If you are no longer receiving birthday notifications on Facebook, there are a few potential reasons why this may be happening:
You have your birthday hidden on your Facebook profile
The most common reason for not getting Facebook birthday notifications is because you have your birthday hidden on your Facebook profile. When you hide your birthday on Facebook, it prevents the platform from sending out automatic birthday notifications to your friends.
To check if you have your birthday hidden:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- Click on the About section
- Look for the Birthday field – if it says “Only Me” then your birthday is hidden
To unhide your birthday:
- Click on the Birthday field and change the audience to Public, Friends, or a Custom setting
- Save your changes
Once you have made your birthday visible again, your friends will start receiving notifications about your birthday moving forward.
Your friends have you muted or unfollowed you
Another reason you may not be getting birthday wishes is because your friends on Facebook have muted you or unfollowed you. Here are some reasons why your friends may have muted or unfollowed you:
- You post too frequently
- Your posts are not relevant to them
- They want to avoid politics/debates
- There was a disagreement between you
- They want to avoid spoilers from shows/games
When someone mutes you on Facebook, they remain friends with you but they will no longer see your posts in their News Feed. This also means they will not be notified about your birthday.
If someone unfollows you, they will not see any of your posts at all, including birthday notifications. They have essentially removed you from their News Feed without unfriending you.
To see if your friends have muted or unfollowed you, check who is reacting and commenting on your posts. If close friends seem to be missing, they have likely muted or unfollowed you.
Your notifications settings need adjusting
It’s also possible your personal notification settings on Facebook are preventing you from seeing birthday notifications. Here are some notification settings that could impact this:
- Turned off push notifications from Facebook app
- Muted chat/email notifications from friends
- Adjusted News Feed preferences to not show notifications high up
- Turned off birthday reminders in Events & Reminders settings
To check your notification settings:
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Click Settings
- Go to Notifications to review app alerts settings
- Go to News Feed Preferences to review priorities
- Go to Events & Reminders to check birthday reminders
Make sure you have notifications enabled for the Facebook app, have not muted close friends, and have birthday reminders turned on. This will ensure you see birthday notifications.
You have limited profile visibility
Facebook also shows limited birthday notifications if you have tight restrictions on who can see your profile and posts. For example:
- Your profile is completely private
- You’ve blocked a lot of people
- Your posts have very limited audience settings
In cases like these, Facebook limits notifications about you to protect your privacy. Only people who can already see your profile will get your birthday notification.
If you want more people to be notified it’s best to open up your privacy settings. Change your profile to public, unblock people, and expand your post audience settings.
The friend limit on Birthday notifications
Facebook also has a friend limit on who receives birthday notifications. If you have over 5000 Facebook friends, notifications only go out to your closest friends.
Facebook selects your closest friends based on:
- How frequently you interact with them
- How recently you’ve interacted with them
- Whether you have them in your News Feed
So if you have a very large friends list, birthday notifications are limited to those closest to you. The rest of your friends will not receive the notification but can still wish you on your Timeline.
You’ve passed the age limit for notifications
Believe it or not, Facebook also stops sending birthday notifications once you pass a certain age. The general age limit is:
- 65+ years old for birthday notifications
- 120+ years old for birthday wishes on your Timeline
So if you are over 65, your friends will no longer automatically be notified about your birthday. But they can still manually wish you on your Timeline if they remember!
Your birthday date is set incorrectly
If you have entered your birthday incorrectly on Facebook, naturally you will not get any notifications on that day!
To check that you have the right birthday showing on your profile:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- Click on About
- Check the date shown in the Birthday field
- Edit it if incorrect
Make sure to correct your birthday date so notifications get sent on the right day moving forward.
Conclusion
In summary, the most common reasons for not getting Facebook birthday notifications are:
- Your birthday is hidden
- Your friends have muted you
- Your notification settings need adjusting
- You have limited profile visibility
- You’ve passed the age limit for notifications
- Your birthday date is incorrect
Go through each of these possible issues systematically to troubleshoot what is going on. In most cases, you should be able to fix the problem quickly and easily get your birthday notifications back up and running!
Let your friends know they should keep an eye out for your birthday this year and send you lots of lovely messages and wishes on your special day!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my Facebook birthday notifications suddenly stop?
There are a few common reasons why your Facebook birthday notifications may have suddenly stopped:
- You recently hid your birthday from your profile
- You changed your notification settings on Facebook
- Your account was temporarily deactivated
- Some of your close friends muted you or unfollowed you
- You passed the age limit threshold for notifications
How do I re-enable Facebook birthday notifications?
To re-enable Facebook birthday notifications:
- Make sure your birthday is visible on your profile
- Check your notification settings and turn on notifications
- Adjust News Feed preferences to see notifications
- Turn birthday reminders back on
Why am I not getting notifications for a specific friend’s birthday?
If you are not getting notifications for one particular friend’s birthday, here are some possible reasons:
- They have hidden their birthday
- You muted notifications from them
- They restricted who can see their profile/posts
- They have too many friends so notifications are limited
Check with that friend if they have their birthday hidden or have notification restrictions in place.
What is the age limit for Facebook birthday notifications?
The general age limits for Facebook birthday notifications are:
- Notifications stop after you turn 65
- Friends stop being prompted to wish you after 120
So the platform limits birthday notifications for older users but friends can still manually wish you.
Can I stop getting birthday notifications from certain people?
Yes, you can mute birthday notifications from specific people by:
- Going to their profile
- Clicking Following below their name
- Changing Notifications from “All” to “Highlights”
This will mute all notifications from them including birthday reminders.
Key Takeaways
- Check if you’ve hidden your own birthday on Facebook or have notification restrictions
- See if your friends have muted or unfollowed you causing lack of notifications
- Review notification settings for the app, email, News Feed preferences
- Make sure you did not pass the age limit for birthday notifications
- Correct your birthday date if set inaccurately on your profile
- Open up privacy settings and post audience if you have limited visibility
Following up on each of these common issues will help you troubleshoot and fix missing Facebook birthday notifications!
Table Summary
| Reason | Fix |
|---|---|
| Birthday hidden on profile | Make birthday public |
| Friends muted you | Engage with friends often |
| Notification settings adjusted | Enable notifications |
| Limited profile visibility | Open up privacy settings |
| Passed age limit for notifications | No action needed |
| Incorrect birthday date | Update with correct date |
This table summarizes the common reasons for missing Facebook birthday notifications and how to address each issue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a number of simple troubleshooting tips to keep in mind if you are no longer receiving birthday notifications from Facebook friends:
- Check your profile visibility and notification settings
- See if you have been muted or unfollowed by friends
- Make sure you have notifications enabled
- Consider your privacy restrictions and audience reach
- Verify your birthday date is correct
- Understand the age limits for notifications
Staying on top of these common issues can help restore your Facebook birthday notifications. Take the time to review each factor and make adjustments as needed. With the right settings, you’ll be back to getting birthday love from friends in no time!