save yourself time and effort, and simply follow the guidelines!

Sincerely,

Liam