How to unfriend and unfollow people on Facebook

Publish date: 2024-07-13

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There are a lot of good reasons to cut online ties with Facebook friends.

Maybe your sister-in-law just won't stop posting pictures of her dog or your cousin is cluttering up your feed with political screeds. Or maybe you just went through a breakup and you'd like to not see photos of your ex back out on the dating scene.

And in many cases, a quick look through your list of "friends" will reveal dozens of people you hardly know at all and really don't need to stay in touch with.

Whatever reasons you have for wanting to unfriend, unfollow, or block a Facebook friend are your business; fortunately, the actual unfriending process is a lot simpler than the complex weavings of the interpersonal issues behind your motivation to do so.

Unfriend someone on Facebook in just two clicks

A word of warning: it's almost too easy to unfriend someone on Facebook, and while they won't know you did it (until they check their list of friends), if you want to re-establish the connection, they'll realize you unfriended them when they get a new friend request from you.

So make sure you want to go through with it, then...

1. Go to the person's Facebook page or locate them on your list of friends.

2. Beside their name, locate the gray box that says "Friends" and click on it.

Click the "Friends" box. Grace Eliza Goodwin/Business Insider

3. At the bottom of the dropdown menu that appears, click "Unfriend."

Select "Unfriend" from the dropdown menu. Grace Eliza Goodwin/Business Insider

And just like that, the connection is severed. You will no longer see their posts and yours won't be shared with them.

But do you really need to unfriend someone, or is there a better solution here?

Unfollow someone on Facebook

You automatically "Follow" all of your friends on Facebook, and you can follow other pages, like that of an artist or business, without being friends. The posts made by anyone you follow can pop up in your feed and can often be the source of annoyance that's making you consider unfriending in the first place.

Instead, consider just not following the person anymore.

1. Go to the person's Facebook page or locate them on your list of friends.

2. On your Friends page, click the grey "Friends" button beside their name. If you're on their Facebook page, click the "Friends" icon, which looks like the outline of a person with a check mark beside it. 

3. In the dropdown menu, click "Unfollow."

Select "Unfollow" from the list of options. Grace Eliza Goodwin/Business Insider

You will no longer be served content the person creates or shares, but you will still be friends. You can change back to following any time.

Block someone on Facebook

If unfriending isn't enough, and you don't ever want to have contact with someone on Facebook again (someone you unfriend can still send you messages and new friend requests), it's time to block them.

Click on the three dots in a gray box beside the word "Message" at the top right of the screen on their profile (as pictured below), then hit the word "Block" from the dropdown menu.

Select "Block" from the list of options. Grace Eliza Goodwin/Business Insider

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Steven John Freelance Writer Steven John is a freelance writer living near New York City by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, four in Boston, and the first 18 near DC. When not writing or spending time with his wife and kids, he can occasionally be found climbing mountains. His writing is spread across the web, and his books can be found at www.stevenjohnbooks.com. Read more Read less

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