Facebook allows you to send follow requests to people you may know or want to connect with on the platform. When you send a follow request, the recipient can choose to approve or ignore it. If you’ve sent some follow requests and want to see their status, Facebook provides a few ways to do so.
Check the Follow Up section
The easiest way to see the follow requests you’ve sent is to go to the Follow Up section. Here are the steps:
- Open Facebook in your browser or the mobile app.
- Click on the Menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
- Select ‘Friends’ from the menu.
- On desktop, you’ll see a left sidebar with different sections. On mobile, you may need to tap ‘More’ to see more options.
- Go to the ‘Follow Up’ section – this shows pending sent and received follow requests.
The Follow Up section will display a list of all the people you’ve sent request to that haven’t responded yet. It allows you to see the sent date, cancel the request if needed, and get notified when they respond. You can also sort requests as newest, oldest, or suggested to find specific ones faster.
Check the Followers section
If someone has already approved your follow request, they will appear in your Followers list. To see these:
- Go to your profile page and click ‘Followers’ below your name.
- This will show a list of all your approved followers. Check if the person you sent a request to is in the list.
- You can also click on each follower’s profile to verify when they started following you.
So if someone is no longer pending in your Follow Up, but they are following you, it means they accepted your request.
Use the Activity Log
The Activity Log on Facebook provides a history of your interactions. You can use it to check when you sent a follow request:
- Click on the Menu icon and select ‘Activity Log’.
- On the left sidebar, choose ‘Your Interactions’ > ‘Follows’.
- This will display a history of all your sent and received follow requests.
- Look for the name of the person you want to check. If you see an entry for ‘Sent Follow Request’ for them, it means they haven’t responded yet.
The Activity Log makes it easy to see the status of any follow requests you’ve sent in the past. The exact send date is also visible here.
Search for the person
Searching for the person you sent the request to can provide clues about its status:
- Go to the Facebook search bar and type their name.
- Open their profile from the results.
- If you see the options ‘Follow’ or ‘Follow Back’, it means your request is still pending.
- If instead you see ‘Following’ or their posts, they have accepted your request.
This method provides a quick way to tell if your request has been approved or not yet responded to.
Check messages
In some cases, the person may have declined your follow request and sent you a message about it. To check:
- Go to the Menu icon and open ‘Messages’.
- Look for any recent conversations with the person you sent the request to.
- If they declined the request, they may have let you know via message.
While most people won’t message you, it’s worth checking as you may find info about a declined request here.
Use Notifications
If the person accepts or declines your follow request, you’ll get a notification for it. Here’s how to check:
- Click the Notifications icon (globe) on desktop or the Menu icon on mobile.
- Look for any notifications that mention someone accepting/declining your request.
- Declined requests will specifically say “[Person] declined your follow request”.
- Accepted ones will say “[Person] started following you”.
Notifications are a handy passive way to know when someone has acted on your sent requests.
Check emails from Facebook
Similar to notifications, Facebook also sends email updates for accepted/declined requests:
- Look for emails from the Facebook notification email address.
- Open any emails with subject lines like “Follow request update” or “[Person] accepted your request”.
- The email content will confirm if your request was approved or declined.
Enabling Facebook email notifications can help you passively track your sent requests.
Use the mobile Requests tab
On Facebook mobile, your pending follow requests have their own Requests tab:
- Tap the Menu icon and choose ‘Requests’ at the bottom.
- This will display both sent and received follow requests.
- Tap ‘Sent Requests’ to see only the ones you’ve sent to others.
The mobile Requests tab provides easy access to your pending sent and received follow requests in one place.
Conclusion
Facebook provides many options to check the status of the follow requests you’ve sent to people. The key options include:
- Checking the Follow Up section
- Looking for acceptances in your Followers list
- Searching your Activity Log for the request
- Searching for the person’s name and viewing their profile
- Checking notifications and emails from Facebook
- Using the Requests tab on mobile
Using one or more of these methods, you can easily determine whether someone is still pending, accepted, or declined your follow request on Facebook.
| Method | How to Check |
|---|---|
| Follow Up Section | Go to Menu > Friends > Follow Up. See pending sent requests here. |
| Followers List | Go to your profile and check Followers. Accepted requests will be following you. |
| Activity Log | Go to Menu > Activity Log > Follows. Check status here. |
| Search for Person | Search their name. If you can Follow, request is still pending. |
| Notifications | Check notifications tab for accepts/declines. |
| Email Updates | Look for “Follow request update” emails from Facebook. |
| Mobile Requests Tab | Tap Menu > Requests > Sent Requests to see pending ones. |
Troubleshooting tips
Here are some things to try if you’re having trouble viewing your sent requests:
- Make sure you’ve selected the correct audience, such as Friends, Followers, or Follow Up.
- Double check spelling if searching for someone’s name.
- Refresh the page or app and try again.
- If notifications aren’t coming through, check they are enabled in Settings.
- Mobile apps can sometimes have bugs, so try on desktop site as well.
- Still can’t see a request? Try sending it again.
Limits on follow requests
Facebook limits the number of follows you can send each week as an anti-spam measure. The exact limit depends on your account history, but it’s usually around 100 per week.
If you hit the limit, you’ll have to wait 7 days before sending more requests. Keeping your total requests under the limit prevents running into this issue.
Following vs friends
When someone accepts your follow request, they are added to your followers list, not friends. The main differences are:
- You can see public posts of those you follow.
- Friends have access to more private content on your profile.
- There’s no limit on follows, but Facebook limits friend lists to 5000.
So following allows connecting without clogging up your main Friends list.
Other tips
- Be selective when sending requests – only follow those you’re genuinely interested in connecting with.
- Personalize requests with a friendly note so they’re more likely to accept.
- Check back every few days on pending requests. Most people respond within a week.
- If someone ignores your request, don’t bombard them with repeat requests.
- Keep your notifications and email settings enabled to passively track accepts/declines.
Using Facebook’s follow requests appropriately allows you to expand your network and connections on the platform.
With the range of options to check status, you can easily keep track of the requests you’ve sent and who has approved them. Just remember to periodically review your sent requests and engage with new followers!