How to Fix “This Person Isn’t Available Right Now” Error on Facebook Messenger [2024 Guide]

By Vernon Roderick, Last updated: January 3, 2024

If you’re a Facebook user, then you’ve probably encountered the “This person isn’t available right now” message at least once. There’s no wonder, considering that it has been happening a lot these past years.

We get that special notification for many reasons, but one thing’s for sure, you won’t be seeing from them for a while once you encounter this issue.

This can be a major pain when you have something to tell them. This is especially true if Facebook or Messenger is the only way you can contact the person.

In short, you must learn how to troubleshoot the problem that "this person isn't available right now" as soon as possible. That’s why today, we’re going to talk all about what is and how to fix “This person isn’t available right now” error on Facebook Messenger.

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What Does “Facebook This Person Isn’t Available Right Now” Mean?Solution 1: Take A Look at Your Blocked List Solution 2: Check out If The Account was Deactivated/Deleted Solution 3: Find out The Person Blocked You Recommended Solution: Recover Your Messages from The Person The Bottom Line

What Does “Facebook This Person Isn’t Available Right Now” Mean?

There are different things that you have to remember when you encounter the problem. For one, you should know what does it mean when Messenger says this person isn't receiving calls right now. Generally, there are four reasons as to why this error occurs.

a. The User Blocked You

In this case, it would mean that the person you are trying to contact either blocked you or deleted your conversation. If that’s the case, then there might also be an additional message saying “Message Not Sent”.

If the user blocked you, you may not be able to fix it, unless you request that the person unblocks you. Either way, you should first figure out if the user really blocked you. There are many signs that a user truly added you to their blacklist.

However, there are two types of blocks, and that is by blocking through Messenger and blocking through Facebook.

Let’s first find out what happens when you are blocked through Facebook:

You cannot view the profile of the user, even when you were able to last time.
The account of that user becomes invisible only to you but not for others.
You won’t be able to send a friend request to the user.
The previous chat can still be viewed, but you can’t send a new message.
Being blocked through Messenger is a separate case, but it’s a bit less severe:
You and the user cannot send or receive a message.
Both of you are still friends on Facebook.
You can still see each other’s posts on Facebook.
You and the user can still like, comment, share, or reach each other’s posts.

In comparison, you have a higher chance of fixing the problem if you were only blocked in Messenger since you still have a way to interact. Nonetheless, you might want to start a new conversation with the user once you are unblocked.

b. You Blocked the User

On the other hand, the “This person isn’t available right now” message may also pop up if you blocked the user. This is a common occurrence and is often caused when you forget that you blocked the user, either because it was a long time ago, or it was just by accident. Regardless, the situation is still the same, except that it is reversed. The signs that we’ve discussed earlier still applies, but the solution for this would be quite easy since you will only have to unblock the user.

c. The User’s Account was Deactivated/Deleted

In this case, there’s not much you can do about it either. This is because if the user’s account was deleted, then there’s no going back. It would be removed permanently, and you’ll have to contact the user in an alternative way.

For reference, here are some of the reasons why the account was deleted:

The user’s account was a fake and was detected by Facebook, therefore it was deleted automatically and permanently.
The user violated a rule on Facebook, such as spamming, posting inappropriate content, and more.
The person deleted the account intentionally.

However, if the account was only deactivated, you still have a chance of resolving the issue.

d. The User Data was Deleted

The last case of the “This person isn’t available right now”, and also the rarest is when your user data was deleted. This often happens on the mobile app. The Facebook app cannot recognize your user data and thus, it won’t recognize that you were once friends with the user.

For that reason, you won’t be able to contact the person unless you recover your user data. Now that that’s settled, let’s head to how to fix “This person isn’t available right now” error on Facebook Messenger.

Solution 1: Take A Look at Your Blocked List

In some cases, it’s not the fault of the user that you keep on encountering the “This person isn’t available right now”. There are times when you haven’t realized that you were the one who blocked the person.

In that case, you should make sure to check if the person is included on your blocked list, and from there you should unblock that person. This guide will consist of two parts, how to access the blocked list on desktop and on mobile. Let’s start with the steps to go to the blocked list on the desktop.

Step 1: Go to The Facebook Site - On your desktop, open a browser. At the search bar, type in www.facebook.com to go to the Facebook site. Now log in to your Facebook account using your credentials.

Step 2: Navigate to The Settings - Click on the down-arrow located at the upper-right corner of the Facebook page. Then select Settings. This will take you to a new page.

Step 3: Check Out The Blocking Section - On the right side of the page, you’ll see a selection of options. Click on Blocking and you’ll get another set of options for blocking.

Step 4: Find The User’s Name - Under the Block users area, you’ll see a text box where you can input the name of someone you want to block. Under this, a selection of names will appear. These are the names of the user that you are currently blocking.

Step 5: Unblock the User - Besides the complete name of the user, you will see an Unblock button. Click on this button to unblock the user. When asked for confirmation, click on the Confirm button. After this, make sure you add the user again since it won’t automatically add the user once you unblock them.

With that, you now know how to unblock users on desktop, but what about on the Facebook app?

Step 1: Open The Facebook App

On your mobile device, open the Facebook app which should be represented by a white “f” located on a blue background. This will take you to the News Feed of your account, assuming that you’re already logged in. If not, then log in using your credentials.

Step 2: Tap on The Menu

Tap on the three horizontal lines at the lower-right of the app if you’re using an iOS, and top-right if you’re using an Android.

Step 3: Go to The Settings

Scroll down the menu until you see the Settings option, which in that case you should click on this option.

Step 4: Navigate to The Account Settings

On the menu that will show up, select Account Settings to go configure your account.

Step 5: Select Blocking

Tap on the Blocking option which should have a stop sign representing it.

Step 6: Unblock User

Check the users that are included under the Blocked users' section. Find the user’s name, then tap on the Unblock button to unblock the user.

Remember that if you unblock someone, you won’t be able to block them again for a couple of days. This is true for both the desktop version and the app version.

Solution 2: Check out If The Account was Deactivated/Deleted

There’s not much to do to fix “This person isn’t available right now” error when the account is deactivated or deleted. The least you can do is to find out if the account really is deactivated. To do this, you simply have to go check out your friend’s account. However, it won’t be as easy as you think.

First of all, you have to use your friend’s, or any other account, to view the user’s account. That way, if it is still accessible, then perhaps you were only blocked since you’re the only one that cannot view the account. However, if it’s not accessible, this means that it is deactivated, considering that all users cannot view the account.

Solution 3: Find out The Person Blocked You

Our first solution is for our first case as well, when the user blocked you. As previously said, there’s nothing you can do if the user insists on blocking you, but you can at least make sure if you were really blocked by the user. After all, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Now there are two ways to do this. You can either use the mobile app or access the website through your desktop.

Let’s first go to the steps for the mobile version:

Step 1: Open the Messenger App

On your phone, open the Messenger app. Make sure that you have a stable internet connection before doing this. Also, the Messenger app should be in its latest version to avoid any further problems.

Step 2: Navigate to Your Conversation

On the search bar at the top of the Messenger app, type in your friend’s name. Select the official account of the user among the search results. If the name is already on the first screen, then simply tap on the chat to view your conversation with your friend.

Step 3: Send A New Message

Once you’re in the conversation, try to type in any message you would like to send. It could be whatever you want, as long as you can send a message. After typing the message, tap on the send icon and see if there is any response from the app.

With that, you’ll be able to determine if you were truly blocked. But before that, let’s head to how to do this on desktop first:

Step 1: Go to Messenger.com

On your desktop, open your browser. Then type in www.messenger.com on the search bar and press Enter. Log in to your account with your Facebook credentials and wait for the page to load completely.

Step 2: Go to Your Chat

On the left side of the page, find the username of that person. Once you find it, click on the chat to go to the conversation. You may also type the name in the search bar and select the user’s account.

Step 3: Send a Message

Now all you have to do is send the message via the Messenger app to the user. After sending the message, if you receive a message, “Message not sent” or “This person isn’t receiving messages at this time”, that could mean two reasons:

You've been blocked on Messenger(not Facebook)/Facebook.
The user has disabled the account.

If that’s the case, then you’ll most definitely encounter the “This person isn’t available right now” message if you try to contact the user on Facebook. However, if you didn’t encounter any of these messages, you can probably contact the user, otherwise, you’ll have to try out other solutions.

The Bottom Line

Often times, we find ourselves struggling to contact one person. Fortunately, apps such as Facebook Messenger help us contact our loved ones in case of emergencies. However, in times of crisis, problems are still inevitable.

One such case is when you encounter the “This person isn’t available right now” error. Luckily, you’ve learned how to handle this problem through this article. Despite this, you should still put effort into being careful not to make mistakes such as unintentionally blocking a user.

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