Shadowbanned on Reddit? Here is How to Build Back Up

The amount of shadow banning we are seeing on Reddit is absolutely ridiculous and out of control. More and more creators are waking up everyday looking at their accounts and BAM…. Account is shadowed. There are steps that we have to take, and then there are some steps that I personally would do in that moment of realizing I am shadowed. The steps we really should take involve appealing, and then the next steps I would take are all going to involve starting a new account and what hurdles are going to come up due to having a new account.

Bans on Reddit

Shadowbans vs Account Bans

Though they do both make your account practically useless, shadowing and a full account ban are completely different. Not only are they completely different, they look completely different when they happen, And they have vastly different consequences.

In a account ban your account will be completely disabled You will not be able to post or comment anywhere. You will usually always receive an email telling you why your account was band, and a notification pop up on your screen that is a red banner telling you, and you will get a message within your messages box that will tell you you have been removed from the site.

A shadowban is a platform-wide ban issued by Reddit admins that hides your posts and comments from other users without notifying you. Shadowbanned accounts appear normal to the user, who can continue posting, but their content is invisible to others. Lately we have seen shadow bands follow a very interesting and repeated process.

1. The user is prompted to reset their password after their account was disabled for suspicious activity.
   1. All of the posts the user has put up will have the trash can
   2. The account karma could be gone or a weird number
   3. Account age is usually in the negatives or zeroed
   4. The profile picture will be a gray avatar that is blank
2. The user resets their password
3. The shadow comes immediately after.

How to Check for a Shadowban

To determine if you’ve been shadowbanned, use these methods:

Reddit’s Official Appeals Tool (Guaranteed Reliable)

1. Log in to your account on a desktop browser.
2. Visit Reddit.com/appeals
3. Look for a notice at the very top of that page. If it says you cannot submit an appeal, you are totally fine and your account is fine.

Community Feedback (Less Reliable)

• You can also post in subreddits like r/ShadowBan and ask if others can see your post.
• If users can see your post they will tell you which will be a tell to you that you are not shadowed. This is not a foolproof method.

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What to Do if You Are Shadowbanned

Submit Appeals

If you confirm that your account is shadowbanned, follow these steps to appeal:

Submit Appeals Through Reddit’s Official Tool

• Use Reddit.com/appeals to submit an appeal.
• Submit your appeal daily, ideally during business hours (early morning Pacific Standard Time is best).

Alternative Appeal Form

• Reddit offers a secondary general request form, which includes an option for “account health.” You can find it here.
• Submit appeals through both forms for the best chance of success.

How to Write an Effective Appeal

Your appeal should be polite, concise, and professional. Include these key points:

• State that you are a human being.
• Confirm you have read and agree to Reddit’s Content Policy, User Agreement, and Reddiquette.
• Explain that you believe your account was mistakenly flagged by the spam filter and are willing to cooperate with admins to have it removed, or your account restored.
• Emphasize that you use (or intend to use) the platform as designed.

Remaining respectful in your appeal is critical, as the fate of your account lies in the hands of Reddit’s admin team. But let’s get really real with each other, we have not been hearing about people getting their accounts back for a very very long time. My account went down in December and I appealed for 31 days which is 62 appeals. I got one response the first day citing the content policy and that is it.

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Making a New Account

Steps I Follow to Avoid Account Linking

While making more than one Reddit account is not a big deal and is more than permitted, if you are making a new account after a shadowed one, you need to make sure you are not letting them be linked in any way, or your new one will be just a shadow as the old.

• You need a new email that has never been attached to Reddit, I suggest a new hosting provider, under a email username That has absolutely nothing to do with you. Make it kind of a anonymous and throwaway type email as possible that you can just have. It shouldn’t have your stage name, it shouldn’t have any identifying ties to you or the old account.
• Open a new browser that you have never logged into Reddit on. If you usually use Chrome, go use edge, etc. Sign up with that new email, and once you do you need to verify that email immediately.
• If you are like me and you are a app person, you need to first delete all data from the app, then you need to delete the app, then you can run the risk of re-downloading the app and using it again. That is what I did I have not seen any issues from it just yet.
• Do not ever log into a shadowed account on any browser or app that you use new and healthy accounts on. That will help Reddit link them together.

Maintain Separation of Accounts

Once you have built your new account you need to maintain separation of the old damaged account to the new healthy one. These are some steps that I take to maintain that separation.

• Different Browsers and devices: Use a separate browser and/or device for each account to prevent cross-linking.
• No Account Switching: Avoid logging into multiple accounts on the same browser, even if you’ve logged out of one. Reddit tracks device activity, so this precaution reduces the chance of accounts being flagged as linked.

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Priming & Building Account

Steps I Follow to Avoid New User Restrictions

Reddit is the only platform I know of that punishes new users. They do this because this platform gets more bots and spam then God knows. But because of the restrictions they put on new accounts it’s incredibly easy to get caught in the spam filter and get shadowed all over again. If you go very low, and very slow, you can build an account and never get caught in it or affected by these restrictions. These are the steps I take when I build new accounts to avoid those penalties.

Step 1: Create Your Account, Verify Email

Once you create your account the very first thing you should do is verify that email. Verifying your email is a simple but essential step. It improves your Contributor Quality Score (which we will discuss later on) and signals to Reddit that you’re a legitimate user.

Step 2: Walk Away

Like seriously, walk away from your account. Let her age for a day maybe two. Let her come to life. And this is giving the algorithm time to recognize your account.

Step 3: Start by Voting on Posts

Spend a few days scrolling and upvoting posts in subreddits that interest you. This passive engagement helps establish a history of activity without drawing attention to your account.

Step 4: Focus on Commenting

After that I begin leaving thoughtful comments on posts. This is a great way to build comment karma and start interacting with the community.

Step 5: Wait a Handful of Days Before Posting

Be patient and give your account time to grow. When you do start posting, focus on smaller subreddits where your content is more likely to be seen and appreciated. Do everything you can to avoid getting your post taken down. Read The rules 6 times over if needed. If you start posting and your first few posts are taken down that is going to significantly harm your account.

Once posting go slow and staggered. No more than one to a couple a day at first.

Step 6: Hold Off on Schedulers

Using schedulers on Reddit is permitted. Here’s the thing, it is risky. You can get looked at as a bot by the filters and you can get shadowed because of it. There are steps you can take to make using one a feasible option.

• Wait until you have at least 300 comment karma before automating anything.
• Avoid using scheduling tools for at least the first two weeks. These tools can flag your account as spammy if you start too soon.
• Begin by manually posting. Post on your own before you ever connect a scheduler for at least a couple of days. I would say to be safe, at least 5 days.
• If you do start using schedulers, maintain an even balance of manual posting as well. If you are using a scheduler for every single post and you never manually post, the human behaviors and human irregularities that a scheduler does not have will not be present. Reddits filters will catch that, which can potentially make your account look like a bot.
• You must be commenting if you are using a scheduler. At minimum once per day.

Step 7: Balance Commenting and Posting

Reddit values community participation. For every post you make, leave general thoughtful comments on other users’ content. This balance shows that you’re more than just a self-promoter.

Step 8: Links Be Gone

Off platform links do not exist to you as a new account. By that I mean you really should avoid posting or commenting any link that takes a user off platform for a very long time. On my new account I am still, 6 months later, not posting off links in any comments or if I am very very very very rarely. Reddit has a very strict 9 to 1 rule. If you post one link you must post nine pieces of engaging content or comments that fit and do not leave someone off platform. Get your link into your social bio links. Get a pinned comment up, and that’s really all I would do.

New User Restrictions to Expect (platform wide)

When you first create a Reddit account, you’ll notice several limitations in place to prevent spam and abuse. These restrictions include:

• Rate Limits: You’re limited in how often you can post or comment.
• Messaging Restrictions: Private messaging and DM features are unavailable until your account gains credibility.
• Verification Requirements: Some subreddits, especially NSFW ones, require identity or age verification.

These restrictions are temporary but can be frustrating. The key is to focus on slowly building your account’s credibility.

New User Restrictions to Expect (subreddit wide)

Subreddits are the heart of Reddit, but each one has its own set of rules and cultural norms. Moderators enforce these rules to keep their communities organized and relevant.

Common Challenges:

• Minimum Karma and Account Age Requirements: Some subreddits only allow participation from users who meet these thresholds.
  • There are many others that will also have it go to the moderating queue and they must approve prior to posting.
  • Pro Tip: as we know many subreddits do not allow us to repost content once it has been posted there once. Once your account is shadow banned though, almost all of your posts will be taken off of the platform so no content is left up within the subreddits. When my account was shadow banned in December I went through sorted my posts from best of all time to worst. Downloaded the top content, copied the caption, noted the sub, and slowly began reposting it to those subs. Totally ethical? Eh. But it got my karma up very very fast.
• Strict Posting Guidelines: Your content must align with the subreddit’s theme and rules.
  • • Pro tip: If your content keeps getting taken down by a sub, but you are following all of the rules, just reach out and ask if they might be able to verify you or put you as a approved user so your content stops getting filtered. But be very very very respectful when asking for this!

How to Avoid Issues:

• Always read the subreddit rules before posting or commenting.
• Respect moderators. Please. We are not paid and very tired.
• Pro tip: many subreddits will allow you to simply transfer verification from a old shadowed account. If your account is shadowed, and you were verified in a subreddit, it is always a good idea to reach out from your new account and ask if you could have that verification transferred.

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Preparing For What-Ifs

Maintaining Multiple Accounts

We can follow every rule, we can toe the line, we can stay on the straight and narrow all day everyday. But, a ban can still happen. I can tell you that personally. In 2024 I lost my account of over 200,000 karma and 6 years of age with no prior known infractions. It broke my heart but I had a backup ready to go so in 10 days I was back up and running as if nothing had happened. These are the best tips I could give to prepare for the what if. To reduce risks and ensure a backup plan in case of account issues, it’s important to maintain multiple Reddit accounts with a clear structure and strategy for usage.

Account Structure

1. Main Account:
2. This is your active, primary account for promotions and engagement.
   1. Use this account to post and interact in your chosen subreddits regularly.
3. Second Account:
   1. An account used to build karma and credibility through minimal activity. You don’t need to be active daily, but a post once a week or a comment here and there works.
4. Third Account:
   1. A backup account created and left untouched to age.
   2. Its purpose is to serve as a passive safety net in case your other accounts are banned or restricted

Monitor Account Health

The best method we know of now to monitor our account health is to monitor our CQS score. The CQS, or the contributor quality score is Reddit’s classification system for measuring the likelihood that accounts are ran by people. This score can heavily affect if you are allowed into a subreddit, or if your post will even go up anywhere on the platform. The 5 rankings are lowest to highest.

To monitor it, there is a subreddit called r/WhatIsMyCQS that has created a bot to tell us this. Simply go to the sub, post a text post. Most people seem to just post ‘Test’. Once you have sent that off a bot will respond with your score. The below image is the response I got for my moderating account. It only responds with your rank. It does not give you any details as to why you are at that rank.

If your CQS score is dipping anything around or below moderate, you need to focus on getting her higher. This resource goes in depth on how to raise your CQS score without losing your mind.

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Resources:

Links Known to be Removed by Reddit

The Importance of Staying SFW in SFW Subreddits

Reveddit: The Best Tool For Tracking Reddit Removed Posts

How-to: Navigating the Struggles of Verification in Subreddits

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