Why can't you tell a shadowban from a deleted account?

Reddit returns the same 404 for both publicly. The only signals that disambiguate require either logging in as that account or being moderator of a subreddit they posted in — neither of which a public tool can do.

What's the difference between shadowban and suspension?

Suspension is visible — you see a banner, you can't post. Shadowban is silent — you can post normally, but your posts are invisible to others. Reddit's public API exposes the suspended flag; it does not expose a shadowban flag.

Last updated: May 2026

Reddit shadowban checker — is your account visible publicly?

A shadowban makes your posts invisible to everyone except you — you can post normally, but nobody else sees them. Enter a username below to check whether the account is visible publicly.

How this works

We query Reddit's public /user/<name>/about.json endpoint. If Reddit returns 200 we report active (or suspended, if the response flags it). If Reddit returns 404 we report "not visible publicly" — this is the shadowban signal, but it also matches accounts that never existed. To tell shadowban from never-existed, log in as that user and try posting; if posts succeed but appear nowhere in incognito, the account is shadowbanned.

What to do if you're shadowbanned

Stop posting immediately. Review your last week of activity for anything that could look like spam or rule violations. Open a ticket at r/help with your username and ask politely whether your account is restricted. Wait — most shadowbans lift within 2–4 weeks for first offenders.

How to avoid shadowbans

Don't self-promote in subreddits that ban it. Don't use the same link or pitch across many subreddits in a short time. Build comment karma before you start posting links. Read each subreddit's rules before posting.

FAQ

Why can't you tell a shadowban from a deleted account?
Reddit returns the same 404 for both publicly. The only signals that disambiguate require either logging in as that account or being moderator of a subreddit they posted in — neither of which a public tool can do.
What's the difference between shadowban and suspension?
Suspension is visible — you see a banner, you can't post. Shadowban is silent — you can post normally, but your posts are invisible to others. Reddit's public API exposes the suspended flag; it does not expose a shadowban flag.