Taking a break from someone on Facebook without fully blocking them can be useful if you want to temporarily limit contact or reduce distraction and notifications from that person. You may want to do this with a friend, family member, coworker, or acquaintance that you don’t want to completely cut off communication with but need some space from. Here are some tips on how to take a Facebook break from someone without blocking them completely.
Hide Their Posts
One simple way to take a break from someone on Facebook is to hide their posts from your News Feed. This prevents you from constantly seeing their updates, photos, videos, and other content, while still remaining connected as friends on Facebook. To do this:
- Go to the person’s profile page and click on the “Following” button near the top (on desktop) or the three dots icon (on mobile)
- Select “Hide Posts” or Unfollow
This will immediately stop their posts from appearing in your News Feed. You can reverse this at any time by finding them again in your Following list and choosing “See First”.
Pros
- Lets you easily avoid seeing their posts and updates without unfriending or blocking.
- They won’t be notified so it avoids potential conflict.
- You remain connected as friends on Facebook.
Cons
- You may still see their comments and reactions to mutual friends’ posts.
- Doesn’t limit other interactions like messages and notifications.
Turn Off Notifications
Another way to reduce contact is to turn off notifications from that person on Facebook. This stops you from getting alerted every time they post, comment, like or interact with you in other ways. To manage notifications:
- Go to the person’s profile and click on the “Following” or three dots icon
- Select “Turn Off Notifications”
You can also adjust notification settings by going to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications and reviewing the “People” section.
Pros
- Stops constant notifications from that person.
- Allows you to check their profile on your own terms.
- They won’t know you turned off notifications.
Cons
- You may miss important notifications and messages from them.
- Doesn’t limit visibility of their posts and interactions.
Restrict Chat
If you primarily want to limit contact through Facebook Messenger or Facebook Chat, you can restrict the person which reduces chat interactions. Do this by:
- Going to their profile and selecting the Message button
- Click the three dots or Options menu
- Choose “Restrict”
This limits their ability to contact you through chat. They will only see a restricted message if they try to reach you. To undo this, find their chat and select “Unrestrict”.
Pros
- Greatly reduces distracting chat messages from them.
- Lets you avoid unwanted conversations.
- You can chat again if you change your mind.
Cons
- They will know you restricted them.
- Important messages may be missed.
- Doesn’t limit other Facebook interactions.
Unsubscribe from Emails
If the person tends to send you a lot of emails through Facebook notifications, you can unsubscribe to avoid these distractions in your external email inbox. Do this by:
- Clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email.
- Or adjusting your email notifications in Settings.
This stops non-essential emails while still allowing things like password reset emails if needed.
Pros
- Removes clutter from your external email.
- Lets you avoid unnecessary emails from them.
- Easy to turn emails back on if desired.
Cons
- You may miss important notifications sent by email.
- Doesn’t limit Facebook interactions and chat.
Adjust Privacy Settings
Adjusting your privacy settings is another way to reduce their visibility into your profile, posts, and information on Facebook. You can customize settings like:
- Limiting who sees your future posts
- Removing them from your friends/follower lists
- Removing their ability to see your friends list
To manage privacy settings related to a specific person:
- Go to your Settings
- Click on Privacy
- Select the appropriate privacy controls for limiting their visibility
Pros
- Lets you control their access to your profile and content.
- Allows you to keep some information private from them.
- They won’t be notified of the changes.
Cons
- Time consuming to customize individual settings.
- Things you share publicly will still be visible.
- You need to remember to adjust settings back if reconnecting.
Change Visibility of Your Active Status
By default, Facebook friends can see when you are active or recently online. If you want to appear offline to the person you’re taking a break from, change your active status visibility in Settings:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click on Active Status
- Choose “No One” to hide your active status from everyone
Or customize it to show your active status to some friends but exclude the person you want to take a break from.
Pros
- Lets you appear offline or hide your active status from them.
- Allows you to limit their visibility into your activity.
- They won’t know you changed this setting.
Cons
- Hides your active status from all friends if set to “No One”.
- You may forget to turn it back on after your break.
- Can appear suspicious if they notice you’re never shown as active.
Take a Temporary Break
If you want a broader but still temporary break from someone on Facebook, consider “taking a break” from them. This lets you temporarily unfollow and remove them as a friend while preserving your relationship for when you’re ready to reconnect.
To take a Facebook break from someone:
- Go to their profile and click on the “Friends” button
- Select “Take a Break”
This will unfriend and unfollow them at the same time. When ready to resume contact, you can undo this by sending them a new friend request.
Pros
- Allows a clean break from all interactions with that person.
- Lets you easily reconnect later by refriending.
- Clearly communicates you are taking a break but not ending the friendship.
Cons
- They will be notified you unfriended them.
- You will lose access to their profile during the break.
- Refriending could be awkward or lead to questions.
List of Options for Taking a Facebook Break
To summarize, here are some of the main options for taking a break from someone on Facebook without fully blocking them:
| Option | Effect | Notification |
|---|---|---|
| Hide Their Posts | Avoids seeing their posts in feed | No |
| Turn Off Notifications | Stops notifications from them | No |
| Restrict Chat | Limits messaging interactions | Yes |
| Unsubscribe Emails | Stops non-essential emails | No |
| Adjust Privacy Settings | Limits their profile access | No |
| Hide Active Status | Appear offline to them | No |
| Take a Temporary Break | Unfriends and unfollows | Yes |
This summarizes the different options along with whether it results in a notification to the person you are taking a break from on Facebook.
Things to Remember
When taking a Facebook break rather than blocking someone completely, keep a few things in mind:
- They may still see things you post publicly or comments on mutual friends’ posts.
- Important communications may be missed.
- The break may damage the relationship if done without communicating why.
- You may want to set a reminder to undo some of these settings later.
Discussing why you need a break and setting expectations can help prevent misunderstandings. And be thoughtful about whether to limit visibility of work contacts like coworkers.
Communicate the Reason
When possible, have a conversation with the person to explain why you need to take a step back from the friendship or relationship for a while. This helps set clear expectations and prevent hurt feelings or confusion about why you suddenly “disappeared” from their Facebook world.
Even a simple message saying something like: “I’ve been really stressed lately and need to take a break from Facebook for a bit. I’m going to unfollow and turn off notifications for a while. I just need some space to focus on personal things. I hope you understand.”
This helps provide context for your actions and makes it less likely the person will take your temporary break personally. Though you may choose not to provide details if the reason for the break is very personal or contentious.
Set a Reminder to Reconnect
To avoid your Facebook break dragging on indefinitely, set a reminder on your calendar to reevaluate the situation in a set period of time. For example, you might set a 1 month or 3 month reminder to consider undoing some of the limits you set.
This helps avoid losing touch permanently or having time go by until the relationship is too far gone to revive. Even if you decide you still need more space when the reminder pops up, you can choose to extend the break.
Exceptions for Work Contacts
If the person you want to take a break from is a coworker, manager, client or other work contact, proceed cautiously. Limiting their visibility into your profile or unfollowing them completely may be interpreted negatively in a professional context.
Focus only on practical steps like turning off notifications or hiding their posts to reduce non-essential contact. Avoid giving the impression you are deliberately distancing yourself from the work relationship without communicating why.
Conclusion
Temporarily limiting contact with someone on Facebook can give you needed space while preserving the relationship for the future. Take advantage of tools like hiding posts, adjusting privacy settings, turning off notifications and more.
But communicate with the person when possible, set a reminder to reconnect, and be thoughtful about work contacts. With some tactical adjustments, you can temporarily take a Facebook break without severing social ties completely.