Unfriending or Blocking Someone
Unfriend
To unfriend someone:
- Go to that person's profile by typing their name into the search bar at the top.
- Hover over Friends
at the top of their profile.
- Select Unfriend.
Note: If you can't find the person you want to unfriend, their account may be deactivated.
To unfriend someone who has deactivated their Facebook account:
- Go to your profile by clicking your name in the top left of your News Feed.
- Click Friends.
- Search for the person’s name.
- Click Unfriend.
The person you unfriended won't be notified.
If you don't want someone to see your profile, add you as a friend or send you a message, you can block them.
Note: If you unfriend someone, you'll also be removed from that person's friends list. If you want to be friends with this person again, you'll need to add them as a friend again.
Block
When you block someone they will no longer be able to do things such as tag you or see things you post on your timeline.
What exactly happens when I block someone?
When you block someone, they won't be able to:
- See things you post on your profile
- Tag you in posts, comments or photos
- Invite you to events or groups
- Start a conversation with you
- Add you as a friend
If you block someone you're friends with, we'll unfriend you as well. If you don't want to unfriend someone but see less of their posts on Facebook, you can take a break from them
When you block someone, you also won't be able to do things like start a conversation with them or add them as a friend. Keep in mind that blocking someone may not prevent all communications or interactions (example: in apps or groups) and only affects your interactions with that person on Facebook.
To block someone in your blocking settings:
- Click
at the top right of Facebook and choose Settings.
- Go to the left side of Facebook and click Blocking
- Click Blocking in the left side menu.
- Enter the name of the person you want to block and click Block.
- Select the specific person you want to block from the list that appears and click Block > Block [name].
People will not be notified when you block them.
If you can't find someone using this method, try going to the person's profile and selecting Block from the 
menu on their cover photo.
menu on their cover photo.Note: When you unblock someone, you won't automatically be friends again. If you block a friend and then unblock them, you'll need to send them a new friend request.
Yes. Blocking allows you to prevent many interactions with someone on Facebook, but you may still encounter content they’ve shared.
Here’s what you might see:
- Messages: Your message history with someone you’ve blocked will stay in your inbox. If the blocked person is ever included in a conversation with a group of friends, you may be able to see the messages. Remember, you can leave a conversation that you don’t want to be part of, or delete a conversation that you don’t like.
- Mutual friend stories: There’s a chance that you'll see stories about the blocked person through mutual friends. For example, if the blocked person tags a mutual friend in a photo, you might see this story on your friend’s timeline.
- Photos: You might see photos or tags of the blocked person added by other people.
- Groups: Someone you’ve blocked won’t be able to add you to a group, but you’ll be able to see groups that the blocked person created or is a member of.
- Events: Someone you’ve blocked won’t be able to invite you to an event, but you’ll be able to see events to which both you and the blocked person are invited.
- Games and apps: Since games and apps are run by outside developers, the Facebook block won't apply to them. So you could see someone you blocked while you're playing a game (ex: in the game's chat room).
If you don’t want a specific person to follow you, you’ll need to block them in the same way as you'd block their entire Facebook account.
Keep in mind that when you post something, you can choose who you share it with.
This is about using messages on Facebook on a computer. For help with the Messenger app, visit the Messenger Help Center.
To block messages from someone on Facebook:
- Click
at the top right of the page
- Open the conversation with the person you'd like to block
- Click
in the top right of the chat box
- Click Block > Block Messages
Learn more about what happens when you block messages from someone and how to unblock messages from someone.
Note: Blocking messages from someone is different from blocking them on Facebook. If you block messages from someone, but you don't block them on Facebook, you'll still be able to see their Facebook profile. Depending on their privacy settings, you may also be able to see things like their status updates, comments, likes and tags on Facebook. Learn more about blocking people on Facebook.
When you unblock someone, that person will be able to see your posts on Facebook that you share with the public. The person won't automatically become your friend on Facebook. If you want to become friends with a person who you've unblocked, you'll need to send them a friend request.
- Click
- In the left column of your Settings, click Blocking.
- In the Block Users section you should see a list of people you've blocked. Click Unblock next to the name of anyone you want to unblock.
- Click Unblock next to the name of the person you want to unblock.
- Click Confirm to finish unblocking the person.
Note: If you unblock someone, you won't be able to block them again for a few days.
Take a Break
You can take a break from someone on Facebook when you change your relationship status to single, divorced or leave it blank. You can also take a break from anyone you want to see less.
When you take a break from someone you'll be able to:
- See less of someone: Limit where you see someone on Facebook. If you choose to see them less, their posts and posts they're tagged in won't appear in your News Feed and you won't be prompted to message them or tag them in photos. To see their posts again, you can follow them.
- Limit someone's ability to see your posts and posts you're tagged in: Hide your posts from the person you want to take a break from. They'll be added to your Restricted List and will only see posts you tag them in or share publicly.
- Edit who can see past posts: Limit who can see posts (example: photos, status updates, videos, etc.) you're tagged in, or that you've tagged a person in by changing your privacy settings. The posts can only be seen by the people that are tagged in them. These posts won't appear on your timeline anymore, but will still appear on other peoples timelines and search results unless the person who originally posted them removes them. You'll also be removed as a contributor from any shared albums you have with the person you want to take a break from.
If you're looking for other ways to take a break from someone, you can:
You can edit who can see past posts from when you take a break from someone. You can choose to:
Keep all posts as they are: Nothing will be changed, you'll still see the person you want to see less of in your past posts.
Edit individual posts: Edit your posts one by one from your friendship page. You'll be able to untag yourself in other people's posts and change the privacy settings for your posts.
Edit all my posts and posts that I'm tagged in. Choosing this option will automatically:
- Change the privacy settings of your posts that the person you want to take a break from is tagged in.
- Untag you in posts the person you want to take a break from has tagged you in.
- Untag you in all posts other people have posted that both you and the person you want to take a break from are tagged in.
Keep in mind that if you edit all posts and posts you're tagged in you may not be able to see those posts again.
If your romantic relationship has ended, there are some things you can do on Facebook to help:
- Change how much you see from your former partner
- Change your profile picture
- Archive your message thread
- Turn off the scrapbook sharing for your former partner
- Change your password
- Turn on tag approvals for posts and photos that you're tagged in
- Block or unfriend your former partner
- Block or unfollow your former partner on Instagram
Taking care of yourself emotionally is an important part of recovering from a breakup. We worked with relationship experts and clinical psychologists and they came up with a few tips:
- Reach out to people you trust for support.
- Take care of yourself, recognize what you need and get plenty of rest.
- Stay active, both physically and mentally.
- Try something you've always wanted to do or tag along with a friend.
For more advice visit the American Psychological Association, or the Help Guide Organization.
If you feel you're in immediate danger, contact your local authorities. If someone is harassing you on Facebook, report them.
Learn more about staying safe on Facebook.
If you change your relationship status to Single, Divorced or remove it entirely, nothing is shown on your timeline or in News Feed.
Changing your relationship status to In a Relationship, anyone who can see your relationship status will be able to see it on your timeline and in News Feed. You can change your privacy settings to control who can see it.
If someone’s bothering you on Facebook, the best way to stop them is to block them. Learn more about blocking. Other ways to limit someone's ability to contact you include:
- Unfriending them: Only your friends can post on your timeline. You can also change your settings to prevent anyone from posting on your timeline.
- Blocking their messages: When you block messages from someone, they'll no longer be able to contact you (ex: send you messages, call you) in Messenger or in Facebook chat.
