Facebook’s News Feed is designed to show you the posts that matter most to you. But sometimes, you may feel like you’re missing posts from your friends. There are a few key reasons why you may not be seeing all the posts from people you’re connected with on Facebook.
Your News Feed Preferences
The first thing to check is your News Feed Preferences. Facebook allows you to customize what you see in your News Feed based on whose posts you want to see more or less frequently.
To adjust your News Feed Preferences on desktop:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings”
- Click on “News Feed Preferences” on the left side
- You’ll see a list of your friends. Drag the slider left to see their posts less often, or right to see them more often.
On mobile:
- Tap the three line “hamburger” menu icon in the top right
- Tap on “Settings & Privacy” and select “News Feed Preferences”
- You’ll see the list of friends. Tap on each friend to choose whether you want to see their posts first, frequently, less, or never.
Go through this list and make sure you have set your preferences to see posts from all your important friends frequently or first. If you’ve reduced the frequency for some friends, you may be missing their posts.
How Facebook Curates Your News Feed
Beyond your preferences, Facebook also curates what you see based on the posts you tend to engage with most. Their goal is to show you the content that they think will be most relevant to you.
Some of the factors that go into what appears in your News Feed include:
- How often you interact with a friend’s posts – Liking, commenting, clicking links, etc.
- How often you interact with a Page or Group’s posts
- How recent the post is – Newer posts are generally prioritized
- The type of post – Photos, videos and statuses may be favored over links
So if you tend to engage more with certain friends or Pages, their posts will be shown to you more prominently than others. Even within your News Feed Preferences, Facebook’s algorithm is choosing which of those friends’ posts to display.
Filtered Words
You may also be missing posts because they contain words or phrases you’ve filtered out of your News Feed. Facebook allows you to create a list of words that if used in a post, will automatically hide that post from your News Feed.
To check your filtered words:
- Go to your News Feed Preferences
- Scroll down to “Filtered Words”
- View and edit the list of words and phrases you want to hide from your News Feed
Look closely at your filtered words and remove any common words that may be unintentionally blocking normal posts from your friends.
Default Post Visibility
Facebook allows your friends to control the privacy of their posts. They can choose to share posts publicly with everyone, just their friends, a custom list, or only themselves.
By default, posts are shared with “Friends” unless your friend changes the visibility. So posts that are only visible to some friends or just to that person will not show up in your News Feed.
If you’re noticing you’re missing posts from a particular friend, it may be because they have their default post visibility set to something other than public. You would need to ask them to change the visibility or add you specifically to see those posts.
Unfollowing a Friend
You may have accidentally unfollowed someone, or they may have unfollowed you. If you aren’t following someone, their public posts will not show up in your News Feed (unless a mutual friend likes or comments on it).
To check if you are still following someone:
- Go to their profile page
- Their followers count will be listed – click on it
- A list of followers will appear. If your name is not on the list, you are not currently following them.
If you notice you’ve unfollowed certain friends, go back and re-follow them to see their posts again.
Facebook Algorithm Changes
Facebook frequently tweaks their News Feed algorithm, which changes what types of posts you might see more or less of. When the algorithm changes, you may notice a difference in which posts appear in your feed or how often you see certain friends or Pages.
For example, in 2018 Facebook updated their algorithm to prioritize posts from friends and family over public content from brands, businesses and media. For many users this decreased the visibility of posts from Pages they followed in favor of personal updates.
There’s not much you can do when Facebook changes their algorithm, other than adjusting your News Feed Preferences to ensure you see important friends frequently. Over time the algorithm may normalize again.
Your Friend Posted at a Busy Time
The time when your friend posts can also impact visibility. If they posted at a busy time when many other friends were also posting, their specific post may get lost in the shuffle. Even if you have their notifications turned on, it may have gotten pushed down quickly by other newer posts.
Encourage your friend to re-share the post if it’s something they really want people to see. The best times to post on Facebook when fewer people are active are early mornings and late evenings.
You Have Too Many Facebook Friends
| Number of Friends | Percentage of Feed Shown |
|---|---|
| 150 | 100% |
| 500 | 77% |
| 1,000 | 62% |
| 5,000 | 25% |
Research has shown that the more friends you have on Facebook, the less of their posts you actually see. With over 5,000 friends, it’s estimated you may see only 25% of posts in your News Feed.
Go through your friends list and unfriend acquaintances and inactive connections. Keep your friend list focused on the people you want to keep up with most. You’ll likely see more of the posts that matter to you.
They Have Restricted You Temporarily
In rare cases, a friend may have temporarily restricted you from seeing their posts. This prevents their posts from appearing in your News Feed without unfriending you.
If you notice you’ve suddenly stopped seeing new posts from a specific friend, they may have restricted you. You would need to ask them directly if they have done this and why.
You Missed the Post
With the volume of content that can appear in your News Feed, it’s entirely possible you simply missed a post from a friend, especially if it was only up for a short time.
If there’s a specific post you’re trying to find, your friend would need to reshare it or you can ask them to send it to you directly.
Be sure to regularly scroll back through your News Feed and not just look at the most recent posts. Content can get buried quickly so check further back if you haven’t seen a post from someone in awhile.
You Have Each Other’s Posts Hidden
On Facebook, you can choose to hide a specific person’s posts without unfollowing or unfriending them. When you hide someone, their posts no longer show up in your News Feed.
Similarly, if someone has hidden your posts, you won’t see their posts in your own News Feed either.
If you suspect a friend has you hidden, you would need to ask them directly or create a test post and see if they like, comment or respond to it.
One of You Deactivated Facebook
If a friend deactivated their Facebook account, either temporarily or permanently, you naturally won’t see any new posts from them.
You can try searching for their profile to see if it still comes up. If not, they have likely deactivated. You will need to contact them elsewhere to stay in touch.
They Aren’t Posting
Before assuming there’s an issue, consider whether your friend is still actively posting at all. Not everyone uses Facebook regularly. Some friends may have stopped posting altogether, while others only post occasionally.
Check their profile to see when they last shared anything. If it’s been awhile, they may not be actively using Facebook right now. You’ll need to connect with them in other ways rather than relying on seeing their Facebook posts.
You Have Each Other Blocked
If someone blocks you on Facebook, it severs the connection more permanently. You will no longer see each other’s posts, profiles, or any interactions.
You can check if a friend has blocked you by trying to search for their profile or visit their timeline. If you get an error message saying the content isn’t available, they have likely blocked you.
To regain access to their posts and interactions, you would need to resolve the issue offline and have them unblock you again.
Conclusion
There are many potential reasons you may not be seeing posts from your friends on Facebook as expected. Most often it simply has to do with how Facebook curates your unique News Feed based on the algorithm, your preferences, and your friend’s privacy settings.
However, you can troubleshoot and optimize your News Feed to ensure you are staying connected with the friends who matter most.
- Adjust your News Feed Preferences to see important friends first
- Review filtered and hidden words that may be blocking posts
- Prune your friend list to those you interact with regularly
- Check that you are still following and not hidden from key friends
- Ask friends directly if they have restricted your view
- Encourage friends to re-share important posts if you missed them
With some effort, you can ensure your Facebook News Feed shows all the posts you care about so you don’t miss important life updates from friends.