How do I turn off Facebook recommendations?

Facebook’s algorithm is designed to show you more of what you have previously engaged with. This means you will see recommendations and suggestions based on pages and posts you have liked, groups you have joined, and content you have commented on or shared. While this can help surface new content you may be interested in, some users find it frustrating when recommendations feel irrelevant or overwhelming.

The good news is you have some control over what shows up in your Facebook feed. Here are a few ways to cut back on recommendations you don’t want to see:

Adjust News Feed Preferences

The easiest way to influence the recommendations Facebook shows you is to update your News Feed Preferences. Here’s how:

1. Click on the 3 line “hamburger” icon in the top right corner on desktop or mobile and select “Settings.”
2. Select “News Feed Preferences” from the left menu.
3. Under “Prioritize who to see first,” you can choose to see more or fewer posts from friends, family, Groups, and Pages you follow.
4. Scroll down to “Relevant Topics” and toggle off any topics you don’t want to see recommendations about.
5. At the very bottom, toggle “Show Facebook Recommendations” off if you want to remove all recommendations generated by Facebook.

Tweaking these settings tells Facebook to show you more or less of certain types of posts. Keep in mind you can come back to adjust these anytime.

Unlike Pages

Another simple way to see fewer recommendations is to Unlike any Pages that are cluttering up your feed. Here’s how to unlike a Page on desktop and mobile:

• Desktop: Go to the Page, click “Liked” under the cover photo, and select “Unlike Page.”
• Mobile: Go to the Page, tap the “Liked” button under the cover photo so it turns blue, and select “Unlike.”

This removes that Page from your follow list so posts from its owners should no longer appear in your News Feed. You can still visit any unliked Pages manually if you want.

Use Lists to Follow Selectively

If you want to continue following certain people or Pages without seeing all their posts, try putting them into a List:

1. Go to the page’s profile and select “Add to List” from the menu.
2. Choose an existing List or create a new one.
3. When you visit that List, you’ll only see posts from those specific profiles.

For example, you could make a Close Friends List and add your besties. That way you can check what they’re up to without clutter from acquaintances mixing in.

Snooze Individuals or Groups

If you want to temporarily stop seeing someone’s posts, use Snooze:

1. Click the 3 dots above a post in your News Feed and choose “Snooze [name] for 30 days.”
2. Confirm to snooze their posts from your feed for the selected timeframe.

You can also snooze entire Groups this way. Snoozing is a handy way to take a break if you’re feeling overwhelmed by someone’s content.

Limit Ad Topics

If you’re sick of ads that seem creepily spot-on, you can remove interests that Facebook uses to target recommendations:

1. Go to “Settings” then select “Ads.”
2. Under “Advertisers and Businesses,” select “Your Information.”
3. Choose “Your categories” and remove any interests you don’t want used for ad targeting.

This will stop advertisers from being able to reach you based on those interests. Just know that you may still see loosely related ads at times.

Hide Posts You Don’t Want to See Again

As you’re browsing your News Feed, you can hide posts you don’t want to see recommendations related to in the future:

1. Click the 3 dots at the top right of the post.
2. Select “Hide post” or “Hide all from [Page/Group].”
3. Confirm that you want to hide this type of content.

Hiding frequently on topics that don’t interest you may help refine your recommendations over time. But it’s not a 100% guarantee you’ll never see related content again down the line.

Block Recommended Groups

On desktop and mobile, you may see suggestions to join new Groups popping up on the right side of your screen. If these are irrelevant to you:

1. Hover over the Group’s name and click the “X” to block the recommendation.
2. Select “Block Group Recommendations” to stop getting suggestions.

This specifically blocks Group recommendations without impacting other suggestions you might find useful.

Choose Who Can Tag You

When friends tag you in posts, this signals to Facebook that you’re interested in that content. If some people are tagging you in irrelevant stuff, you can limit who’s allowed to tag you:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings.”
2. Select “Privacy” in the left column.
3. Pick “Tags” under “How people can find and contact you.”
4. Change to “Friends Except…” or stricter to restrict tagging.

That way random acquaintances, for example, won’t be able to tag you in content that skews your recommendations.

Limit Ad Personalization

Even if you don’t interact directly with certain posts, Facebook picks up signals in the background to understand your interests. Limiting ad personalization can reduce this behind-the-scenes data collection:

1. Go to “Settings” then “Ads.”
2. Select “Ad personalization” under “Advertisers and Businesses.”
3. Toggle “Personalization based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere” off.

Marketers will have less info to target you with creepily relevant ads moving forward.

Clear Off-Facebook Activity

Facebook also collects activity from websites and apps outside their platform to target ads and posts. You can view and clear this off-Facebook history:

1. Go to “Settings” then “Your Facebook Information.”
2. Select “Off-Facebook activity” from the left menu.
3. Click “Clear History” to remove this outside info from your Facebook profile.

This disassociates any external website visits from your account, reducing associated recommendations.

Limit Old Posts Resurfacing

When Facebook surfaces memories or recommendations involving your old posts, you can choose to see less of these nostalgic throwbacks:

1. From your News Feed, click the 3 dots above an old post.
2. Select “Show me fewer posts like this.”
3. Confirm you want to see fewer historic posts going forward.

Facebook will rely more on your recent activity to generate recommendations moving ahead.

Remove Interests from Ad Preferences

Similar to limiting your info collected for ads, you can directly edit interests to stop seeing certain recommendations:

1. Visit “Settings” then select “Ads.”
2. Click “Ad preferences” and go to “Advertisers and Businesses > Your interests”
3. Hover over any interest bubbles you want gone and click “X” to remove them.

Without those defined interests, Facebook has less user data to fuel targeted recommendations.

Turn Recommendations Back On

If you took the nuclear option of turning off all recommendations under News Feed Preferences, you can reverse course here if you end up missing them:

1. Return to “News Feed Preferences” under the Settings menu.
2. Scroll down and turn “Show Facebook Recommendations” back on.

Recommendations influenced by your connections and activity will begin populating your feed again.

Conclusion

Facebook’s nonstop recommendations can feel overwhelming, but you’re not completely at their mercy. Using settings like News Feed Preferences and Snooze give you direct control over what appears in your feed. Limiting personalization reduces how much of your data is used for targeting. And removing interests associated with your ad profile cuts down on hyper-targeted posts.

Experiment to find the right balance between customization and too much noise. Keep in mind that changes take some time to apply, as Facebook’s algorithms don’t adjust immediately. But with a little effort, you can cut through the clutter and see more of what matters.