No Tinder Matches? – The Full Guide to Getting More Matches

Finding a date is more difficult than it used to be, so we have adopted a new way of meeting people – online.

Today, we will give answers to the everlasting “Why don’t I get matches on Tinder?” question.

In this article, we shall address some possible reasons:

You’re swiping right too much
Your profile picture is inappropriate
Your bio isn’t just good enough

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Well, let’s get you some answers now!

No Tinder Matches? - The Full Guide to Getting More Matches 2

Is Tinder the best dating app for you?

Statistically speaking, probably not. People who follow our app recommendations have 2 times as many dates on average compared to using Tinder.

No Tinder matches

Tinder Match Guide in Video Form

No Tinder Matches? [The Full Guide to Getting More Matches]

Audio (podcast) form for those of you on the go

Why am I not getting matches on Tinder

Before we jump right into answering the question “why am not getting matches on Tinder?”, it is good to know a bit about the dating app itself and how Tinder works.

Though there are dating sites that focus solely either on hookups (like BeNaughty or Ashley Madison) or serious relationships (like eHarmony), Tinder undoubtedly remains not just the biggest dating app, but also an effective app for both hookups and serious relationships alike.

Now let’s look at some of the reasons that might have hindered you from getting those matches.

1) Swiping Right Too Much

Before you jump to the conclusion of “no one likes me on Tinder” or “Tinder doesn’t work for me” be sure to examine these things.

First of all, you should know that there is something as too much.

And if you happen to have no Tinder matches, it could be that the same thing is happening to you.

As a matter of fact, there is a thing, and an algorithm called Elo, after Arpad Leo, a Hungarian-American physics professor who came up with this rating system.

It was first used in chess to rank the skills of players, but later on, it found its use in many other things, and online dating is part of it.

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So, what’s all the fuss about?

Well, the thing is, every Tinder user out there has an internal score, a rating set by the company itself that ranks the people using the app, from the least to the most desirable ones.

As you could have guessed, these scores are nowhere to be found, and therefore, they are secret in a way.

How does Elo score work?

So, this Elo rating will set your profile in a “queue”.

Once you open the app, there is a preset number of profiles to “rate” – swipe left or right.

And this Elo score will determine where in the queue you will be. Whether you will be the 10th profile someone sees or 110th.

I guess that you are starting to see the problem here.

Now, many people would open their app and start swiping until their thumbs have fallen off, but there are many more that would open their profile once a day and go through 5 profiles and call it a day.

And so, if you are not among these first 5 profiles, you will not even get a chance to be swiped left!

“Okay, so what? They won’t see me today, but maybe tomorrow, or the day after that, for sure.”

Well… The secret Elo rating determines if you will get to the list, the queue at all!

What does it have to do with swiping right?

 “So, what does swiping every person’s right have to do with Elo rating and no matches on Tinder?” you ask.

Well, through the process of swiping, you are communicating with Tinder and its algorithm.

And by swiping every single person (or the majority of people that show up in your queue), you are telling the system not that your standards are low, but that you don’t have standards at all!

  1. Fake profiles? Bring it on!
  2. No photos? No problem!
  3. Those who are never being swiped right? I’ll swipe them!
  4. Those who never swipe? I’m their type for sure!
  5. Those who never answer? Them too!

So, if you are telling Tinder that you are okay with someone this low, there is no wonder you are getting no matches on Tinder!

It will just assume that you are the same as these people, and Tinder will give you to no one to swipe left or right.

“Why don’t I get matches on Tinder?”

“Why do I have zero matches on Tinder?”

Well, because you are not the material for matches and your standards are non-existent.

So, we can safely say that Tinder punishes those accounts that swipe right on every single person in its own way.

And that punishment is denying you the only thing for which you are there.

So, no Tinder matches for you!

You might even be flagged as a fake profile by the app, and there will certainly be nothing in it for them if you are fake, so… You will just be invisible to the Tinder community from then on.

 So, if you are getting no Tinder matches, this is the thing that you have to work on first.

How to fix bad Elo rating?

No matches on Tinder are like being out of shape.

If you don’t start implementing healthy habits in your behavior, you can’t expect the problem to fix on its own, right?

But, even if you start eating healthy and exercising, you won’t just wake up with a six-pack the next morning.

Getting lean takes time and effort.

It is all the same with Tinder.

No matches can be fixed, but it will take some time.

So, the first thing that you will have to do is swipe responsibly!

Swipe right only those people that you are certain you will message if you match or whom you would actually like to have a few words with.

Let me point this out again – your bad Elo rating will not fix overnight, and it will take some time.

But, truth be told, it is worth it.

And once you are back in a healthy queue, you will start getting matches for sure.

The Resetting Shortcut

If you figured that this is the thing that can be causing you problems with getting matched with cute people you would love to chat or date, there just might be a shortcut for fixing that horrifying Elo rating.

And the shortcut is – deleting your old account.

Why nothing easier!” you exclaim.

But know, Tinder is not what it used to be, and you might need to do a little bit more than just deleting and reopening your profile.

It remembers you, no matter how many times you come and open a new one.

What you will have to do is create a new email address, open a new Facebook profile with it, and then make a new Tinder profile, connecting it to the Facebook one.

Deleting and reopening a new profile might have been more than enough in the past days when Tinder wasn’t so developed and didn’t have that many users, but now, you will have to try a bit harder to get a clean slate.

2) Inappropriate Profile Pictures

Now, if you are not the one who is swiping right on every single profile that you come upon, and you are still not getting any matches, the real answer to the “Why am I not getting matches on Tinder?” question might simply be your photos.

And now you might say “okay if my pictures are the problem, I don’t even want to have anything to do with someone that shallow!

And we do understand the anger in that sentence, truly.

But what you have to understand is that these people never had a chance to see you in person or talk to you (“And they won’t if they are such a jerk, judging me by my photos!”), so you are nothing but a collection of images to them.

And probably bad images.

They don’t know that you call your Grandma every week, they don’t know how gorgeous your smile is when you start talking about that new science fiction series that you recently discovered and adore already, they don’t know that dogs love you, etc.

All they know is how you look in that badly lit selfie that you have set for your profile photo (the first picture they get to see).

And, let’s be honest, you do just the same.

So, there is no reason for getting angry, boys and girls.

It takes up a lot of time and it won’t change anything.

Instead, step up your game.

We have already talked about choosing appropriate photos in our Ultimate Guide for Setting up a Killer Online Dating Profile for Men and Women, but let’s see what more you can do to fix your photos.

Having no matches on Tinder will be a thing of the past.

1.      Ease up on the Selfie game

Selfies are a lie!

And I don’t mean a good white lie, like a little bit of make-up or a certain angle of taking photos.

It is a very dark lie that makes you look ugly.

And, it has to do with the lens that is normally used for front cameras and with how close you have to hold the phone to your face to take photos.

Selfies can easily distort the proportions of your face and make your forehead, nose, and chin look somewhat “out of place”.

So, from now on, when you are downtown having a blast with your friends, or on an amazing family trip, ask for your pals to take some nice photos.

A different angle will do the magic for you and your face!

And, if you are just not comfortable with someone taking photos of you, you can always use the timer on your smartphone and take the photos.

Selfie, but not a selfie!

Trust us, those pics look so much better than the ones made with a front camera.

And soon enough “no Tinder matches” will become “tone Tinder matcher”.

2.      Use natural lighting

Have you ever seen this GIF that explains the importance of artificial lighting and the difference it can make on your face before?

Well, if you haven’t and if you thought that the lighting is completely irrelevant for your photos, now you see how wrong you have been your whole life!

When you take the photos indoors, the shadow can make your face look ugly or scary, all of the little imperfections become visible at once, and you may even look unhealthy and grayish.

And no one likes that!

No matter how good your phone is and how amazing its camera, it still sucks when the pictures are taken under the artificial source of light.

So, to be sure that you look good on your Tinder photos, use subtle, indirect sunlight.

Well, to be true, direct sunlight is still better than the artificial source of light, but it can still cast a grim shadow on one part of your face, while the other half looks almost like it is burning and melting.

So, discrete, indirect sunlight will surely give you the best looks possible and make your face worth swiping right.

3.      Show your personality, it isn’t all about the looks

And here, we go back to the beginning and shallowness of liking someone only because of their photos.

Well, as you will see here, it isn’t always like that, and your Tinder photos should show much more than your looks.

And, if you thought well about the fact that you too look at pictures and people and decide how to swipe mostly based on the looks of the other person, you might find this a bit hard to believe.

But it isn’t all about the physical attractiveness when leaving the first impression.

So, to have a superb photo, you have to think outside of the box.

  1. Who are you?
  2. What is it about you that other people will like and that will make the attracted to you?
  3. How can you show your personality in the best possible way?  

Numerous researches show what people find important and/ or attractive when looking at other people’s photos.

And these things are:

  1. Being kind
  2. Funny
  3. Attentive
  4. Smart
  5. Gentle
  6. Romantic
  7. Having a pet

As you can see, it is not all about the abs and being ripped or being blond and weighing 110 pounds.

You don’t have to be George Clooney or Angelina Jolly.

All you have to do is be genuinely kind and smart, show your personality and win over those smiles and swipes.

Use your photos to tell a story about yourself, about the person you are, and what you do.

You won’t believe how big of a shift this can make on winning new matches.

3) Step up your Bio Game

When we talked about making a killer online dating profile, we also talked about creating a bio that will make your profile so amazing that everyone will just have to swipe right!

So, if your bio is extremely vague or boring, or says nothing about you, it is not so likely that anyone will want to talk to you.

Because, if you are too lazy to fill in those few blanks and tell your potential matches something about yourself, why would they want to dig further?

You would just seem boring, lazy, and empty.

Now, we don’t want to say that you should write down your whole life story in there, but you definitely shouldn’t leave it empty.

Use this About Me section to say something interesting or something that can serve as a conversation starter once you start getting matches.

We talked about elements of a magnetic profile and profile write-ups in our guide on making a killer online dating profile, but here are a few more tips for you:

1.      Pros and Cons of dating you

This is a great and funny way to present yourself to others.

Say things about you that can count as pros and a few that can count as cons.

Of course, this is more for fun than really presenting yourself as the best or worst one out there.

Examples:

Jason, 35

Pro of dating me:

  • I will sing you a romantic serenade

Con of dating me:

  • In public, without a shame

Jessica, 27

Pros:

  • I watch a lot of TV series
  • I am an artist
  • I can cook

Cons:

  • I will make references that you don’t understand
  • You will have to tell me what you think of my art
  • You do the dishes

2.      Share unpopular opinions

Do you enjoy debates from time to time and have an opinion that is not that widespread?

Great!

You can use that to make a nice and interesting Tinder bio description.

This will surely be a nice conversation starter, no matter if the answer you will get is “OH MY GOD, me too!” or “Seriously?!

Examples:

Simon, 24

Unpopular opinion:

Concerts are a torture!

Linda, 31

Unpopular opinion:

  • Pineapple on pizza isn’t all that bad.
  • Raisin cookies are better than chocolate chip cookies
  • Harry Potter is a little b****

3.      Would you rather…?

And while this one may seem that it is saying nothing, it really isn’t like that.

If you come up with a nice and interesting “Would you rather…?”, you will show how creative and clever you are.

Besides, a good question may often serve as a call to action, and that will give your potential matches something to start the conversation with.

Examples:

Denis, 27

Would you rather never be able to live in your country or never be able to return to it?

Amanda, 22

Would you rather….

Always know when people are lying

Or

Always get away with a lie easily?

4.      Unusual skills

Everything unusual makes people turn their heads towards it and look.

It is all the same with unusual skills, so if you have any, use this to make your Tinder bio interesting and cool.

Examples:

Daniel, 33

  • I am great with tongue twisters! Even “Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
  • I can write with both my left and right hand equally well.
  • I can hand whistle “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” theme song perfectly

Josephina, 29

  • I can identify planes with ease
  • My pinky toes don’t feel any pain
  • I can make a “wave” with my belly; almost like a belly dance!

5.      Two truths and a lie

This is another brilliant conversation starter because you will give them 3 very unusual things, and their task is to figure out what is what.

Besides, this could show how imaginative you are and that you could be a good pair for game nights!

Examples:

Michael, 33

Two truths and a lie:

  • I can speak Latin.
  • I never wash my hair.
  • I’m colorblind.

Ashley, 25

2 truths and 1 lie for you:

I was kicked out of 3 weddings. I hate dogs. I went swimming with sharks.

4) You are too picky

If you are getting no matches on your Tinder account, but your profile pictures are on the point, with nice and well-developed bios, you might start wondering if Tinder is even the right dating app for you.

For example, you are going through all of these profiles, and you are just not seeing anything that you like!

Well, this might mean that you are too picky, or simply that you know what you want – and Tinder is not it.

Sadly, there is no way to know this before you have tried other online dating apps and saw what results from these could bring your way.

But, on the other hand, there are so many fabulous apps that you can try and see which one is the best one for you.

The apps that we can suggest from our own experience are:

  1. eHarmony
  2. Zoosk
  3. Match.com

The truth is, even though it may not seem like it, that every website has its own crowd and its own users.

And which one will be the right one for you depends on what you are looking for and what crowd you are ready to mingle with.

So, we encourage you to try as many websites and dating apps as possible before you decide to settle with only one.

Especially if it’s your first time in the world of online dating!

The more apps you try, the happier you will be with the results because you will find the app that suits you the most.

And, the good thing is that you can try several apps (OkCupid, Bumble, Badoo, or any other app) at the same time and compare the results as you go.

So, once you have your golden app, you will be able to stick with it a little longer and potentially find the one you are looking for.

Final Word

If you finally decided to try out online dating and you went with one of the most popular online dating apps – Tinder, but you are getting no Tinder matches, no matter how much you swipe and swipe, you have to start wondering.

And, while so much swiping sounds like a good plan for getting more matches, it actually isn’t.

If you swipe too much, your Elo score can be low and that means that you almost have no standards or that your profile is fake.

So swipe only on the people you truly like – this will increase your match rate.

But swiping only when you truly like someone will not help much if your photos are bad or if you were too lazy to write up a decent and interesting bio.

Also, use high-quality pictures, avoid group photos, connect to your social media accounts & Spotify.

Besides, the thing can be that Tinder is just not your cup of tea.

So if there are no Tinder matches for you, maybe you can just try and go with another online dating app – like eHarmony, Zoosk, or match.com.

The more you try, the easier you will find the app that suits you!

But remember, never lose your spirits or give up!

The right person is somewhere there waiting for you to find him or her!

So keep searching, and you’re the One will eventually show up.

No doubt.

Now to some FAQs!

Frequently Asked Questions


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