What does the person you are trying to reach is unavailable?

For you, Facebook Messenger is a gateway to connect with other friends. It allows you to call (audio and video calls) and text your connected people without using your mobile number.

One of the main issues that people with messenger have is the message ”This person is unavailable on messenger”. You cannot send text messages or initiate a call to the person. It often becomes frustrating and irritating.

But why does this happen? While blocking is an option, it is not the only cause. In this article, you will find all the causes behind someone’s unavailability on Facebook and how to solve the issue!

Outline

• What Causes This Error Message?
  • 1. Deactivation Of Account
  • 2. The Person Blocked You
  • 3. Facebook Suspended Their Account
  • 4. The Account Is Deleted
  • 5. The Person has made Their Profile Private
  • 6. Messenger is Not Working
• Check if You Are Blocked
  • On Desktop
  • On Mobile
• Method to Fix the Issue- This Person Is Unavailable on Messenger
  • 1. Update Facebook Messenger App
  • 2. Clear Browsing or app Data
  • 3. Check your Internet Connection
  • 4. Check The Account Status Of The Person
  • 5. Try using The Web Version of Messenger
  • 6. Check If the Person has blocked you
  • 7. Try using Facebook Lite
  • 8. Connect with The Facebook Support Team
• Conclusion

What Causes This Error Message?

As it has been said before, there can be multiple causes, including-

1. Deactivation Of Account

Probably the person you are trying to reach has deactivated their account/. When an account is deactivated, the person automatically deactivates themselves from Messenger, and you will not find them anymore on messenger.

For this, the only way to check out the activation status of that person’s Facebook account is to check through common friends. The account is deactivated if they get the same message on messenger. There is nothing to do except wait for that person to reactivate their account!

2. The Person Blocked You

Blocking is one of the main issues that lead to the message “this person is not available on messenger” is blocking. When someone blocks you, they cut you off from their Facebook. That means you can neither see their fb profile nor connect with them through messenger. In other words, if you are blocked, you can no longer send messages to the other person.

Similarly, if you have blocked that person, you will not be able to send them messages on Facebook messenger.

So, the best way is to check if that person has blocked you or if you have blocked them intentionally or unintentionally. Check out if you can view their Facebook profile and see the pictures they upload.

On top of that, try searching their FB profile on the Facebook search bar. They probably have blocked you if you are still looking for their names on the list. Unless that person unblocks you, there is no way to reconnect on messenger.

3. Facebook Suspended Their Account

Facebook can suspend anyone’s account if the social networking site finds that person violates the terms and policies of using Facebook through their profile. When their account is suspended, their messenger gets blocked, and you can no longer send them messages on Facebook.

You can try checking through your other common friends or using other methods to connect with that person.

4. The Account Is Deleted

A deleted account means an account that is no longer available on Facebook. Facebook usually deletes an account if that account gets reports and objections from other Facebook account holders or violates any important FB guidelines.

Deleted profiles also do not appear on the Facebook search button as the account ceases to exist. So, try searching on fb once. If you do not find any trace of that person on fb, even though you can connect with them through other methods, probably fb has deleted their account completely.

5. The Person has made Their Profile Private

Facebook allows people to lock their profiles and keep their profiles private. Many people use security measures to prevent unwanted messages and calls.

If you send them a message on Facebook, the message will appear as a request, and you will not be able to connect to them unless they accept your message request.

6. Messenger is Not Working

Have you checked the status of your Facebook messenger app or web version? Many people get the message “This person is not available on messenger” if the messenger (app or web version) is not working properly.

Probably the app is outdated and needs some update to the latest version. Or it can be a possibility that the app is bugged. In the case of the web version, an old window that has been open for a long time becomes unresponsive.

Check if You Are Blocked

Have you blocked that person intentionally or accidentally? Well, here is how to check if you are blocked –

On Desktop

• First, click on the down arrow in the window’s top right corner.
• From the drop-down menu, select “Settings & Privacy.”
• Now, from the settings menu, open “Blocking.”
• Wait till a new page with the details of your past blocked profiles appears. Here find the person’s profile you want to unblock. Alternatively, you can also use the search bar to search for their name.
• Now, tap the profile you intend to unblock.
• On the next page, tap “Unblock” to unblock the person.

On Mobile

If you are surfing Facebook through mobile apps, here is how to check if you have blocked someone-

• First, open a drop-down menu from the hamburger account at the app screen’s top right corner.
• Next, from the drop-down menu, select “Settings.”
• From here, select “Settings & Privacy.”
• After that, click on the “Audience and Visibility” tab and click on “Blocking” from the drop-down menu.
• It will open a list comprising all the blocked users on your account. Now, click on the account you want to unblock.
• On the next page, click “Unblock”, and you can connect with them again!

Method to Fix the Issue- This Person Is Unavailable on Messenger

1. Update Facebook Messenger App

The first thing you need to do is to check the update status of the messenger app on your device. Often an outdated app is a reason behind this problem, and the issue gets automatically solved after the messenger app is updated to its latest version.

Here is how to can check the app status and update it-

• Open the Google play store(for android devices) or app store(for ios devices)
• Next, in the search bar, search “Facebook messenger”, “fb messenger”, or “messenger” and wait for the app to appear under the search bar.
• Now, click on the app icon. A new page will open on your device, and the page will show an “update” message beside the app logo if the app requires an update.
• Click “update” and wait to complete the update and installation procedure.
• Now, check if you can send a message to that particular account.
• You can try the next hack if the problem resumes after updating the messenger app or is updated to the latest version.

2. Clear Browsing or app Data

If you frequently get the message “This person is unavailable in Messenger” from the web version, try clearing the browsing data once.

If you have been using the browser for a long time, it probably has accumulated a lot of data, and the cookies and cache interrupt the messenger service.

Similarly, an app also collects multiple cookies and cache while running. Probably the messenger app has a data burden.

In such cases, clearing the app data or rowing data can help. After clearing the data, the website and app will start from afresh and may work properly.

Here is how to do this for the messenger app –

• First, open the settings app from your device.
• Next, search “App management” to find the messenger app. When the app icon appears, click on it.
• Wait till the new page opens. Here select “Storage.”
• Next, select “Clear cache and Clear data.”
• As this clears all the data of the app., you may need to start afresh by logging in on the app. But, this often helps.

You may need to delete the recent browser history if you are using the web version. Here is the step-by-step guide-

• First, open the browser.
• Next, click on the three-dot icon in the upper right corner below the maximize button.
• Click on “History” from the drop-down menu to open the respective window.
• In the window, you will find your past activities. On the top left corner of the window. You will find a three-parallel line icon for the menu. Click on it.
• From the drop-down menu, select “clear browsing data.”
• This will delete all the browsing data. But, you will lose all of your saved pages and login credentials

3. Check your Internet Connection

Often, poor internet connection leads to a corrupted messenger app or website, which in turn tells you that the person you are messaging is not available despite their active status on Facebook. The best way to counter this is to recheck your internet connection.

In case you are using a Wi-Fi network, try disconnecting and reconnecting. If you are surfing using sim internet facilities, try disconnecting and turning on the data service again. If you are lucky, it will solve a lot of problems. If not, move to the next hack.

4. Check The Account Status Of The Person

As we have stated, an inactive account leads to the message “the person is unavailable on messenger”. So, first, try checking if their account is active. Try searching their name on Facebook. If their name does not appear, probably the person has deactivated their account on Facebook.

If their name appears on Facebook, but you cannot message them, it is better to contact them in an alternative way or reach them through common friends to understand the issue!

Deleted accounts also do not have a messaging facility. So, check if the person has deleted their account once before moving to the next hack!

5. Try using The Web Version of Messenger

Are you facing an issue with the messenger app? Then it is time to try the web version of messenger. Often switching to the web version can solve the issue related to the message “this person is unavailable on messenger”. If the messenger app has bugs or other technical issues, it will not work properly. In such cases, using the web version allows you to send and receive text messages without issues!

6. Check If the Person has blocked you

As you know, when you have blocked someone, or someone has blocked you, you can no longer message or connect to them on Facebook. So, if you are repeatedly getting the message “This person is unavailable on messenger”, try to check if they have blocked you. You can follow the previous process to confirm if you have blocked them.

If you have not blocked them, try to check if they have blocked you. For this, you can follow any of these three methods-

• First, open the messenger app or web version to open the chat history.
• Next, type the person’s name in the messenger search bar and wait till their name appears.
• Click on their profile icon to open the previous chats.
• If the chat ends with a message saying “You cannot send messages or call to … as you have blocked them/ you cannot text or call … as they have blocked you”. The person has blocked you.
• First, open the search bar on Facebook. Here type the name of the person you intend to connect. If their profile appears in the search list, the person has not blocked you.
• Alternatively, go to “Facebook Memories” to find the common memories related to that person. If their name has a blue colour and you can click their profile name to visit their profile, the person has not blocked you.
• But, if the name does not appear or even any message, comments, or memories connected to that person do not lead you to their profile, and you get an “error” message, they have probably blocked you. In this case, you cannot do anything.
• In case you have blocked that person and now want to reconnect, here is the method to unblock them-
  1. First, tap on the top right icon of Facebook to open the drop-down menu.
  2. Next, navigate to “settings” and click on it.

• Now, from the new drop-down menu, select “Privacy”.

1. It will open a new screen. From here, select “Blocking.”
2. Wait till a new page with the details of your past blocked profiles appears. Here find the person’s profile you want to unblock. Alternatively, you can also use the search bar to search for their name.
3. Now, tap the profile you intend to unblock.

• On the next page, tap “Unblock” to unblock the person.

7. Try using Facebook Lite

If you are using Facebook and messenger apps and facing this issue, it is time to switch to Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite, the lightweight version of these apps. It is also an official app from Meta Inc. and comes with all the features you get in the usual Facebook and messenger app. These two apps are lightweight, your phone will not be burdened with a large app and you may get a better user experience altogether.

Try installing the messenger and Facebook Lite app and use them. If you can send a message to that intended person from messenger kite without any issues, probably the app was the reason behind it.

Here is how to install Facebook lite and Messenger Lite on any device-

• First, open the Google play store (android users) or play store (ios users).
• In the search bar, type “Facebook Lite” or “Messenger Lite”. Wait till an app with the logo of Facebook or messenger with the name “Lite” appears on your screen.
• Click on the Lite app.
• Wait till the installation completes.
• Log in with your credentials and start messaging and using Facebook like you usually do.

8. Connect with The Facebook Support Team

If nothing helps, you should contact the Facebook support team for further assistance. Open the “support centre” and describe your issue in detail. The team will contact you on time and solve your issue!

Please remember that the support team may reach you after one or two days as they need to connect to thousands of users daily.

Check Also for-

• How to See Deleted Messages on Messenger

Conclusion

The message “This person is unavailable on Messenger” whenever you try to message someone is quite annoying. But, there can be multiple underlying reasons including blocked or deleted accounts or even poor app conditions. If you are experiencing such a problem, you can try different methods to check the issue.

If no hack works, you need to connect with the Facebook Support team for further assistance. If you do not get any positive reply from the support team, there is nothing you can do anymore. It is better to convey your message to that person by other methods, including a phone call, whatsapp or even connecting via a common friend. If nothing works, probably that person has ceased all connections with you, and you may need to move on from this issue!