Facebook’s automatic friend suggestions can be annoying if you don’t want to connect with everyone on the platform. Thankfully, Facebook provides settings to control who can send you friend requests and limit automatic suggestions.
Understanding Facebook’s Friend Suggestions
Facebook generates friend recommendations through several methods:
- Friends of friends – People connected to your existing friends
- School or work networks – People who went to your school or workplace
- Location history – People who live near you or visit the same places
- Contacts – People whose contact info you’ve uploaded to Facebook
- Groups – People who belong to the same groups as you
- Pages – People who like or follow the same pages as you
- Events – People attending the same events as you
- Games and apps – People who play the same games or use the same apps
Facebook compares your profile information and activity on and off Facebook to find people to suggest as friends. The more active you are, the more suggestions Facebook will make.
Limiting Automatic Friend Suggestions
You have a few options to reduce or stop Facebook’s automated friend recommendations:
Adjust “Who can send you friend requests” settings
Facebook’s default setting allows anyone to send you friend requests. To limit this:
- Click the down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings” in the left menu
- Click “Privacy”
- Under “How people can find and contact you”, click “Who can send you friend requests”
- Choose one of the following settings:
- Friends of Friends – Only people connected to your friends can send requests
- Friends of Friends, except acquaintances – Friends of friends can send requests, except those marked as acquaintances
- Only friends of friends – The most restrictive option. Only friends of friends can send requests, not acquaintances of friends.
This will significantly reduce the number of people who can automatically send you friend requests.
Restrict your visibility in Facebook Search
People you aren’t connected to can find you via Facebook Search by your name, school, workplace, or other profile info. To limit this:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings”
- Click “Privacy”
- Under “How people find and contact you”, click “Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?”
- Select “Friends” to only allow searches from people you’re connected to
This prevents strangers from finding and sending you requests.
Limit ad targeting
Facebook uses your activity on and off Facebook to target ads. When you see an ad, it creates a connection that may lead to a friend recommendation. To reduce this:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Ads”
- Click “Ad settings”
- Disable options like “Ads based on data from partners”, “Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere”, and other targeting settings
This limits the connections Facebook can make to serve targeted ads, reducing friend suggestions.
Restrict old connections
Facebook may suggest old connections like classmates or coworkers you’ve lost touch with. To avoid this:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Click “Privacy”
- Under “How people find and contact you”, click “Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?”
- Select “Friends” to prevent lookups from old connections
Review past connections
Facebook recommends friends based on your imports, contacts, and connections. You can remove imported contacts:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Click “Your Facebook Information”
- Click “View More Settings” under “Access Your Information”
- Click “Connections”
- Review and remove any contacts or imports you don’t want generating recommendations
Preventing Friend Request Notifications
If you don’t want to fully limit friend recommendations, you can at least prevent friend request notifications:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Click “Notifications”
- Turn off notifications for “Friend Requests”
This stops you from being notified about every friend request. The requests will still appear in your account, but won’t generate alerts.
Blocking Specific Friend Suggestions
To block a particular person from interacting with you or sending you friend requests:
- Go to the person’s profile
- Click “More” next to “Add Friend”
- Select “Block” to block them from any interactions
This completely prevents the person from viewing your profile, contacting you, or sending you requests.
Turning Off Friend Suggestions
If you want to completely disable Facebook’s friend recommendations:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Click “Privacy”
- Under “How people can find and contact you”, click “Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?”
- Select “No One”
- Under “Your profile and tagging”, uncheck “Friends can tag you”
- Under “Timeline and Tagging”, uncheck “Allow friends to post on your profile”
This prevents friend suggestions by limiting all avenues people have to connect with you. However, it severely limits Facebook functionality, so only use it if you want to cutoff recommendations completely.
Deleting Pending Friend Requests
If you have a lot of pending friend requests, you can remove them in bulk:
- Click the Friend Requests icon in the top nav bar
- Select all requests using the checkbox at the top
- Click “Confirm” to delete all selected requests
This lets you clear out your pending requests list in a couple clicks.
Conclusion
Limiting Facebook’s friend suggestions takes a multi-pronged approach:
- Restrict who can send you requests
- Limit ad targeting and searchability
- Review and remove old connections
- Disable notifications
- Block specific people
Start with the simplest options like adjusting friend request settings and disabling notifications. If you need stronger limitations, reduce ad targeting, searchability, and review your contacts and imports.
The more active you are on and off Facebook, the more friend recommendations you’ll get. Cut down on sharing information, linking accounts, engaging with ads, and allowing tagging/posting if you want the least suggestions possible.
While Facebook friend recommendations can be annoying, they’re designed to connect you with people you may know and want to connect with. Try not to limit your visibility too much or you’ll miss out on the benefits of connecting with more people.
With the right settings adjusted, you can reduce unwanted friend suggestions without compromising your overall Facebook experience.
Here are some key points summarized:
| Method | How To Do It | Benefits | Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjust friend request settings | Limit to Friends of Friends in Request Settings | – Quick and easy to do – Still allows some connections |
– Doesn’t block all unwanted requests |
| Limit searchability | Set search settings to Friends Only | – Hides profile from strangers | – Limits some functionality |
| Block people | Use the Block feature on profiles | – Completely stops unwanted individuals from connecting | – Must be done individually per person |
In summary, adjusting a few key settings and reviewing your connected accounts, contacts, and profile visibility can minimize unwanted friend requests. Find the right balance that reduces suggestions without isolating your account.
Here is some additional detailed information on Facebook’s friend suggestions and request settings:
Common places Facebook recommends friends
Facebook will recommend friends in several places as you use the platform:
- The Friend Requests page accessed via the icon in the top nav bar
- “People You May Know” section on the sidebar of the News Feed page
- Notifications when you receive a new friend request
- Email digests recapping recent activity and suggestions
- On the profile pages of friends of friends
These recommendations are based on connecting the dots between your profile info, activity on Facebook, and contacts/connections outside of Facebook.
Settings to limit who can find your profile
In addition to searchability, you can limit who can see your friends list and view your profile:
- Who can see your friends list – Set to Friends to hide your connections
- Who can look you up using your phone number – Set to Friends to limit lookup
- Who can see posts you’re tagged in on your profile – Friends or Only Me to limit visibility
Ways connections are made between profiles
Facebook looks for connections between you and others in these ways:
- Having the same hometown or current city
- Working for the same company past or present
- Studying at the same school or university
- Being members of the same Facebook groups or pages
- Being tagged in photos together
- Visiting the same places based on location history
- Using the same apps, games, or services connected to Facebook
- Having mutual friends on the platform
The more information you provide on your profile and actions you take, the more connections Facebook can make.
Importing contacts and addresses
Importing your address book and contacts from other apps like Google often generates friend recommendations of people you may know outside of Facebook. You can delete imported contacts here:
- Click “More” on your profile
- Select “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Click “Your Facebook Information”
- Select “Access Your Information”
- Click “Download Your Information”
- Find and delete contact imports in the .zip file
Facial recognition suggestions
Facebook’s facial recognition technology can suggest tags in photos and recommend friends who look similar to people tagged. This is enabled by default, but you can limit it:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Click “Face Recognition”
- Disable options like “Suggest that your friends tag you in photos” and “Use face recognition technology”
Disabling facial recognition reduces suggestions based on who you appear in photos with on Facebook.
Ads and data used for suggestions
Facebook uses your activity within Facebook as well as outside websites and apps to target ads. Interacting with an ad can create a link that leads to a friend recommendation. Limit ad targeting in your Ad Preferences.
You can also limit Facebook Pixel and social plugins that track activity on external sites to reduce suggestions from off-Facebook sources.
Muting friend request notifications
If you don’t want to fully disable friend suggestions, you can mute notifications about them:
- Click the down arrow on Facebook
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”
- Click “Notifications”
- Turn off notifications for “Friend Requests”
This prevents friend request notifications from interrupting you while still allowing requests to come in.
Highlighting friend connections
When viewing a friend recommendation, you can click “How You’re Connected” to highlight mutual friends, shared schools, workplaces, hometowns, groups, or interests that caused the suggestion.
This allows you to identify the reason for the recommendation, which may help you decide whether to accept or ignore it.
Managing friend requests
Friend requests appear in your Notifications menu and at facebook.com/friends/requests. You can accept, ignore, or delete requests.
Click the “…” on a request to block the person altogether. Clicking “Confirm” on multiple selected requests deletes them.
New requests may still come in depending on your settings, so ongoing management is needed to keep unwanted requests under control.
Tracking requests received over time
You can view your pending and historical friend requests here:
- Click the down arrow
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”
- Click “Your Facebook Information”
- Click “Download Your Information”
- Open your archive and go to the “Friend Requests Log” in the Friends folder
This log shows all incoming requests and whether you accepted, ignored, or deleted them. Monitoring the volume of requests over time can indicate if your settings changes are working.
Additional tips
Here are some final recommendations on limiting friend requests:
- Review privacy settings regularly and when Facebook makes changes
- Delete old posts and photos that expose info or connections
- Be cautious about tagging people or appearing in photos
- Limit linking other accounts like Instagram and Messenger
- Delete your Facebook account as the ultimate way to cut all connections