Understanding Social Behaviors in Online Network Invitations

Facebook doesn’t like it when you make too many friend requests at once. Trying to expand your network too quickly could get you blocked from adding more Facebook friends. Maybe it already happened to you, and you can’t friend someone on Facebook?

Innocent mistakes and ignorance of essential Facebook etiquette can lead to consequences like these. But with our tips on how to manage Facebook friend requests, you can avoid facing unintentional punishment or lift an existing block and continue making many new friends.

How to Find Your Friend Requests on Facebook

When logged into Facebook, you can find your pending friend requests underMenu (3x3 dots icon) > Friends . Facebook no longer highlights pending friend requests, but you will see a note in your Facebook notifications.

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-hand sidebar. Click a person’s name or profile image on the left to see their full profile on the right.

SelectConfirm to add a friend orDelete Request to deny the request.

When you remove or deny a friend request, Facebook won’t notify them about it. However, they won’t be able to send you another request for an entire year.

How to Send and Cancel a Friend Request on Facebook

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

To cancel a friend request, go back to their profile, click that same button, which now readsCancel Request . You can also remove a friend via your Friends list.

How to Find Out Whether Someone Denied Your Facebook Friend Request

To find out whether someone actively denied your friend request, search for their profile on Facebook, and check the friendship status next to their profile image and name. If it saysCancel request , they have yet to respond to your request. Should you see theAdd friend option, you probably didn’t successfully send a friend request or they denied you more than a year ago.

If you can’t send them a friend request at all, they may have changed who can add them or they denied your friend request less than a year ago.

Unfollowing vs. Unfriending on Facebook

Rather than unfriending people who are flooding your News Feed with silly posts, try unfollowing them instead. That way, you 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 (Home) find a post from your overactive friend, click the arrowhead in the top right to expand the post menu, and clickUnfollow . If you think the activity is only temporary, you can also snooze their messages for 30 days.

Alternatively, head to your friend’s profile, expand the menu right next to your friendship status, and selectUnfollow from the bottom.

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Unwritten Facebook Friend Request Rules

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

1. Only Add People You Know

Facebook only wants you to add people you know in real life. If your friend requests frequently remain unanswered or even if just one person reports your friend request as 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 avoid being blocked from adding friends on Facebook, make it easy 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 you have mutual Facebook friends.
• Send your desired contact a message introducing yourself before you add them.

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

2. Add Friends Conservatively

You will often want to add a new friend immediately, even though you don’t have mutual friends on Facebook. And it might be more awkward to send a message first than to add them directly.

Just be sure you don’t add too many people without common friends at once simply to expand your Facebook reach.

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If you just want to follow someone’s Facebook posts, and if there is an option to follow them, rather choose that option. From their profile, click the three-dot menu, and selectFollow . This allows you to see what they are up to, but your timeline is not shared with them.

3. 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 can’t get rid of them, you can use either theFind support or report offline orBlock options, available from the three-dot menu, to prevent further friend requests from that person.

Use the first option to report fake accounts, strangers, or people who harass you.

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

4. Review Friend Requests You Have Sent

Feeling self-conscious about maybe having sent too many friend requests yourself? Go ahead and double-check.

Go toFriends > Friend Requests > View Sent Requests . From here, you can cancel pending requests.

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You may want to do this if you’re one of the people who experienced a Facebook friend request bug in 2023. The bug meant that if you searched for a profile on Facebook, the website would automatically send a friend request.

Check through your sent requests to make sure you haven’t unwittingly sent someone an invite on Facebook.

5. Block Friend Requests From Strangers

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

If you’re receiving too many friend requests from strangers, here’s how you can stop it.

Expand theAccount menu (your profile picture) in the top right and click through toSettings & privacy > Settings > Privacy . UnderHow People Find and Contact You , find theWho can send you friend requests? option and clickEdit . Your choices areEveryone orFriends of friends .

6. Hide Your Friends List

Allowing everyone to see who you’ve friended could cause some people to be jealous and subject your friends to unsolicited friend requests. It’s best to restrict who can see your Friends list and friend activity.

To hide your Friends list, head toHow People Find and Contact You on your Settings page. Find the optionWho can see your friends list? and click edit.

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

You can also access all friends-related settings from your (existing) Facebook friends page. From your profile page, clickSee all friends , then click thethree-dot menu next to Find Friends and chooseEdit Privacy .

Why Can’t I Friend Someone on Facebook?

If you can’t seem to friend someone on Facebook, here are the most likely reasons…

1. You Sent an Unsuccessful Friend Request

You already sent a friend request, and it’s either still pending or the recipient deleted it. Now, theAdd Friend button doesn’t show up, so you can’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 only way to get around this is to ask the other person to send you a friend request.

If your request is still pending, you could send your friend-to-be a message and ask them to approve your request.

2. You Blocked the Other Person

You can’t friend someone you’ve blocked. See if you can unblock the Facebook contact and then try sending a new friend request.

3. They Don’t Permit Friend Requests From Strangers

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

4. Someone Has Too Many Friends Already

Neither you, nor your friend-to-be, can have more than 5,000 friends on Facebook. If one of you has crossed that limit, you can’t send each other friend requests.

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

5. Facebook Blocked You From Sending Friend Requests

This can happen if you send too many friend requests at once, have 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’s only 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 you add your best friend, someone you 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 any other custom list you create.