Facebook doesn't similar it when y'all make too many friend requests at once. Trying to aggrandize your network likewise rapidly could become you blocked from calculation more Facebook friends. Maybe it already happened to you, and you tin't friend someone on Facebook?

Innocent mistakes and ignorance of essential Facebook etiquette tin lead to consequences similar these. Just with our tips on how to manage Facebook friend requests, y'all can avoid facing unintentional penalization or lift an existing cake and continue making many new friends.

How to Add Friends on Facebook

Here is a little refresher on the basics of adding friends for those of you not as well familiar with Facebook. Everyone else, please skip alee.

When logged into Facebook, yous can find your pending friend requests under Bill of fare (3x3 dots icon) > Friends. Facebook no longer highlights awaiting friend requests, simply you will see a note in your Facebook notifications.

Expanded Facebook Menu with Friends option selected.

On your Facebook Friends page, you'll see a summary of pending friend requests and a list of people y'all may know in the left-hand sidebar. Click a person's proper name on the left to encounter their full profile on the right.

Select Ostend to add a friend or Delete Request to deny the asking. The sender won't be notified.

Overview of received friend requests and people you may know on Facebook.

How to Send and Abolish a Friend Request on Facebook

You can also search for people you know, open their profiles, and, if they have friend requests from the public or friends of friends, add them by clicking the Add Friend push located right adjacent to the Message button.

Facebook Add Friend button on a person's profile page.

To cancel a friend request, go back to their profile, click that same push, which now reads Cancel Request.

Y'all tin too remove a friend via your Friends list. Facebook does not notify people if you remove them. However, it is possible to track your Facebook friends with third-party tools and receive alerts when people remove yous. An instance of such a tool is Who Deleted Me.

Unfollowing vs. Unfriending

Rather than unfriending people who are flooding your News Feed with silly posts, effort unfollowing them instead. That style you tin can maintain your digital sanity, without risking the loss of a real-life friendship. For more information, read our primer on following and unfollowing on Facebook.

From your Feed (Habitation) find a post from your overactive friend, click the arrowhead in the tiptop right to expand the mail carte du jour, and click Unfollow. If you lot recollect the hyperactivity is only temporary, y'all can also snooze their messages for 30 days.

Facebook on-post menu to unfollow or snooze a friend.

Alternatively, head to your friend's profile, expand the bill of fare correct side by side to your friendship status, and select Unfollow from the lesser.

Unfollow a Facebook friend from their profile page.

Unwritten Facebook Friend Request Rules

Now that you understand the basics of how to add friends on Facebook, let's review some effectively details of managing Facebook friend requests.

i. Only Add People You Know

Facebook only wants you to add together people you know in real life. If your friend requests frequently remain unanswered or fifty-fifty if just 1 person reports your friend request as unwanted, Facebook may conclude that you accept sent friend requests that violate its Community Standards.

Consequently, Facebook might block you from sending friend requests for some time.

To avoid being blocked from adding friends, make information technology piece of cake for people to recognize you. Here are some guidelines:

  • Use your real proper noun or the name you employ in your everyday life, and ready a 18-carat profile photo.
  • Try to add together only people with whom y'all have mutual Facebook friends.
  • Send your desired contact a message introducing yourself before you add them.

In other words: don't look similar a fake account, don't add together random strangers, and don't exist a stranger yourself.

2. Add Friends Conservatively

You will often want to add a new friend immediately, fifty-fifty though you don't have mutual friends on Facebook. And it might be more awkward to ship a message first than to add together them directly. That's cool.

Just be certain you don't add likewise many people without common friends at once merely to aggrandize your Facebook accomplish.

Faceboook Follow Option

If you don't know someone, but merely want to know what they post on Facebook, and if there is an selection to follow them, rather choose that selection. From their contour, click the iii-dot menu, and select Follow. This allows you to run across what they are upwardly to, just your timeline is not shared with them.

iii. Written report Spammy Friend Requests

When you delete a friend request, Facebook promises that the sender won't be notified. But they might send you a new request. If you tin't get rid of them, you tin can use either the Find back up or report offline or Block options, available from the three-dot menu, to forestall further friend requests from that person.

Block person after unsolicited friend request on Facebook.

Use the start option to report simulated accounts, strangers, or people who harass you.

Report an unwelcome friend request on Facebook.

Continue in mind that if you do this, the person may be penalized.

4. Review Friend Requests You Accept Sent

Feeling cocky-conscious most perhaps having sent too many friend requests yourself? Become alee and double-bank check.

Go to Friends > Friend Requests > View Sent Requests. From hither, you can cancel pending requests.

Cancel Facebook friend requests you've sent.

5. Cake Friend Requests From Strangers

Facebook allows you to restrict who can send you a friend asking. Not setting that limit is an open invitation for anyone to request your friendship.

If you lot're receiving as well many friend requests from strangers, here's how you tin can finish information technology.

Aggrandize the Account menu (arrowhead icon) in the top right and click through to Settings & privacy > Settings > Privacy. Under How People Detect and Contact You find the Who can ship you friend requests? choice and click Edit. Your choices are Anybody or Friends of friends.

Facebook friend request settings in the Privacy section.

half dozen. Hide Your Friends List

Allowing everyone to come across who yous've friended could cause some people to be jealous and bailiwick your friends to unsolicited friend requests. It's all-time to restrict who can see your Friends list and friend action.

To hide your Friends list, head to How People Find and Contact Y'all on your Settings page. Observe the option Who can run into your friends list? and click edit.

Here, you lot tin further refine your privacy settings by choosing who tin see your Friends list.

Choose who can see your Facebook friends list.

Yous tin also access all friends-related settings from your (existing) Facebook friends page. From your profile folio, click See all friends, then click the 3-dot carte side by side to Observe Friends and choose Edit Privacy.

Edit your Facebook friends privacy.

Why Tin't I Friend Someone on Facebook?

If you can't seem to friend someone on Facebook, hither are the most probable reasons...

1. Y'all Sent an Unsuccessful Friend Request

Y'all already sent a friend request, and it's either even so awaiting or the recipient deleted information technology. Now, the Add Friend button doesn't show up, so yous can't send a new friend request.

If your asking was deleted, Facebook has blocked you from sending that person another friend request for one whole year. The only style to get effectually this is to enquire the other person to transport you a friend request.

If your request is still awaiting (follow our instructions under "Review Friend Requests You lot Have Sent" higher up), you could send your friend-to-be a message and ask them to corroborate your request.

2. Y'all Blocked the Other Person

You can't friend someone y'all've blocked. See if you can unblock them and so endeavour sending a new friend request.

three. They Don't Permit Friend Requests From Strangers

As outlined in a higher place, Facebook allows you to restrict who can send you a friend asking. If that'south the reason you can't friend someone, ask them to transport you a friend request instead.

4. Someone Has Too Many Friends Already

Neither y'all, nor your friend-to-be, can take more than than 5,000 friends. If ane of you has crossed that limit, you can't send each other friend requests.

If you have too many friends, consider turning your account into a Facebook Page.

5. Facebook Blocked Y'all From Sending Friend Requests

This can happen if you send besides many friend requests at once, have many unanswered friend requests, or if several people marked your requests as spam.

Co-ordinate to the Facebook Help Center, Facebook cannot lift a block early on, simply fortunately, it's but temporary and will expire within a few days.

Follow our guidelines above to avoid this from happening again.

Master Your Facebook Friendships

Friend requests on Facebook remain awkward. Whether y'all add together your best friend, someone you know from school, your mom, or your boss, as far as Facebook is concerned anybody is a "friend."

Withal, Facebook does admit various levels of friendship. After all, y'all can sort your friends into close friends, family, acquaintances, or any other custom list y'all create.

How to Come across Friendship and Relationship History on Facebook

You lot can use a unproblematic URL to meet the friendship and human relationship history between you lot and others on Facebook.

Read Adjacent

About The Author