What Is the Difference Between Unmatching and Blocking on Tinder?

Unmatching ends a match you already have. Tinder says it removes that person from your match list and you from theirs, it is permanent, and they are not notified. Blocking goes further: it stops the two of you seeing each other on Tinder at all, even if you never matched. Blocking cannot be undone either, and Tinder says it is not available to everyone.

Unmatching only works on someone you have already matched with. Press it, and you both drop off each other's match lists.

The conversation goes with it. Tinder says unmatching removes the whole chat, and neither of you can see or send anything to the other afterwards. The other person gets no alert, although she may notice you are missing if she looks for you.

Tinder treats the unmatch as permanent. There is no undo and no way to restore the chat later. So if she gave you her number or you made plans in the chat, save them first.

Tinder calls its blocking feature Block Profile. It stops you and the other person from seeing each other on Tinder, and it works even before a match. So if you come across someone you know and you do not want them seeing you, blocking deals with it before any match exists.

Like unmatching, it cannot be undone, and the person you block is not notified.

Tinder says Block Profile is not available to everyone, so you may not see the option on your account. Where it is available, Tinder lets you choose to block someone at the same moment you unmatch them.

Most of the time, you want neither. A chat that has gone quiet is not a problem that needs a button.

Unmatch when a match is finished. You have decided you are not interested, the conversation is going nowhere, or she has said something that made the decision for you. That removes the chat and the match, and that is all most situations need.

Block when the issue is being seen at all. The common cases are real-life ones: an ex, a coworker, a friend's sister, a client. You may not want them seeing you on the app, and you may not want to keep coming across them either. Unmatching cannot help here, because you have never matched. Blocking can, if you have it.

Use both when someone has made you uncomfortable. If a match turned hostile or strange, unmatching removes her from your list, and blocking, where available, keeps her from finding you again.

Men sometimes unmatch or block in a temper, as if it were a way of telling her something. It is not. Tinder does not notify the other person in either case. The only one who feels the difference is you.

That is a good reason to cool off first. Anything worth unmatching tonight will still be worth it in the morning, and a match you ended in irritation is one you cannot bring back.

The exception is anything that feels unsafe. There, act straight away.

If you do want her to know something, say it in words before you press anything. After a date, or a long conversation with plans in it, one honest line does the job: "I enjoyed talking to you, but I don't think we're a fit, and I didn't want to just disappear." Then unmatch if you want to. For a chat that never got past a few lines, no explanation is needed at all.

Unmatching and blocking both end what you see. Neither one tells Tinder that something was wrong.

If someone threatened you, asked you for money, pushed you toward a suspicious link, or plainly was not the person in the photos, report the account. The blue shield in a chat opens Tinder's safety tools, where you can report, unmatch and, if you have it, block. Tinder also notes that you can still report someone after you are no longer matched, so it is not too late if you unmatched first.

Then unmatching is your tool for anyone you have matched with, and reporting is your tool for anyone breaking the rules.

For the ex or coworker who turns up in your recommendations, the honest answer is that you swipe left and move on. Seeing a familiar face now and then is a small price for being on the same app as people you know, and they are seeing yours for the same reason.

Unmatch ends a match and deletes the chat. Blocking hides you from each other on Tinder altogether, even before a match, where Tinder offers it. Both are permanent and both are silent. Pick by what you actually need: to end a conversation, or to not be seen.