The Top 15 Deal-Breakers On Dating Apps, According To Men

Not every woman will swipe right on the same guy, but there’s no debating that there are more than a few dating app deal-breakers that are basically universally shared by women. We’re generally not impressed when a guy looks unkempt in his photos. Pictures of cars, money, or expensive watches don’t do it for us. A guy whose bio makes it clear that he’s not interested in anything serious immediately raises red flags.

But guys are less picky, right? Not necessarily. We’ve all heard it said that men indiscriminately swipe right on any profile they come across, and while that might be true for some men, there are actually a few things that would cause a good guy to swipe left.

So what are a man’s dating app deal-breakers? What would take a woman’s profile from “maybe” to “absolutely not”? Here are the 15 top reasons to swipe left, according to men.

Having an OnlyFans

OnlyFans has made quite a splash with young women as a get-rich-quick scheme, but it turns out that not only does it not actually pay off financially, it doesn’t pay off relationally. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that having an OnlyFans might make a guy decide against pursuing things further – take it from sex worker Riley Reid: “It makes life really hard. It makes dating really hard, it makes your family life really hard, it makes intimacy hard.”

Linking Her Venmo in Her Profile

No, adding her Venmo or CashApp to her profile isn’t funny, charming, or cute – it actually comes off as entitled and materialistic. A guy might be on board to pay for the first date or two, but this move will make him wonder if all she’s interested in is what his money can buy her.

Having Kids

This one might feel unfair, but it’s also not a mystery as to why. Already having children certainly complicates things in the romance department. While some men will swipe left because they have no interest in children, others might hesitate and ultimately decide against moving forward because they’re just looking to date for now, not to have a family just yet or enter one that’s been established.

Seeming Emotionally Unstable

While it’s a bit on the ambiguous side, we can only guess that this deal-breaker is referring to a woman whose profile comes across like it was put together by a teenager instead of a woman. Maybe an overuse of random emojis, more than just one clubbing photo, a few too many references to Taylor Swift being “mother,” or coming across as desperate to meet up with any guy who shows interest would be to blame?

Being Open to Non-Monogamous Relationships

You might have been wondering if the only reason you’ve never had a non-monogamous relationship was because you didn’t want one, but it turns out that your boyfriend was likely on the same page. Whether or not a man consciously knows why this would make him swipe left, it’s because his evolutionary psychology has made him naturally wired for long-term pair bonding.

Showing Interest in a Kink

All men aren’t the creepy perverts that they’re often made out to be. While you might’ve assumed that the more overtly sexual a woman is, the more interested men would be, this isn’t true of a guy who’s looking for a serious life partner. Using a bio to show interest in polyamory or some other kind of kink will actually cause him to walk the other way.

Having a Height Requirement

It’s no secret that many ladies prefer dating taller men (and there’s a scientific reason behind that preference too), but it’s understandable that including a height requirement in her bio wouldn’t just make her come across as shallow, but it would make any guy below that height feel demeaned and immediately swipe left. We can only imagine that this would feel similar to a guy including a minimum bra size in his bio – doesn’t feel great, does it?

Using Her Bio To Say What She Doesn’t Want

There’s nothing quite as draining as someone who’d rather focus on all the things they’re against than anything else. Not to mention, it screams “I haven’t worked through my breakup yet.” A dating app bio is best used to describe who we are, what we’re looking for, and what we offer to a potential partner, and not to make a guy feel like he’ll have to prove himself right off the bat. 

Living Too Far Away

Haven’t we all swiped left after discovering it would take two hours of driving just to be in the same city? We can’t fault this reasoning. While many couples have made a long-distance relationship work, it’s difficult to forge a deep connection from afar.

Being a Drug User or a Smoker

It’s not only women who aren’t too sure about getting involved with someone with a vice like smoking or doing drugs. This isn’t too surprising, considering the endless data that shows that smoking ages us like nothing else and doing drugs has countless negative effects on our health and relationships. But studies also show that individuals who smoke show poorer self-control than nonsmokers. And if a guy is looking for a woman to get serious and settle down with, this is a red flag.

Not Having Any Full-Body Photos

As soon as a guy stumbles across a profile that looks promising, but is missing some vital information (that is, full-body photos), he begins to wonder: Why would she only post close-up pictures? And before we rail against this and call it shallow, wouldn’t women wonder the same thing? The reality is, a part of our decision to date someone is based on whether or not we find them physically attractive – and our physique is included in that equation.

Wearing Too Much Makeup

Yes, it’s true – men aren’t huge fans of a woman wearing a full face of makeup. Piling on the foundation, contour, and falsies end up giving her a look that’s just “too much,” making him feel like he’s not seeing the real person behind the makeup, and can have the opposite effect of what she’d hoped. That being said, guys are most certainly fans of a clean, no-makeup makeup look that serves to enhance a woman’s natural beauty.

Having Negative Vibes

How exactly does a woman come across like she’d be full of negativity? Casually trash talking men in her bio, for one. Along with that, making aggressive statements in reference to religion, politics, or culture could also be a warning to run in the opposite direction. Essentially, a woman who comes across like offending her would be easy to do, or who would always have something to complain about.

Excessively Editing Her Photos

We’re all well aware that men like for a woman to put effort into her physical appearance, but this doesn’t include using photos that are heavily edited or filtered, which will make her seem like a catfish more than anything else.

Linking Her Snapchat

Snapchat is well-known for its fleeting nature. Users send photos to one another that are only visible once, making it an app that is truly focused on the here and now. While this might attract some guys, linking her Snapchat in her profile immediately raises a red flag to a guy who’s looking for something more – especially considering the fact that the majority of the app’s users are between the ages of 13-24. Linking her Snapchat likely suggests that she’s not serious.

Closing Thoughts

So there you have it – we’ve been wrong, all wrong. Guys don’t indiscriminately swipe right on us. There are a million different reasons a man might swipe left. But none of these reasons strike us as particularly surprising, controversial, or uncommon. 

Support our cause and help women reclaim their femininity by subscribing today.