Duplicate posts on Facebook can be annoying and clutter up your news feed. Here are some tips on how to prevent duplicate posts from appearing in your Facebook timeline.
What causes duplicate posts on Facebook?
There are a few main reasons why you might see duplicate Facebook posts:
- You follow the same page with multiple accounts
- Your friends share the same post multiple times
- A page you follow shares a post more than once
- A technical glitch causes a post to duplicate
Oftentimes it’s because you follow the same Facebook page with more than one account. For example, if you manage a business page but also follow that page from your personal account, you’ll see all of that page’s posts twice.
How to find and delete duplicate Facebook posts
If you spot a duplicate post in your news feed, you can delete it to clean up your timeline. Here’s how:
- Click the three dots in the top right corner of the duplicate post.
- Select “Hide post” or “Snooze for 30 days.”
- Refresh your news feed to make sure it’s gone.
This will remove the post from your timeline. However, it doesn’t prevent that post from showing up again in the future.
How to stop duplicate posts from pages you follow
To prevent seeing duplicate posts from pages in the future, you’ll need to consolidate the pages you follow into a single account.
Go through all of your accounts and make note of which pages you follow from each account. Then, pick one main account to follow those pages from.
On your other accounts, unfolllow those pages so you only see their posts from one place. Doing this for all pages will significantly cut down on duplicate content.
How to prevent duplicate posts from friends
It’s trickier to control duplicate posts from your friends, since you don’t have control over what they share. However, there are a few steps you can take:
- Hide repetitive posts from certain friends using the steps above.
- Unsubscribe from friends who overshare the same content.
- Turn off notifications from friends prone to duplicate sharing.
- Snooze friends for 30 days if they’re on a duplicate posting spree.
Essentially, use Facebook’s post options to control the content you see from friends. While you can’t completely prevent it, you can reduce the frequency of seeing duplicate posts from your friends list.
How to stop page admins from duplicate posting
Some page admins intentionally duplicate their posts to increase engagement. If you notice a page frequently posts duplicate content, here are some options:
- Hide the repetitive posts as you notice them.
- Contact the page admin directly to request they stop duplicating.
- Unpage the page if the duplicate posting becomes excessive.
Unfortunately there’s no way to automatically prevent duplicate posts from a page, since admins control post frequency. But you can provide feedback to request they change their posting habits.
How to identify and fix technical issues causing duplicates
In some cases, duplicate posts are caused by technical issues rather than user behavior. Here are some tips for identifying and troubleshooting tech issues:
- Check if the duplicates have the same or different timestamps. Different timestamps likely indicate a technical glitch.
- Try refreshing your browser cache and restarting your device to clear out any glitches.
- Make sure you have the latest version of the Facebook app installed.
- See if others are reporting duplicate post issues for that specific page.
- Report the problem directly to Facebook if it persists.
Technical problems are often indicated by duplicate posts with varying timestamps. Try the usual troubleshooting steps like refreshing your browser. If the issues continue, report it to Facebook for further investigation.
How to use Facebook filters to customize your feed
If you’re still seeing too many duplicate and irrelevant posts, try using Facebook’s news feed filtering options:
- Prioritize posts from close friends and favorite pages.
- Snooze or unfollow acquaintances prone to oversharing.
- Follow topic-based feeds like For You and Favorites.
- Create custom lists of friends and pages you want to see most.
You have a lot of control over what appears in your Facebook feed. Use lists, filters and prioritization to refine your feed content. This will limit repetitive posts and surface the content you care about.
Third party apps to stop duplicate Facebook posts
In addition to Facebook’s built-in controls, there are some third party apps that can help eliminate duplicate content:
| App | Key Features |
|---|---|
| Social Fixer | Identifies duplicate posts and helps clean up your timeline. Also provides advanced news feed filtering options. |
| FBRemover | Scans your news feed and removes repetitive posts. Customizable duplicate detection. |
| Kill News Feed | Automatically hides duplicate posts from your news feed. Also lets you block specific post types. |
These apps complement Facebook’s built-in settings by automatically detecting and removing duplicate content from your news feed.
Conclusion
Duplicate Facebook posts can be annoying, but you have options to clean up your news feed. Consolidate pages into one account, snooze or unfollow friends who overshare, and use filters to prioritize the content you care about.
Apps like Social Fixer can also automatically remove duplicate posts. Take advantage of Facebook’s customization settings and reporting tools to take control of your news feed.
Focus on the friends and pages that bring you joy, and don’t hesitate to hide or snooze content that becomes repetitive. With a few adjustments, you can keep your Facebook feed fresh, relevant and duplicate-free.