How to remove someone from your Facebook friends
To delete someone from Facebook, find their profile, click the Friends button, and select "Remove Friend" from the menu that appears. The person will not receive a notification that you removed them, though they may notice later if they check your profile or look at their friends list. Facebook does not send a message about the removal.
The steps are the same whether you are using Facebook on a computer or the mobile app. The person you remove stays able to see your public posts unless you have already blocked them or changed your privacy settings. Removing someone is different from blocking — a removed friend can still send you a message request, while a blocked person cannot contact you at all.
Key Takeaways
- Removing a friend takes three clicks: find their profile, click Friends, then select Remove Friend.
- The person you remove will not get a notification, but they can discover the removal by checking your profile later.
- Removing someone is not the same as blocking them — removed friends can still message you through requests.
- Your public posts remain visible to removed friends unless you have blocked them or changed your privacy settings.
- You can remove someone from your friends list at any time, and the action cannot be undone by them.
Steps to remove a friend on desktop
Open Facebook in your web browser and search for the person's name using the search bar at the top of the page. Click on their profile when it appears in the results. Once you are on their profile, look for the "Friends" button — it will be near the top of the page, usually to the right of their cover photo.
Click the Friends button and a small menu will drop down. Select "Remove Friend" from the options shown. The button will change back to "Add Friend" once the removal is complete, confirming that the person is no longer on your friends list. You can reverse this action at any time by sending them a new friend request.
Steps to remove a friend on mobile
Open the Facebook app on your phone and tap the search icon at the bottom of the screen. Type the person's name and tap their profile from the results. Scroll down to find the "Friends" button, which will appear near the top section of their profile.
Tap the Friends button and a menu will appear with the option "Remove Friend." Tap it to confirm. The button will change to "Add Friend," showing the removal was successful. On mobile, the layout may vary slightly depending on whether you use iPhone or Android, but the Friends button and Remove Friend option are in the same general location on both.
What happens after you remove someone
The person you removed will not see a notification from Facebook telling them they were removed. However, they can find out by visiting your profile and noticing you are no longer on their friends list, or by checking their own friends list and seeing that you are gone. Some people use third-party apps that track friend list changes, though these are not official Facebook tools.
After removal, the person can still see any posts you have marked as public. They cannot see posts you have set to "Friends Only" or any other restricted setting. If you want to prevent them from seeing your content entirely, you would need to block them instead of just removing them.
The difference between removing, blocking, and unfriending
Removing a friend and unfriending are the same action — both terms describe taking someone off your friends list. Facebook uses the phrase "Remove Friend" in its interface. Blocking is different: a blocked person cannot see your profile, message you, or find you in search results. Blocking is more restrictive and is the right choice if you want no contact with someone.
If you simply remove someone without blocking, they can still send you a message through your message requests folder, and you will see a notification that they sent a request. You can read the message or delete it without responding. A blocked person cannot send you messages at all.
How to remove multiple friends at once
Facebook does not have a built-in feature to remove multiple friends in one action. You must remove each person individually by visiting their profile and clicking Remove Friend. If you need to remove many people, you will have to repeat this process for each one.
Some third-party browser extensions claim to offer bulk removal, but Facebook does not endorse these tools and using them may violate Facebook's terms of service. The safest approach is to remove people one at a time through the official Facebook interface.
Removing someone you have blocked
If you have already blocked someone, they are automatically not on your friends list — blocking removes the friendship as part of the block. You do not need to remove them separately. If you later unblock the person, they will not automatically return to your friends list. You would need to send them a new friend request if you want to be connected again.
To check if someone is blocked, go to your settings, select "Blocking," and look for their name in the list of blocked people. From there you can unblock them if you choose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I removed them?
Facebook does not send a notification when you remove someone. They may figure it out by checking your profile or their friends list, but they will not receive an alert from Facebook itself.
Can I remove someone and then add them back later?
Yes. After you remove someone, the Friends button on their profile changes to "Add Friend." You can send them a new friend request at any time, and they will receive a notification of the request just as if you had never been friends.
What is the difference between removing someone and blocking them?
Removing someone takes them off your friends list, but they can still see your public posts and send you message requests. Blocking prevents them from seeing your profile, finding you in search, or contacting you at all. Blocking is more restrictive.
If I remove someone, can they still comment on my posts?
If your post is public, a removed friend can still see it and comment on it. If you want to prevent them from interacting with your posts, you need to block them or change your privacy settings to limit who can see each post.
Can I remove someone without them seeing that I removed them?
Yes. Facebook does not notify people when they are removed. However, if they check your profile or their own friends list, they may notice you are no longer there. There is no way to hide the removal from someone who actively looks.