We often take for granted how easy it is to find someone on the internet. Now that people are present on virtually every social media platform, it is simply a matter of typing in a username and performing a search until you find the person you are looking for. Of course, platforms have settings and provisions to prevent abuse of this feature; especially to limit the unwanted consequences that come with it. Nevertheless, the ability to find a user is an essential feature of social media platforms.

It can indeed seem strange when the one-time “User not found” error pops up when you’re expecting a profile instead. What does this error mean when and why are you seeing it? Here’s everything you need to know.

It’s likely that despite entering the correct username, you’ll still encounter the “user not found” error in search results. There are multiple reasons why this error might appear, so keep in mind that Instagram created the “user not found” feature for two reasons. Either the user doesn’t actually exist, or they’re intentionally unavailable on Instagram for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do if you see the “user not found” error, but you can verify the possible reasons why you’re seeing this error.

There are specific reasons why the 'user not found' error has occurred.