Facebook’s automatic friend recommendations can be annoying if you get a lot of requests from people you don’t know. The good news is you can easily adjust the settings to reduce or stop friend recommendations.
What are Facebook’s automatic friend recommendations?
Facebook automatically suggests friends for you based on things like mutual friends, networks, contacts, workplaces, and education information. The goal is to connect you with people you may know but aren’t yet friends with on Facebook.
You may see these automatic recommendations in a few places:
- Your request inbox – You’ll get notifications about pending friend requests from people Facebook has suggested.
- The “People You May Know” section – This shows recommended friends on your homepage or in the sidebar.
- “Send Friend Request” buttons – These appear on profiles of people Facebook thinks you should connect with.
Why does Facebook suggest automatic friends?
Facebook wants to help you connect with more people you know so you use the platform more. The more friends and connections you have, the more worthwhile the network becomes.
In an ideal world, the automatic recommendations would only suggest people you truly want to be friends with. But in reality, the technology isn’t perfect, so you’ll get a lot of requests from random strangers too.
Should I accept friend requests from strangers?
Accepting friend requests from complete strangers isn’t recommended for a few reasons:
- They could send spam or inappropriate messages.
- They might be able to see more of your profile and posts than you want.
- It fills up your feed with unwanted updates from people you don’t care about.
That said, some friend requests from strangers could be legitimate. For example, you may have briefly met them at an event and want to connect. Use your judgment when accepting requests.
How to reduce automatic friend recommendations
If you’re tired of getting bombarded with friend requests, here are a few ways to cut back on them:
Adjust “People You May Know” settings
You can tell Facebook to show you fewer friend recommendations:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Select “People You May Know”
- Choose “See Fewer Recommendations”
This won’t completely eliminate friend suggestions, but it will significantly reduce them.
Remove imported contacts
If you’ve given Facebook permission to import your email and phone contacts, it will match your contacts to existing profiles and recommend them. To stop this:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Select “Contacts”
- Choose “Remove Contacts”
Untag yourself from photos
Another source of friend recommendations is being tagged in photos by strangers. Untag yourself from any photos by people you don’t know to avoid connections.
Limit Places visited
Facebook will suggest friends if you’ve both visited the same place. To avoid this:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Select “Location”
- Delete any location history you don’t want used for recommendations
Remove your workplace
Co-workers often get recommended. To avoid this:
- Go to your profile
- Click Work and Education
- Delete your workplace
Remove your school
Just like with workplaces, Facebook will match you up with anyone who went to your school. To stop this:
- Go to your profile
- Click Work and Education
- Delete your school
How to stop incoming friend requests
If you’re still getting too many friend recommendations, you can stop receiving requests altogether:
Block all requests
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Select “Blocking”
- Choose “Restricted List”
- Toggle “Block friend requests” to green
This will send all incoming requests to your message requests folder rather than your main friend request inbox.
Require review of all posts
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click “Privacy”
- Under “Permissions”, select “Reviews”
- Toggle “Limit the audience for posts you’ve been tagged in on your timeline” to green
- Choose “Friends” for the audience selector
This means you have to approve any posts you’re tagged in before they appear on your profile, giving you a chance to untag yourself.
Turn off tag suggestions
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click “Timeline and Tagging”
- Toggle “Who can see posts you’re tagged in on your timeline?” to Friends
- Toggle “Who can see what others post on your timeline?” to Friends
- Toggle “Do you want tags suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded?” to No
This prevents random strangers from tagging you in their photos.
What to do about pending friend requests
If you already have a ton of pending friend requests from people you don’t know, you have a few options:
- Delete all – You can remove them all at once by going to your requests page and selecting “Delete All”
- Delete individually – Review each request and delete any from strangers
- Ignore – Leave them pending and let them expire after 14 days
Should I delete my Facebook account?
Deactivating your Facebook account is an extreme solution to stop unwanted friend requests. It’s worthwhile if:
- You’re wasting too much time on the platform
- You have serious privacy concerns
- The friend suggestions cause you significant stress
However, deleting Facebook means losing connections with everyone else on the platform. You also can’t just temporarily deactivate your account – it’s permanent.
Most people are better off fine-tuning their privacy settings and pruning their friends lists rather than shutting down their account altogether.
Conclusion
Facebook’s friend recommendations can get out of control, resulting in awkward requests from strangers. Thankfully, you have many options to reduce or stop the recommendations.
The easiest fix is adjusting the “People You May Know” settings to see fewer suggestions. You can further tune things by removing contacts, workplaces, schools, location history, and untagging in photos.
If you’re still overwhelmed, consider blocking all friend requests or deleting pending requests from those you don’t know. Deactivating your account is an extreme last resort.
Taking the time to manage your privacy settings and friend list is worthwhile. It ensures Facebook remains a positive place to connect with those you truly care about.
| Setting | How to Adjust |
|---|---|
| People You May Know | See Fewer Recommendations |
| Imported Contacts | Remove Contacts |
| Photos Tagging | Untag Yourself |
| Places Visited | Delete Location History |
| Workplace | Remove Workplace |
| School | Remove School |
Key Settings to Adjust
Here are the most important settings to change to reduce friend recommendations:
- People You May Know – See fewer suggestions
- Imported Contacts – Remove permissions
- Post Review – Require approval to be tagged
- Blocking – Block incoming friend requests
Other Facebook Privacy Tips
While you’re adjusting settings to stop friend requests, take the time to implement other privacy best practices too:
- Remove old posts and photos you no longer want public
- Make your posts more private – change default from “Public” to “Friends”
- Limit old posts visibility – reduce how far back people can see
- Leave groups and pages you no longer need access to
- Delete or hide your Facebook activity history
Facebook’s privacy controls can be complex. But taking the time to customize them is important to stay safe online and curate a more positive newsfeed.
Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some common mistakes people make when trying to stop friend recommendations:
- Accepting all requests hoping to build follower count – this backfires as you get more unwanted recs
- Not reviewing your tagged photos – untag yourself from anything questionable
- Assuming settings changes are permanent – Facebook may reset defaults after updates
- Deleting your account as first resort – tweak settings before resorting to this extreme measure
- Ignoring pending requests – delete them or they’ll expire in 14 days and can still lead to suggestions
Questions and Answers
How do I permanently stop all friend requests on Facebook?
To permanently stop incoming friend requests on Facebook:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click on “Blocking”
- Select “Restricted List”
- Toggle “Block friend requests” to green so it is enabled
This will send all friend requests to your filtered message request inbox rather than your main friend request page. They will remain pending indefinitely until you delete them.
Why do I keep getting friend recommendations from strangers on Facebook?
The main reasons Facebook recommends strangers as friends are:
- You have mutual friends or connections
- You’ve both visited the same places
- You’re tagged in the same photos
- You have similar workplaces or education history
- You’ve imported the same contacts
To reduce recommendations from strangers, limit the information Facebook can use by removing imports, location history, untagging photos, and deleting work/education details.
Is it safe to accept Facebook friend requests from people I don’t know?
It’s generally not safe to accept Facebook friend requests from strangers because:
- They may be able to see more of your profile and posts than you want to share publicly
- They could send unwanted messages, spam, or try to scam you
- It fills your feed with irrelevant updates from people you don’t care about
That said, some requests from people you don’t know could be legitimate. Use your judgment when accepting and don’t hesitate to unfriend or block anyone who seems suspicious.
What are the risks of having too many Facebook friends?
Some risks of having too many Facebook friends include:
- Cluttered newsfeed with unimportant updates
- Harder to keep track of privacy settings for a larger audience
- Higher chance friends of friends will share your info
- Stress or guilt from being connected to too many acquaintances
- Time wasted visiting many profiles and maintaining connections
Aim for a Facebook friends list of people you truly want to keep up with regularly. Quality is better than quantity when it comes to social media connections.
Should I delete strangers who send me Facebook friend requests?
It’s generally best to delete Facebook friend requests from people you don’t know instead of ignoring them. Reasons to delete include:
- It clears out your pending request inbox
- The person won’t be notified if you delete rather than ignore
- Deleted requests won’t expire after 14 days like ignored ones
- It signals Facebook you’re not interested in that connection
That said, feel free to ignore requests if you don’t want to take the time to delete them individually. Just keep in mind they’ll stick around for 14 days before dropping off.
How do I sort through old Facebook friend requests?
To effectively sort through a backlog of old Facebook friend requests:
- Go to your requests inbox
- Select “Sent Date” to reorder chronologically
- Scroll down and delete requests more than 2-3 weeks old
- For more recent ones, check profiles to see if you have a real connection
- Delete any remaining requests from strangers
This declutters your inbox and prevents clutter from accumulating again in the future. Ongoing maintenance prevents pending requests from strangers piling up.
Instructions
Here are the key steps to stop automatic friend requests on Facebook:
- Adjust People You May Know settings to see fewer recommendations
- Remove imported contacts permission
- Untag yourself from any questionable photos
- Delete location history and workplace/education info
- Block incoming friend requests from strangers
- Review tags before allowing posts on your timeline
- Delete pending requests from people you don’t know
Taking the time to manage these settings prevents you from being overwhelmed with requests from strangers. It also helps curate a friends list of people you truly care about.
Summary
Facebook’s friend recommendations can be annoying and even risky if you make connections with strangers.
Reduce suggestions by adjusting People You May Know settings, removing imported contacts, untagging yourself, and deleting location/workplace info.
Further limit requests by blocking them outright, reviewing tags before approving posts, and deleting pending requests.
With the right settings, you can take control of friend suggestions and keep your Facebook connections relevant.