Facebook friend requests allow you to connect with new people on the platform. However, not everyone will accept your friend request. If you’ve sent out multiple friend requests, you may be wondering how to see which ones were rejected or simply left pending. Here are some tips on how to find out who didn’t accept your friend request on Facebook.
Check Your Sent Friend Requests
The easiest way to see pending and rejected friend requests is to check your “Sent” folder under the Friends section of your profile. Here are the steps:
- Go to your profile and click “Friends” on the left sidebar.
- Click “Sent” to view your pending sent requests.
- Scan the list to see which requests say “Pending” vs. “Confirmed.” Pending means the request is still awaiting a response. Confirmed means it was accepted.
- Any requests that disappeared were likely rejected or deleted. You can cross reference with your list of friends to see who is missing.
This allows you to compare your sent requests with your actual friends list to deduce who rejected the request. It can be time consuming if you’ve sent a lot of requests though.
Check with a Friend Request Tracker
An easier way is to use a third party Facebook friend request tracker. These tools store your sent requests and notify you when any are rejected, expired, or accepted. Some examples include:
- SocialTracker
- Familonet Friend Tracker
- Social Insights
Here’s how they work:
- Connect your Facebook account to the tracker tool.
- The tool will import and track your pending sent requests.
- When any request is rejected or accepted, it will notify you.
- Most tools also let you see a full list of all tracked requests and their status.
This takes the guesswork out of figuring out who rejected your requests. The main downside is that you have to trust the tool with access to your Facebook data.
Look for a Rejection Notification
In some cases, you’ll get a notification alerting you that your request was rejected or deleted. For example:
If you get a message like this, it clearly tells you the name of the user who rejected your request. However, Facebook doesn’t always send rejection notifications, so you can’t rely on this method alone.
Analyze Your Unfriended List
If someone rejects your friend request, they may also unfriend you if they were already added. Facebook doesn’t show you who unfriends you, but there are some sneaky ways to potentially figure it out:
- Use an unfollowers tracking tool – This shows you who recently unfriended you on Facebook. Cross reference with your sent requests.
- Check your restricted list – People who reject your request sometimes also add you to their restricted list. You can see if anyone recently restricted you.
- Look for sudden drops in your friends count – If your friend count drops around the time your request was rejected, it could indicate an unfriending.
While not definitive, if you notice someone unfollowed or restricted you close to rejecting your request, they are likely connected.
Search Your Messages
If someone rejects your friend request, they may send you a private Facebook message to explain why. This is less common, but does occasionally happen.
If you’ve sent a lot of pending requests, it’s worth searching your messages for any explanations on rejected requests. The person rejecting you may cite reasons like you being a stranger, having no mutual friends, or other factors.
This method only works if the person bothering messaging you, but can help identify rejections.
Use the Facebook Download Tool
As a last resort, you can use Facebook’s download tool to get an archive of your account data. Here’s how it works:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information.
- Click “Download Your Information” and select “Your Information.”
- When the download is ready, open the archive and go to the “Friends” folder.
- Sort through your sent requests. Any missing names were likely rejects or deletions.
This is tedious and time consuming, but can help accurately identify rejected requests if all else fails. Just know it involves downloading your full account history.
Prevent Rejections in the Future
Getting many rejected friend requests can be frustrating. Here are some tips to improve your acceptance rate:
- Only send requests to people you know or have mutual friends with already.
- Personalize your request message so it’s not generic.
- Send fewer requests overall and be more selective.
- Don’t send repeat requests to the same person.
- Remove requests that have been pending a long time.
Taking the time to build real connections can go a long way towards getting your requests accepted.
Conclusion
Checking your sent requests and using friend request trackers are the easiest ways to see who rejected your Facebook invitations. Other tactics like analyzing unfriends, messages, and your downloaded data can provide additional clues. With some detective work, you can figure out who is denying your requests.
To avoid rejections in the first place, be thoughtful about who you send friend requests to and personalize your messages. Facebook is about real connections, so focus on building relationships with people likely to accept you as a friend.