You can cancel a friend request on Facebook in seconds, and the other person won't be notified
When you send a friend request on Facebook, you can take it back at any time before the other person accepts or declines it. The cancellation is silent — Facebook doesn't send them a notification that you withdrew the request. Once you cancel, your request disappears from their pending list as if it was never sent.
The process differs slightly depending on whether you're using Facebook on a computer, phone, or the mobile app, but all three routes take less than a minute. You can cancel from the person's profile directly, from your sent requests list, or from a search result.
Key Takeaways
- You can cancel a pending friend request from your own profile, the other person's profile, or your friend requests list.
- The person who received your request will not see a notification that you cancelled it.
- Once you cancel, you can send a new request to the same person after a few days if you change your mind.
- If someone has already accepted your request, you cannot undo that — you can only unfriend them afterward.
Cancel from someone's profile on desktop
Go to the person's Facebook profile. Near the top of their profile, you'll see a button that says "Cancel Request" or "Friend Request Pending" — the exact wording varies depending on your Facebook version. Click that button.
Facebook will ask you to confirm. Click "Cancel Request" again in the popup that appears. The request is now withdrawn, and the button will return to "Add Friend" if you want to send a new request later.
Cancel from the mobile app or Facebook.com on your phone
Open the Facebook app or go to Facebook.com on your phone's browser. Navigate to the person's profile by searching for their name or finding them through a mutual friend's profile.
Tap the button that shows "Cancel Request" or "Friend Request Pending." A menu will appear asking you to confirm. Tap "Cancel Request" again. The request is withdrawn immediately, and the button changes back to "Add Friend."
Cancel from your friend requests list
On desktop, click the friend icon (two people) at the top of Facebook, then select "Friend Requests." You'll see two tabs: "Requests" (requests you received) and "Sent" (requests you sent). Click the "Sent" tab to see all the pending requests you've sent to others.
Find the person whose request you want to cancel. Hover over or click the button next to their name that says "Cancel Request," then confirm. On mobile, tap the friend icon, go to "Friend Requests," tap "Sent," find the person, and tap "Cancel Request." This method is useful if you want to review all your pending requests at once before deciding which ones to withdraw.
What happens after you cancel
The person will not receive a notification that you cancelled your request. Their pending friend requests list will simply no longer show your name. If they check their pending requests, they won't see that you ever sent one — it will be as though the request never arrived.
You can send a new friend request to the same person after a few days. Facebook sometimes enforces a short waiting period before you can resend a request to someone who declined or to whom you cancelled a request, but this period is usually only a few days. If you try to send a new request immediately and see a message saying you can't, wait 24 to 48 hours and try again.
If they already accepted your request
Once someone accepts your friend request, you cannot cancel it. At that point, you are already friends. If you want to remove the connection, you'll need to unfriend them instead. To unfriend someone, go to their profile, click the "Friends" button, and select "Unfriend" from the menu.
Unlike cancelling a request, unfriending does send a notification in some cases, though Facebook's notification system for unfriending is not always clear to the other person. They may notice you're no longer on their friends list if they check, but they won't necessarily receive an alert that you unfriended them.
Why you might want to cancel a request
You might cancel a request because you sent it by accident, changed your mind about connecting with that person, or realized you already have them as a friend. Some people cancel requests if they sent them while upset or if they're trying to keep their friend list private. There's no penalty for cancelling requests — Facebook doesn't track how many you cancel, and it won't affect your ability to send requests in the future.
Cancelling is also useful if you're cleaning up your sent requests before someone you know sees them. Since your pending requests are visible to mutual friends in some cases, removing requests you no longer want to send keeps your friend activity more private.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I cancelled my friend request?
No. Facebook does not send a notification when you cancel a request. The person will simply see that your request is no longer in their pending list. They have no way of knowing you sent it unless they checked their pending requests while it was still there.
Can I cancel a request if the person has already declined it?
No, because there's nothing left to cancel. Once someone declines your request, it's already gone from both your lists. You can send a new request after a few days if you want to try again.
How long does it take for a cancelled request to disappear from their list?
It's instant. As soon as you click "Cancel Request" and confirm, the request vanishes from their pending list. They won't see it anymore if they check right away.
What if I want to cancel multiple friend requests at once?
You'll need to cancel them one at a time. Go to your "Sent" requests list, find each person, and click "Cancel Request" for each one. Facebook doesn't have a bulk cancel feature.
Can I cancel a request I sent a long time ago?
Yes, as long as the person hasn't accepted or declined it yet. Requests can sit in someone's pending list indefinitely, and you can cancel yours at any point. If they've already responded, there's nothing to cancel.