In an official blog post, the Bumble team claimed they do not shadow ban Bumble users. But is this true? According to multiple users’ reports, they experienced something we would call a Bumble shadowban: not getting any new matches or even answers from their matches.
In this Bumble tutorial, we are going to explain what a Bumble shadowban is, what are the top signs which show that your profile might be in a shadowban. In the end, we will also explain how you can get out of a Bumble shadowban easily and how you can avoid getting shadowbanned on Bumble again.
What is a Bumble Shadowban?
Bumble Shadowban is a type of soft ban from Bumble, when you are still able to log in to your profile, swipe other profiles, check your messages but you don’t get any new Bumble profiles matching with you.
You can do anything, buy Bumble coins to activate Spotlights, or use Bumble SuperSwipes on many profiles by liking them by tapping on the yellow hearts, you are still not getting any matches. Zero.
Bumble Shadowban similarly to an explicit permanent Bumble block also seems to be a permanent status, so once you get into a Bumble Shadowban, you won’t get out of it only by waiting a couple of weeks.
Bumble Shadowblock is actually worse in a way than an explicit block from Bumble, as a lot of users don’t even know that they have been shadowbanned, sometimes still paying for premium features or for the premium Bumble subscription.
Bumble permanent block vs Bumble Shadowban
There are two main differences between a permanent official ban from Bumble and a Bumble shadowbans. These are the following:
- You get a message or a pop-up screen when you try to log in that you have been blocked from Bumble for some kind of policy violations. When you are shadowbanned, they don’t communicate with you anything about your status. (that is why it is called a shadowban)
- When you are permanently blocked from Bumble you won’t be able to use any features of the app anymore. When you are only shadowbanned, you can use all the features you are just simply not going to get any new matches.
Does Bumble really shadow ban profiles?
It is actually not 100% clear if Bumble shadowban is just an urban legend or a real thing that Bumble does.
On the official company website in a post about Bumble resets, they deny the existence of shadowbans. At the same time, you can find many users complaining mostly on the Bumble subreddit that they experienced something similar to a shadowban.
Bumble Official statement on Bumble Shadowban
Bumble has an official page on their website where they explicitly say that you won’t get shadow banned or in any way penalized for resetting your Bumble account.
However, they don’t say that they do not use a technique similar to shadow ban ever. So you might not get shadow banned for simply resetting your account, but they might decide to shadow ban you for other violations of their community guidelines.
Bumble Users reporting shadowbans on Reddit
Confirming the above speculation many users on Bumble subreddit reported that they experienced something that could be described as a Bumble Shadowban.
They were getting a couple of new Bumble matches consistently then one day the number of new matches simply fell to zero and they got zero matches in a month although they were swiping pretty actively.
So although no official confirmation from Bumble (Tinder doesn’t confirm it either, so no surprise), it seems to be that Bumble Shadowbans are real.
If you are a paying Bumble Boost customer they want you to keep paying, so they are rather banning your softly and let you keep paying than banning you explicitly and then you cancel your Bumble Boost subscription.
Signs of Bumble Shadowban
Before you would try to get out of the Bumble Shadowban (see the instructions below), you should also make sure that your account got really shadowbanned by Bumble.
Sometimes a lot of desperate Bumble users think that when they don’t get as many Bumble matches as they used to then they must be shadow banned by Bumble.
However, when you live in a small neighborhood or in a country where Bumble is not that popular yet it is very well possible that you get only a couple of new Bumble matches per month.
When you are not shadowbanned by Bumble
If you are experiencing decreasing new Bumble matches, but you are still getting 1-2 matches per week or month, it means that you are not shadowbanned.
In this case, you should first start improving your profile, read our blog post on how the Bumble algorithm works and you might manage to get more matches.
Why could Bumble Shadowban your profile
As there is no official statement regarding Bumble shadowbans, one can only speculate why Bumble shadow bans profiles.
The best thing you can do is to read their Community Guidelines where they clearly state what behaviors are considered to be violations and might get you banned.
We have a full post on why Bumble can block your account, but here are the most important violations that might get your account shadow blocked:
- Auto liking profiles
- Automating other stuff such as messaging
- Using a hacked version of Bumble to get a free Bumble Boost
- Offensive messages, hat speech. (but it is more likely you will get blocked for this explicitly)
How to get out of a Bumble Shadowban?
Unlike a Bumble hard ban, where it is clear that you got blocked by Bumble, with a Bumble shadowblock there is no clean sign or notification from Bumble that your account has been blocked.
For this reason, you can’t contact their Customer Support Team to get your account unblocked as they would say that your account is not banned, so you should just improve your profile.
When your Bumble account gets a shadow ban, your only option is to reset your Bumble account. We will show you in the next paragraph how you can do this in a way that will work and will get you out of the Bumble shadowban.
How to reset your account when you got shadowbanned by Bumble
We have an in-depth comprehensive article on how you can get your account back by resetting your Bumble account, so definitely check that out. But we will also give you a summary here, and highlight some important things that you should pay attention to.
So the basic idea behind a Bumble reset is that you first delete your Bumble account and then right after you deleted it, you recreate a completely new one. Here is a quick video that explains the gist of it:
When you have been shadowbanned from Bumble before, there is a high possibility that your newly created account will get into a shadowban again, so you won’t get a newbie boost.
So in this case, when you sign up for a new Bumble account you have to make sure that you use new personal information so that they can’t identify you. So make sure to use a new Facebook account if you sign up with Facebook or a new phone number if you sign up for Bumble without a Facebook account.
To be absolutely on the safe side, it is also recommended to use a completely new phone sim card, make sure that you have a new IP address, don’t use the same credit card if you have subscribed to Bumble Boost or purchased Bumble Coins, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can using third-party apps or bots on Bumble result in a shadowban?
Using third-party apps or bots on Bumble to automate actions like swiping or messaging can be considered a violation of Bumble’s community guidelines and may result in a shadowban.
How can I prevent getting shadowbanned on Bumble?
To prevent getting shadowbanned on Bumble, it is important to follow the app’s community guidelines and avoid any activities that could be seen as spammy or abusive. This includes not using bots or third-party apps, avoiding offensive language or behavior, and not auto-liking profiles.
Can I contact Bumble support if I suspect I’ve been shadowbanned?
Since shadowbans are not officially acknowledged by Bumble, contacting their support team may not be helpful in resolving this issue. However, if you believe you have been wrongly banned or have another issue with your account, you can try reaching out to their support team through the app or website.
Is it possible to get unshadowbanned on Bumble without resetting my account?
Unfortunately, since shadowbans are not officially acknowledged by Bumble, there is no way to get un-shadowbanned without resetting your account. This involves deleting your current account and creating a new one with new login information to avoid being identified by Bumble’s system.
How long does a Shadowban last?
If you really got shadowbanned by Bumble it is a permanent decision so it lasts forever. To get around a Bumble Shadowban you can try to reset your account (using completely new login information for your new Bumble account).
Does Bumble shadowban you for restarting your account?
According to Bumble they don’t penalize with a shadow ban or in any other way when you do a Bumble account restart (when you delete and right after that create a new account). However, when you don’t get any matches after you restart your Bumble account, it is very likely that you might have got shadowbanned.
Did Bumble shadow ban me?
When you get zero new Bumble matches for an extended period of time, then it is possible that you have been shadow banned by Bumble. However, if you are still getting matches but not as many as used to get, then you are not shadowbanned. You might need to improve your profile (e.g. take better photos) or move to a neighborhood where Bumble is more popular so your profile gets shown to more Bumble profiles.
