Unfriending people on Facebook can be tricky. You may have hundreds of friends on the platform but only interact with a fraction of them regularly. Over time, your friend list can become cluttered with people you no longer talk to or want to connect with. While unfriending people can be awkward, it’s a good way to tidy up your friend list and focus on the connections you truly care about.
There are a few ways to unfriend people quickly and easily on Facebook. The key is being strategic about who you eliminate from your friend list. With Facebook’s privacy settings, you can also control how much information your unfriended connections can still see. Here are some tips on how to prune your Facebook friends list efficiently.
Should You Unfriend or Unfollow?
Before mass unfriending people, consider whether you want to fully disconnect from them or just see less of their content. With Facebook’s Unfollow feature, you can stay friends with someone but stop seeing their posts in your News Feed. This allows you to keep the friendship without the clutter.
Unfollowing can be a polite alternative to unfriending in many cases. It’s subtle and less drastic. The person won’t get notified so it avoids awkwardness. However, unfriending completely removes that person from your friends list and ensures their posts never show up. Here are some differences:
| Unfollow | Unfriend |
|---|---|
| They stay on your friend list | They are removed as a friend |
| Their posts don’t appear in your feed | You no longer see any of their content |
| You stay visible as a friend to them | You disappear from their friend list too |
| Can be reversed easily | Requiring them to re-send a friend request |
| No notification sent | They are notified of the unfriending |
As you can see, unfollowing just mutes someone’s posts versus removing the connection entirely. If you want to permanently disconnect from someone, unfriending is more definitive.
How to Unfriend Someone on Facebook
Unfriending directly from someone’s profile:
- Go to the profile of the person you want to unfriend
- Click on the Friends button below their cover photo
- Select Unfriend from the dropdown menu
- Confirm you want to unfriend the person when prompted
You can also unfriend people from your Friends list:
- Go to your Facebook Friends list
- Locate the person you want to unfriend
- Hover over their name and click the Friends button
- Choose Unfriend
- Verify you want to remove the friend
When you unfriend someone, they are immediately removed from your friends list. A notification is also sent to them indicating you unfriended them. There is no going back from this action. If you later decide you want to reconnect, you’ll have to send them a new friend request.
How to Unfriend People in Bulk
Unfriending people one by one can be extremely tedious. Luckily, there are some shortcuts to unfriend lots of people rapidly on Facebook:
Use the Facebook FriendCleaner Chrome Extension
FriendCleaner is a free Google Chrome extension that lets you mass unfriend Facebook connections with a few clicks. After installing it, you can:
- See which friends you interact with the least
- Sort friends by most/least recent interactions
- Filter friends by location, school, workplace and more
- Select multiple friends to unfriend at once
This makes it easy to prune your list based on inactive friends, location, or other criteria. The ability to multi-select people to unfriend is the real time saver.
Try the Social Book Post Manager App
Social Book Post Manager has a Unfriend Finder tool that locates inactive Facebook friends for you. You can then rapidly unfriend them in batches right from the app. To use it:
- Install the Social Book Post Manager app
- Click on the Unfriend Finder module
- Set filters like inactive days and minimal interactions
- View and select friends to remove
- Click Unfriend to delete them in bulk
This removes the tedious work of manually finding and removing old, inactive connections. The mass unfriend capabilities make it easy to clean up your friends list.
Use Facebook’s Data Download
You can download your Facebook data and view friends you don’t interact with often. To try this:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click on Your Facebook Information in the left menu
- Select Download Your Information
- Choose JSON as the format and Media Quality as Low
- Select Friends as the data type to download
- You’ll get a file with all your Facebook friends and interaction data
- Sort by interaction frequency to find inactive friends
- Unfriend those people directly on Facebook
While this approach takes more manual work, it lets you view comprehensive analytics on your Facebook friends and identify inactive ones.
Use Facebook’s Contacts Screen
Facebook’s contacts manager provides some useful unfriending options:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click Contacts in the left menu
- Select Sorted By Least Interacted With to surface inactive friends
- Choose Edit Friend List to enter selection mode
- Check friends you want to remove and pick Unfriend
This prioritizes the friends you interact with least, making it easier to prune your list. You can unfriend multiple people at once too.
How to Unfriend Someone on Messenger
You may want to unfriend someone you only message on Facebook Messenger. Here’s how to remove a Messenger-only connection:
- Open your Messenger app and go to your Friends tab
- Tap on the person’s name at the top of your messages
- Scroll down and select Friendship
- Choose Unfriend
- Confirm you want to remove this friend
This disconnects you from that person on Messenger and Facebook. They will be notified that you unfriended them.
Should You Notify People Before Unfriending?
Notifying people before unfriending or unfollowing them on Facebook can be considerate but also awkward. Here are some pros and cons of giving them a heads up:
Reasons to Notify
- Prevents surprise and confusion if they notice
- Allows them to unfollow/unfriend you first if desired
- Gives closure if you were close friends before
- Option to explain why if it’s not obvious
Reasons Not to Notify
- Avoids awkwardness since it’s not expected
- No obligation to explain your reasoning
- Cleaner break from online connection
- Easier to do in batches if unfriending many
There are good arguments on both sides. In most cases, the Norm is not to notify. But if unfriending very close friends, it can be courteous to give them a heads up first.
What Friends Still See After Unfriending
When you unfriend someone on Facebook, what visibility do they still have to your profile and posts? It depends on your privacy settings:
| Information | Visibility to Unfriended Users |
|---|---|
| Your public posts and information | Can be viewed by all users |
| Posts shared with Friends | No longer visible to unfriended |
| Your friends list | Not visible |
| Photos of you together | Can only see photos they’re tagged in |
| Ability to tag you | No longer have tagging permission |
As you can see, unfriended users have limited access to your profile and updates unless they are public posts. Adjust your privacy settings if needed.
Limit Past Posts Visibility
To limit what unfriended people can see of your previous posts:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click on Privacy in the left menu
- Go to Limited Past Posts under Your Activity
- Choose Friends for the visibility instead of Public
This ensures only current friends can see your old posts.
Conclusion
Pruning your friends list on Facebook allows you to focus on the meaningful connections you actually interact with regularly. Unfriending inactive friends helps keep your feed relevant and reduces clutter over time. While mass unfriending people can seem harsh, it’s a necessary digital housekeeping task on Facebook. Use the tools and strategies outlined here to clean up your connections efficiently. But consider unfollowing people first in many cases to soften the effect. With a curated friends list, your Facebook experience will be much more personal and engaging.