Facebook’s friend suggestion feature can be useful for connecting with people you may know but don’t have as friends on Facebook yet. However, some users find the constant friend recommendations annoying or overwhelming. Fortunately, Facebook allows you to turn off friend suggestions in the Facebook app for iOS and Android.
What are Facebook’s friend suggestions?
Facebook’s friend recommendations use information from your profile and network to suggest new people you may want to connect with. Suggestions are based on things like:
- Friends of friends
- Friends of people who’ve searched for your name
- Friends of people in your groups or networks
- People who have mutual friends, workplaces, schools, or other connections
- People you may have met or interacted with
When viewing your News Feed in the Facebook app, you’ll see some friend recommendations mixed in with recent posts and ads. On the Friends tab, you’ll see even more suggestions of people to potentially add as friends.
Why would I want to turn off friend suggestions?
While Facebook’s friend suggestions can be handy, some users find them annoying for reasons like:
- Too many recommendations make the app feel cluttered
- Suggestions are irrelevant or not useful
- Don’t want to connect with recommended people
- Prefer to find friends independently
- Privacy concerns over how suggestions are made
If friend recommendations are hampering your Facebook experience, turning them off can help declutter your app and feed.
How to turn off friend suggestions on iPhone/iPad
If you use Facebook on an iPhone or iPad, here are the steps to disable friend suggestions:
- Open the Facebook app and tap the hamburger menu icon in the top right
- Scroll down and choose “Settings & Privacy”
- Go to “Settings” and tap “Account Settings”
- Under “Preferences”, choose “Friends”
- Toggle off “Friend recommendations”
This will immediately stop friend suggestions from appearing in your mobile News Feed or on the Friends tab. You can toggle it back on any time if you change your mind.
Additional iOS Facebook suggestion controls
Under the Friends settings you can also manage:
- Friend requests – Toggle on/off ability for people to send you friend requests
- Birthday reminder emails – Disable/enable getting emails for friends’ birthdays
- Who can see your friends list – Adjust privacy of your friends list
How to turn off friend suggestions on Android
On Android devices, here is how to turn off Facebook friend recommendations:
- Open the Facebook app and tap the three-line menu button
- Scroll down and choose “Settings & Privacy”
- Select “Settings”
- Tap “Account Settings”
- Go to “Preferences” and choose “Friends”
- Toggle off “Friend recommendations”
This will stop the friend suggestions immediately so they no longer appear in your News Feed or Friends tab.
Additional Android Facebook suggestion controls
In the Friends settings you can also configure:
- Who can send you friend requests – Adjust who can send requests
- Birthday reminders – Disable/enable birthday emails
- Who can see your friends list – Control privacy of your friends
How to see less of a specific friend’s posts
In addition to controlling overall friend suggestions, you can also reduce the amount of posts you see from specific friends in your News Feed by “unfollowing” them:
- Go to their Facebook profile page
- Tap the “Following” button below their cover photo
- Choose “See First” to make their posts appear less frequently
This will keep them as a friend but reduce their posts in your feed. You can also fully “Unfollow” them to hide their posts entirely.
Other News Feed controls
Beyond friend suggestions and posts, there are other ways to curate your News Feed experience:
- Prioritize who to see first – Choose friends to always see posts from at the top
- Relevant ads – Adjust what ads you want to see
- Preferred topics – Follow or hide posts on certain topics
- Snooze 30 days – Temporarily snooze someone for 30 days
Adjust these options from the “News Feed Preferences” section of Settings. This can help further customize your News Feed to cut out unwanted clutter.
Reduce notifications from Facebook
To further limit distractions from Facebook, adjust your notification settings to reduce unnecessary alerts.
On iPhone/iPad:
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Tap “Settings”
- Choose “Notifications”
- Review each option and disable unnecessary notifications
On Android:
- Tap the hamburger menu icon
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Choose “Settings”
- Select “Notifications”
- Review and disable any unnecessary alerts
This will help minimize disruptions from Facebook so you’re only notified about important activity.
Hide ads with irrelevant interests
If you see irrelevant ads in your News Feed, you can help improve them by hiding the ad and providing feedback to Facebook:
- Tap the three dots above the ad
- Choose “Hide Ad”
- Select the reason, such as “Irrelevant” or “Inappropriate”
Doing this repeatedly will help train Facebook’s system and show you more relevant ads over time.
Review Facebook privacy settings
Part of the friend suggestion process involves Facebook accessing your profile information and activity. If you’re uncomfortable with how much of your info Facebook is using, re-review your privacy settings:
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Tap “Settings”
- Choose “Privacy Settings”
- Review each section and tighten up sharing as desired
This can limit the personal data Facebook uses to generate recommendations and ads.
Conclusion
Friend suggestions on Facebook Mobile can be distracting but are easy to disable. Simply turn off recommendations under Friends in your Account Settings. Additionally, customize News Feed preferences, adjust notifications, provide ad feedback, and review privacy settings to further optimize your Facebook mobile experience.
With a few tweaks, you can curate a Facebook feed tailored specifically for your preferences and interests.