Facebook doesn't like it when you make too many friend requests at once. Trying to expand your network also speedily could get y'all blocked from calculation more Facebook friends. Maybe it already happened to y'all, and you tin can't friend someone on Facebook?

Innocent mistakes and ignorance of essential Facebook etiquette can pb to consequences like these. But with our tips on how to manage Facebook friend requests, y'all tin can avert facing unintentional penalization or lift an existing block and continue making many new friends.

How to Add together Friends on Facebook

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

When logged into Facebook, yous can notice your pending friend requests under Menu (3x3 dots icon) > Friends. Facebook no longer highlights pending friend requests, just you will see a notation 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 you may know in the left-manus sidebar. Click a person's proper name on the left to see their full contour on the correct.

Select Confirm to add together a friend or Delete Request to deny the request. The sender won't be notified.

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

How to Transport and Abolish a Friend Asking on Facebook

You tin likewise search for people y'all know, open their profiles, and, if they accept friend requests from the public or friends of friends, add them by clicking the Add together Friend push located right next to the Message button.

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

To abolish a friend request, go dorsum to their profile, click that same push button, which now reads Abolish Request.

Yous can also remove a friend via your Friends list. Facebook does not notify people if you remove them. Nonetheless, information technology is possible to runway your Facebook friends with third-party tools and receive alerts when people remove you lot. An example of such a tool is Who Deleted Me.

Unfollowing vs. Unfriending

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

From your Feed (Dwelling) find a post from your overactive friend, click the arrowhead in the top right to expand the mail menu, and click Unfollow. If you think the hyperactivity is just temporary, you 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 carte du jour correct adjacent to your friendship status, and select Unfollow from the bottom.

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'southward review some finer details of managing Facebook friend requests.

1. Only Add People You Know

Facebook just wants you to add together people you know in existent life. If your friend requests frequently remain unanswered or even if only i person reports your friend request equally unwanted, Facebook may conclude that you have sent friend requests that violate its Community Standards.

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

To avert being blocked from adding friends, make it like shooting fish in a barrel for people to recognize you. Here are some guidelines:

  • Use your real name or the name you use in your everyday life, and set a genuine profile photo.
  • Try to add only people with whom yous take mutual Facebook friends.
  • Send your desired contact a message introducing yourself before you lot add them.

In other words: don't look like a false account, don't add random strangers, and don't be a stranger yourself.

2. Add together Friends Conservatively

You volition often desire to add together a new friend immediately, even though y'all don't accept mutual friends on Facebook. And it might be more bad-mannered to ship a message kickoff than to add them directly. That's absurd.

Just be sure you lot don't add besides many people without common friends at once simply to aggrandize your Facebook reach.

Faceboook Follow Option

If y'all don't know someone, merely just want to know what they post on Facebook, and if there is an pick to follow them, rather choose that option. From their profile, click the 3-dot carte du jour, and select Follow. This allows y'all to come across what they are upwardly to, just your timeline is not shared with them.

3. Report Spammy Friend Requests

When you delete a friend asking, Facebook promises that the sender won't exist notified. Only they might send yous a new request. If y'all tin can't get rid of them, you tin can use either the Find support or report offline or Block options, available from the three-dot menu, to prevent further friend requests from that person.

Block person after unsolicited friend request on Facebook.

Use the starting time pick to report faux accounts, strangers, or people who harass yous.

Report an unwelcome friend request on Facebook.

Keep in listen that if you do this, the person may be penalized.

4. Review Friend Requests You Take Sent

Feeling self-witting near peradventure having sent likewise many friend requests yourself? Go ahead and double-check.

Go to Friends > Friend Requests > View Sent Requests. From here, yous tin cancel pending requests.

Cancel Facebook friend requests you've sent.

v. Block Friend Requests From Strangers

Facebook allows you to restrict who can send you lot a friend request. Non setting that limit is an open invitation for anyone to request your friendship.

If you're receiving too many friend requests from strangers, here'southward how you lot can cease information technology.

Expand the Account menu (arrowhead icon) in the elevation correct and click through to Settings & privacy > Settings > Privacy. Nether How People Find and Contact You lot detect the Who tin send you friend requests? selection and click Edit. Your choices are Everyone or Friends of friends.

Facebook friend request settings in the Privacy section.

6. Hide Your Friends List

Allowing anybody to see who y'all've friended could cause some people to be jealous and subject your friends to unsolicited friend requests. It's all-time to restrict who can run across your Friends list and friend activity.

To hide your Friends list, head to How People Find and Contact You on your Settings page. Find the option Who can encounter your friends list? and click edit.

Here, you can farther refine your privacy settings by choosing who tin can see your Friends list.

Choose who can see your Facebook friends list.

You can 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 du jour next to Find Friends and choose Edit Privacy.

Edit your Facebook friends privacy.

Why Can't I Friend Someone on Facebook?

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

1. Yous Sent an Unsuccessful Friend Request

You already sent a friend asking, and it's either still pending or the recipient deleted it. Now, the Add Friend button doesn't show up, so you tin't send a new friend request.

If your request was deleted, Facebook has blocked you from sending that person another friend request for one whole year. The merely way to get around this is to ask the other person to transport y'all a friend request.

If your request is still pending (follow our instructions under "Review Friend Requests You Have Sent" above), you could send your friendhoped-for a bulletin and inquire them to approve your request.

2. You Blocked the Other Person

You can't friend someone you've blocked. See if you can unblock them and then try sending a new friend asking.

3. They Don't Allow Friend Requests From Strangers

Every bit outlined above, Facebook allows you to restrict who can send you a friend request. If that's the reason you lot can't friend someone, ask them to send you lot a friend request instead.

4. Someone Has Too Many Friends Already

Neither y'all, nor your friendhoped-for, can accept more than 5,000 friends. If i of yous has crossed that limit, yous tin can't ship each other friend requests.

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

5. Facebook Blocked You From Sending Friend Requests

This can happen if y'all transport too many friend requests at once, accept many unanswered friend requests, or if several people marked your requests as spam.

According to the Facebook Help Center, Facebook cannot lift a block early, but fortunately, it'southward only temporary and volition expire inside a few days.

Follow our guidelines in a higher place to avert this from happening once again.

Master Your Facebook Friendships

Friend requests on Facebook remain awkward. Whether you add your best friend, someone you lot know from school, your mom, or your boss, as far as Facebook is concerned everyone is a "friend."

However, Facebook does acknowledge various levels of friendship. After all, you can sort your friends into close friends, family, acquaintances, or whatever other custom listing you lot create.

How to See Friendship and Relationship History on Facebook

You tin can utilise a simple URL to see the friendship and relationship history betwixt you lot and others on Facebook.

Read Next

Nigh The Author