Why Can't I Post on Reddit
The message is deliberately vague. Behind it are four or five specific filters, and they are not all Reddit's.
Why can't I post on Reddit: most often because the subreddit requires more karma or an older account than yours has, and its automated moderation removes the post straight away. The message is generic on purpose, so the only way to learn which rule fired is to ask the moderators.
Other causes: a sitewide rate limit on new accounts, a community ban you were not told about, an unverified email, or a post type the community does not allow.
Modmail is the one reliable way to find out which, because moderators can see the rule that fired.
If the answer is that you will never meet a community's threshold, the alternative is a community of your own, and nobody joins an empty one. Subscribers for a subreddit acts on the number that makes a new one look worth joining.
The vagueness is deliberate and it is the reason this question has no single answer.
Reddit gives each community an automated moderator that removes posts according to rules the community writes. Those rules commonly include a minimum amount of karma, a minimum account age, a requirement that the email be verified, or a restriction to a certain type of post. None of that is visible from outside the moderation team, and the removal notice does not quote the rule.
Sitewide limits exist too and behave differently. A brand new account is rate limited: it can post, but slowly, and posting quickly looks like the behavior of a bot. There is no way to lift this other than time and normal use.
Then there are states that look like a filter and are not. A ban from one community is often silent, so your post appears to you and to nobody else. A shadow-removed post looks live on your profile and does not appear in the community listing, which is why checking the post in a private window is the fastest diagnostic anybody can run.
The ordering that saves time: check the post in a logged-out window, read the subreddit's rules page, then message the moderators. Nothing in Reddit's own help will tell you which community rule you hit.
Check whether it posted at all
Open the post's link in a private window, signed out. If it is not there, it was removed or filtered.
If it is there, the post exists and the problem is visibility rather than permission: it may be ranked low or caught in a community's new queue.
Your profile shows your posts regardless of removal, which is why the profile is a bad place to check.
For comments, the same test applies and is the usual way people discover a community ban.
Karma and account age rules
Large communities commonly require some combination of comment karma, post karma and account age.
The thresholds are not published in most cases, precisely so they cannot be gamed.
Comment karma is the faster of the two to earn, and commenting usefully in smaller communities is the only legitimate route.
Buying or farming karma is against the rules and is detectable, and accounts doing it are the reason the filters exist.
The thresholds are met the slow way, and earning the karma the filters want covers what actually counts. Many blocks are about promotion rather than about karma, which the self-promotion line explains.
Sitewide limits on new accounts
A new account can post but is rate limited, so a second post soon after the first is refused.
Unverified email addresses restrict some actions on some communities.
Accounts flagged for suspicious activity are limited in ways that are not announced.
Time and ordinary participation resolve all of these. There is no appeal because there is no penalty on file.
A verified email address is the quickest of these to rule out, and it is required by more communities than people expect. The setting is in account preferences, the confirmation arrives in seconds, and it occasionally unblocks posting in a subreddit that gave no reason at all.
What to say in modmail
Moderators are volunteers reading a queue, and the message that gets answered looks different from the message most people send.
Keep it to three sentences. What you posted, when, and a request to know which rule it hit.
Link the post. Moderators can see removed content, and without the link they have to search for it, which is the main reason messages go unanswered.
Do not argue the rule in the first message. Ask what it was. If the answer is a karma threshold, that is the end of the conversation and you know what to do.
Send it once. Repeat messages are treated as harassment and are the quickest way to a ban from the community you were trying to join.
And if the answer is that the post was fine and will be approved, say thank you. The queue is unpaid, and the ratio of complaints to thanks in it is what makes moderators stop answering at all.
Bans you were not told about
A subreddit ban usually sends a message, but a community can mute or restrict without one.
If your comments are visible to you and not in a signed-out view, that is the signature.
The modmail route still works while muted in most cases, and is the only way to ask.
A sitewide suspension is different and is always announced, with the account showing as suspended.
A mute is the quieter version of the same thing. It blocks modmail for a period without blocking posting, so a community can be unreachable while still accepting your submissions, which is the combination that makes people think the whole account is broken.
Getting past the filter
Read the subreddit's rules and sidebar first. Many state their karma requirement plainly.
Message the moderators once, briefly, asking which rule the post hit. Repeating the message is treated as harassment.
Build a small amount of history by commenting where you actually have something to say.
And pick a different community if the rule is one you will never meet. There is usually a smaller subreddit on the same subject with no threshold at all.
And for anybody building a community instead of fighting someone else's, the first hundred members are the hardest. Subscribers for a subreddit acts on that number, alongside the rest of the Reddit services we carry.
Questions people ask about blocked posts
Why does Reddit say I cannot post here?
Usually a karma or account-age rule written by that subreddit, enforced automatically. The message is generic so it cannot be tuned around.
How much karma do I need?
It varies per community and is often unpublished. Comment karma earned by participating is the only legitimate way to raise it.
How do I know if I was banned from a subreddit?
Open one of your posts there in a signed-out window. If it is invisible to everyone but you, you are banned or filtered.
Why can't I post twice in a row?
New accounts are rate limited sitewide. It resolves with time and ordinary use, and there is nothing to appeal.
Does verifying my email help?
Yes in some communities, which require it. It is a quick thing to rule out.
Should I message the moderators?
Yes, once and briefly. They can see which rule fired, which nobody else can. Repeat messages are counted as harassment.
Keep reading
- subscribers for a subreddit — If you end up running your own community instead of fighting someone else's filters, subscribers for a subreddit acts on the number that makes a new one look worth joining.
- earning the karma the filters want — The thresholds are met the slow way, and earning the karma the filters want covers what actually counts.
- the self-promotion line — Many blocks are about promotion rather than karma, and the self-promotion line explains where it sits.