Tinder Shadowban decoded: 3 ways to fix your account and avoid future problems

Not getting any Tinder matches lately?

Then your account might be shadowbanned. 

I say might because there can be various reasons why you’re not getting matches. But most often, you’re probably just a few simple tweaks away from getting the results you want. 

So before you waste your time or even worsen your chances of recovery, let’s find out if your account is affected by a Tinder shadowban. 

And if not, let’s look at how you can get more matches instead. 

What is a Tinder Shadowban?

A Tinder shadowban comes close to having a disabled account. Although you can still use your account to swipe left and right, you’ll only get a few to no eyeballs from women on your account. It’s like you’re at a party but no one can see or talk to you. You’re a ghost. 

Will it ever go away? 

From my experience, a Tinder Shadowban won’t go away on its own. Once you’re affected, you must act to eliminate it. 

The first step is to do the Tinder Shadowban test:

The Tinder Shadowban test: is your account affected? 

Tinder uses an internal scoring system to rate the quality of your account.

This score is also known as ELO score. But contrary to popular belief, a low ELO score is NOT the reason why people get shadowbanned. It’s true though that your profile will get shown to fewer women if your score is low. 

Luckily, you can raise your ELO score quickly by understanding the Tinder algorithm, uploading better Tinder pictures, and pimping your Tinder bio. 

But if you’re shadowbanned, it’s usually because you violated Tinder’s community rules and other users reported you. Or, Tinder thinks you’re a bot, because you’ve been swiping right on everything.

Now, to test if your account is shadowbanned, check if you’re experiencing these 6 symptoms:

If you can recognize any of these 6 symptoms in your account, then chances are you got shadowbanned.

Let’s look at how you can fix that.

3 Ways to fix your Tinder Shadowban

The following 3 ways range from a quick fix to… well, kind-of-high-effort-fix.

So always start with the first way to fix your Tinder Shadowban and move on to the next if it doesn’t work. Makes sense?

Way #1: Pray to the Tinder tech support

As simple as it sounds, I recommend first going to the tech support and writing them an email saying that there must be something wrong or you got shadowbanned by mistake. 

Alternatively, you can go under settings in the app and click the ‘Contact Us’ button to reach out to the support.

Do this first and wait a few days before you move on.

Way #2: The 3-month rule 

Looks like the tech support couldn’t help you. 

In this case, you need to do this:

Delete your profile and wait 3 months.

Why? According to Tinder’s privacy policy, they need to wipe all data about you from their database after 3 months. Once that happens, you can sign up with a brand new account without the risk of getting shadowbanned immediately again. 

While you wait, check out these 13 Tinder hacks to get more matches.

Way #3: The Jason Bourne method

In the movie Jason Bourne, Matt Damon plays a spy who fled into a different country to save his life… hoping to start a comfortable life with a new identity. 

If nothing worked to recover your Tinder profile, you might feel similarly. 

So it’s time to change your identity on Tinder.
Here’s what you need to do: 

Delete your account and reinstall Tinder. Then, register with a new name and different pictures (still pictures of you, of course).
Aaaaaaaaaand then:

• Use a different email address when signing up
• Sign up through a different IP address. You can go to a public coffee place for example
• Don’t link your new account to any of your social media accounts your old Tinder profile was linked to
• Use a different credit card if you want to buy boosts or anything else

If you think that’s a ton of effort… I told you so. 

Never get shadowbanned again

Finally, here are some of my best hacks to p.i.m.p. your Tinder profile, skyrocket your ELO score, and never get shadowbanned again:

First, show the Tinder algorithm you came with good intentions:

• Don’t swipe right on every profile; be picky
• Text every match you get
• Don’t unmatch anyone

Next, get better pictures for your profile:

• Let your profile pictures tell a story. Arrange your pictures so you show a close-up portrait of yourself first, a full-body picture second, and the rest should be about your hobbies or whatever activities you do. Make sure to have at least one group photo as well.
• Use different outfits and different cameras. Make your pictures look as natural as possible. Use high-quality pictures mainly for your cover picture and your full-body pic. The rest should be taken with your smartphone. Show different facets of your life by switching up your outfits. 
• Add humor. This is not about being a clown or making her laugh. Instead, you want to convey you’re a guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously. And that’s attractive. You’ll find examples and many more image hacks in my Tinder pictures article.

Lastly, make sure your matches talk with you. 

If you want a head start, check out my free conversation starter template. It’s full of examples and tips to improve your conversations instantly. And it works on any dating app or platform. Even Instagram. 

Your Efficient Dating Advisor,

Herman the German