Facebook’s friend suggestion feature can be annoying if you don’t want your friends being suggested to each other. The good news is there are steps you can take to stop or limit Facebook from suggesting your friends.
Why Does Facebook Suggest Friends?
Facebook suggests friends to help users connect with more people they may know. The friend suggestion algorithm uses information like mutual friends, workplaces, schools, and other connections to find potential friend matches.
While this can help users reconnect with old friends or meet new people, it also means Facebook is sharing your friends list with others – which some people prefer to avoid.
Limit Friend Suggestions in News Feed
One way to see fewer friend recommendations is to snooze or unfollow the “People You May Know” box in your News Feed. Here’s how:
- Go to your News Feed
- Locate the People You May Know box on the right side
- Click on the X icon in the top right corner of the box
- Select Snooze for 30 days or Unfollow
This stops friend suggestions from appearing in your News Feed. However, it doesn’t prevent your friends from being suggested to others.
Disable Facebook from Using Your Contacts
Facebook matches your contacts to suggest friends. Stop syncing contacts on mobile:
- Open the Facebook app on your iPhone or Android
- Tap the three-line More menu
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Tap “Media and Contacts”
- Toggle off “Sync Contacts”
On desktop:
- Click the down arrow at the top right
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click “Media and Contacts” in the left sidebar
- Toggle off “Sync Contacts”
This prevents Facebook from accessing your contacts to suggest friends.
Restrict Old Posts from Being Shared
Facebook may suggest friends based on things you’ve posted in the past. You can limit this by:
- Go to your profile and click on the three dots in the top right
- Select “View As”
- Toggle “Limit Past Posts”
This makes your old posts visible only to you. However, friends can still share your more recent posts and suggest you to others that way.
Review Tags and Untag Yourself
People can tag you in photos and posts, which can fuel friend recommendations. To manage tagging:
- Go to your profile and click “Photos”
- Click “Photos of You” at the top
- Review tags and click “More Options” to untag yourself
You can also review posts you’re tagged in from your profile under “Posts You’re Tagged In.” Untag yourself from any posts you’re uncomfortable with.
Increase Privacy Settings
Stricter privacy settings can limit some friend suggestions:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Privacy Shortcuts
- Change “Who can see your friends list?” to “Only Me”
- Change “Who can see your future posts?” to “Friends” or stricter
This prevents non-friends from accessing info that could fuel recommendations. But friends may still suggest you to their friends.
Remove Mutual Friends
Having fewer mutual friends with someone makes you less likely to be suggested as friends. To see mutual friends:
- Go to your profile and click “Friends”
- Click “Find Friends” at the top
- Type in the name of the person you want to check
- View and unfriend any mutual friends you’re comfortable removing
Of course, only unfriend people you don’t interact with regularly.
Leave Groups and Events
Belonging to the same groups and events as someone can trigger friend suggestions. To leave:
- Go to your profile and click “Groups”
- Leave any groups you don’t need by clicking “Leave Group”
- Leave any irrelevant events by clicking “Leave”
Go to your profile and click “Events”
This reduces connections that Facebook could use to suggest friends.
Make Your Friend List More Selective
Regularly review your friend list and unfriend people you don’t know well. To vet your friends:
- Go to your profile and click “Friends”
- Sort by most recent additions
- Check each friend and unfriend any vague acquaintances, distant relatives, etc.
Having a selective friend list gives Facebook less data to fuel friend suggestions.
Use a Restricted Friends List
You can create a Restricted Friends List:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Audience and tagging
- Click “Restricted List” and add friends to it
When you post, you can choose to exclude that list. Those friends won’t see your posts to suggest you to others.
Block Suggestions from Specific Friends
Prevent just certain friends from fueling suggestions:
- Go to your profile and click “Friends”
- Click the friend you want to block
- Click on the three dots next to “Friends”
- Select “Block”
This still allows you to be friends but stops Facebook from using that connection to suggest more friends.
Prevent Friend Suggestions from Page Likes
Liking the same Pages can trigger suggestions. Stop this:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Audience and tagging
- Turn off “Allow Pages to suggest friends to exclude”
This stops Page likes from informing friend recommendations.
Disable Facial Recognition
Facebook uses facial recognition to suggest friends who look similar to people in your photos. Turn this off:
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Click “Face Recognition”
- Toggle off “Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos?”
This prevents Facebook from using your face to fuel suggestions.
Conclusion
Facebook’s friend suggestions can be annoying, but there are many ways to prevent your friends from being recommended to each other. The most effective options include limiting past posts, disabling contact syncing, restricting visibility, unfriending mutuals, and fine-tuning your audience settings.
While you can reduce friend suggestions, it’s impossible to fully stop them on Facebook. The only way to prevent it completely is to delete your Facebook account. But hopefully the tips above can at least limit Facebook from suggesting your friends and preserve your privacy.