Facebook has become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users as of 2022. With so many users, friend requests are commonplace on Facebook. However, sometimes you may receive a friend request from someone you don’t know or don’t want to connect with. In cases like this, you may decide to simply delete or ignore the request.
But can the person who sent the request see that you deleted it? Let’s take a closer look at how Facebook friend requests work and whether or not requesters can tell if you delete their request.
How Do Facebook Friend Requests Work?
When someone sends you a friend request on Facebook, you will receive a notification about it. The request will also show up in your Friend Requests folder. You then have a few options:
- Confirm the friend request, which adds the person to your friends list.
- Delete the request, which removes it from your Friend Requests folder.
- Ignore the request, leaving it in your Friend Requests folder.
If you confirm the friend request, the other person will get a notification that you accepted. But what happens when you delete or ignore a request?
Can Someone See if You Delete Their Friend Request?
When you delete a friend request on Facebook, the person who sent it is not notified and cannot see that you deleted it. The request simply disappears from your Friend Requests folder and the sender is unaware.
Facebook does not alert users when their friend requests are deleted by the recipient. The experience is seamless – it’s as if the friend request never happened in the first place.
So if you want to quietly remove a friend request without the other person knowing, deleting it is the way to go. Ignoring the request also makes it invisible to the sender, but it still takes up space in your Friend Requests folder if you want to declutter.
What the Sender Sees if You Delete Their Request
From the sender’s perspective, there is no indication that their friend request was deleted. They will not get a notification about it being deleted.
The sender is only able to see their outgoing friend requests that are still active. Once deleted by the recipient, the request disappears from the sender’s interface as well.
They have no way to look back at deleted requests or see any trace that it was deleted. The request simply vanishes.
Example Scenario
Here’s a quick example to illustrate:
- Jane sends a friend request to Mike
- Mike is not interested in connecting with Jane, so he deletes the request
- Jane does not receive any notification that her request was deleted
- When Jane checks her sent requests, Mike’s name is no longer there
- As far as Jane knows, there is no record that she ever sent a request to Mike
In this scenario, the deletion is completely invisible from Jane’s end. The experience is seamless, as if it never happened.
What Happens When You Ignore a Friend Request?
Unlike deleting, ignoring a friend request on Facebook will not make it disappear from the sender’s side. If you ignore the request, the sender can still see that their request is pending.
Ignoring prevents the person from becoming your Facebook friend, but they will still see that their request is still out there awaiting your action.
So if want to covertly get rid of a friend request, deletion is better than ignoring.
How to Delete a Facebook Friend Request
Deleting unwanted Facebook friend requests is easy – here are the steps:
- Click on the Friend Requests icon in the shortcut menu or go to your Friends list.
- In the Friend Requests section, hover over the request you want to delete.
- Click on the three dots that appear to the right side.
- Select Delete Request from the dropdown menu.
- Confirm the deletion by clicking Delete again.
And that’s it – the friend request will vanish as if it was never sent. The process works the same on both desktop and mobile.
You can also delete multiple requests at once by selecting all the ones you want removed and going through the steps above.
What If the Sender Notices First?
What happens if the sender notices that their friend request disappeared before you had a chance to delete it?
It could simply mean that that the sender canceled their request before you had a chance to act on it. When someone cancels an outstanding friend request, it is removed from both ends.
So if the sender asks you about it, you can just let them know you hadn’t gotten around to responding yet and assume they withdrew the request themselves.
Pro Tip
To prevent unwanted friend requests on Facebook, you can adjust your privacy settings to review friend requests before they are sent. This way, you can quietly decline requests before they even reach your inbox.
Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy > Edit next to Friend Requests to change your preferences.
What Happens When You Unfriend Someone?
Unfriending works differently than deleting a friend request. When you unfriend someone:
- They will be immediately removed from your friends list.
- You will also be removed from their friends list.
- They will get a notification that you unfriended them. The notification will say “[Your name] is no longer friends with [their name]”.
So unfriending is more overt than deleting a request and does alert the other person. Keep that in mind if you are trying to fly under the radar.
Can Someone Resend a Deleted Friend Request?
If someone’s friend request was deleted, can they simply send it again?
The answer is no. Once you delete someone’s friend request, they are blocked from sending you another request going forward.
This prevents repeat requests from the same person cluttering up your Friend Requests folder if you have already deleted them once.
In order for the person to send you another friend request, you would first need to “unblock” them. But this is unlikely if you have already deleted their initial request.
In Summary
- When you delete a Facebook friend request, the sender is not notified and cannot see that you deleted it.
- Ignoring a request leaves it visible to the sender as pending.
- Deleting a request makes it disappear from both ends, as if it never happened.
- If you unfriend someone, they will be notified and can see it.
- Once deleted, a person is blocked from sending another friend request.
So in conclusion, deleting unwanted requests allows you to covertly remove them without the other person knowing. It’s a useful feature to declutter your Friend Requests folder and curate your Facebook contacts.
Some key points on whether people can see if you delete their friend request on Facebook:
- When you delete a friend request, the sender is not notified in any way.
- The request completely disappears from both ends after deletion.
- Ignoring a request leaves it visible as “Pending” to the sender.
- Unfriending someone will notify them and remove you from each other’s friends lists.
- Once deleted, the sender is blocked from sending another request.
- Deletion is seamless and invisible to the requester.
- The sender has no record or indication that their request was deleted.
So in summary, when you delete a Facebook friend request, it’s gone for good and the sender has no idea. It allows you to quietly remove requests you don’t want to fulfill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Facebook friend requests be traced?
No, there is no way to trace a deleted Facebook friend request. Once you delete a request, it disappears from both ends with no record. The sender has no visibility into deleted requests sent from their account. It cannot be recovered or traced in any way.
Do deleted Facebook requests go to message requests?
No, deleted friend requests do not go to the message requests folder. They are simply removed with no record after being deleted. Message requests are for new messages from non-friends, not deleted friend requests.
Can a Facebook request be canceled after being sent?
Yes, senders can cancel a request after sending it which removes it on both ends. This makes it appear as if the recipient deleted it. But unlike actual deletion, they can re-send a canceled request at any time.
Does the number of friend requests decrease if you delete one?
Yes, deleting a friend request decreases your total friend request count by 1. The request is subtracted from the number displayed on your Friend Requests icon. Ignoring it would still include it in the total.
Can you retrieve a deleted friend request?
No, there is no way to retrieve a deleted Facebook friend request. Once it is deleted by the recipient, it is permanently removed with no record or trace. The request cannot be recovered after deletion.
Does a deleted request still show up in your list of contacts?
No, a deleted Facebook friend request is completely removed from your contacts list and friend suggestions. There will be no indication the person ever tried to add you as a friend if you delete their request.
What happens if you delete a request by accident?
If you accidentally delete a Facebook friend request that you wanted to accept, unfortunately there is no way to recover it. You will have to send a new friend request yourself if you still want to connect with that person.
Conclusion
Facebook does not notify users when a friend request they sent is deleted. The request silently vanishes from both ends with no trace. This allows you to remove requests without the sender being aware.
Ignoring a request simply leaves it as “Pending” to the sender. But deleting the request makes it disappear completely as if it was never sent.
Once a friend request is deleted, the sender cannot send another one until you manually unblock them. This prevents repeat requests from the same person if you have already deleted them once.
In summary, deleting unwanted friend requests is an easy and invisible way to curate your Facebook contacts. The sender will have no indication they were deleted unless they notice the request disappeared on their end first.
So you can comfortably delete any unwanted requests without having to provide explanations to the sender. It allows you to take control of your friend list on Facebook.