Facebook’s relationship status feature allows users to share whether they are single, in a relationship, engaged, married, in a civil partnership, in an open relationship, widowed, separated, divorced or in a complicated relationship. When users add a relationship status or change who they are in a relationship with, the update may be shared on their profile, in their friends’ News Feeds and in other places on Facebook.
Does Facebook send a notification if you remove your relationship status?
No, Facebook does not send a notification to your partner or anyone else if you delete or change your relationship status. Removing your relationship status or changing it from “In a Relationship” to “Single” does not generate a notification to your previous partner or any other Facebook friends.
The change will not show up in your friends’ News Feeds either. So if you update your relationship status, it will show up in the News Feed, but if you remove it entirely, your friends will not be notified in any way.
Why Facebook doesn’t notify on relationship status changes
There are a few potential reasons why Facebook does not send notifications about removing or changing your relationship status:
- Privacy – Updating your relationship status is optional and personal. Facebook likely wants to avoid creating unwanted drama or awkward situations by notifying people.
- Feature focus – Facebook relationship statuses are meant to share your current status. The notifications focus on new content you actively add.
- Encourage updating – If removing a status generated a notification, some users may avoid updating their relationship status at all.
- Exes stay contacts – Many people remain Facebook friends with exes. Facebook wants to reduce friction and drama in these common scenarios.
Overall, notifications are reserved for adding new content to Facebook, not removing existing information you previously posted.
What your partner sees if you delete your status
If you remove your relationship status entirely, here is what your partner will see:
- Your profile will no longer list any relationship status.
- Any old posts or photos indicating you were in a relationship will still exist.
- Your past relationship status will not show up in your partner’s News Feed memories.
- Mutual friends are unlikely to know your status changed unless you tell them.
In summary, the change will be visible to your partner if they check your profile directly, but removing your status will not create any notifications or News Feed posts that indicate a change.
Other ways your partner may find out
Even without Facebook notifications, there are some ways your partner may discover you deleted your relationship status:
- If they visit your profile, they’ll see your status is gone.
- Relationship photos and old posts together still exist.
- Mutual friends may notice and mention the change.
- Your actions outside Facebook make the change obvious.
- You directly telling them the relationship has ended.
The news has to come from somewhere outside of Facebook’s notifications. But the site won’t directly inform your partner or friends of your removed status.
If you change your status to “single”
Similarly, if you change your relationship status from “In a Relationship” to “Single”, Facebook will not generate any notifications about this update:
- Your partner will not be notified directly.
- The new “Single” status will not post in your friends’ News Feed.
- The change will only be visible to people who visit your profile.
The situation is identical to deleting your status altogether. Facebook will not inform your partner or friends if you make your status “Single” again after previously being in a relationship.
Other Facebook relationship status updates
All other relationship status updates work similarly on Facebook:
- “In a Relationship” to “Engaged” – No notification.
- “Married” to “Divorced” – No notification.
- “In a Relationship” to “It’s Complicated” – No notification.
In all cases, Facebook does not proactively inform your partner or friends when you remove or change your relationship status. The update only shows if you add a new status, not if you delete or modify an existing one.
How to view past relationship statuses
If you want to view the history of your past relationship statuses on Facebook:
- Go to your profile page
- Click on your current relationship status (or where the status used to be)
- You’ll see a list of your past relationship statuses if you’ve changed it before
This will show all previous statuses you’ve added to your profile over the years. However, if you remove your status entirely, it will not show up in this history.
Muting your ex on Facebook
If you just went through a breakup and changed your relationship status, you may also want to consider muting your ex on Facebook. Here’s how muting works:
- Muting someone prevents their posts appearing in your News Feed.
- You stay Facebook friends, but you see less of each other.
- You can undo the mute at any time to see their posts again.
To mute your ex on Facebook:
- Go to their profile page
- Click the three dots icon next to Follow
- Select “Snooze [name]”
- Choose 30 days, 1 year or indefinitely
Muting can help avoid seeing painful reminders and posts from your ex after a breakup. It’s less drastic than unfriending or blocking them completely.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook does not notify your partner, ex, or anyone else if you change or remove your relationship status. The change will only be visible to those who visit your profile directly.
This avoids creating unwanted drama or awkward social situations. It also encourages users to keep their relationship status up-to-date, since there are no consequences for removing it.
Of course, your partner can still discover the change through mutual friends, visiting your profile, or your actions outside Facebook. But the site itself will not proactively alert them through notifications if you delete your relationship status or change it to single.