You can cancel a friend request you sent before the other person accepts it
If you sent someone a friend request and changed your mind, you can take it back before they respond. Facebook lets you remove the request so it disappears from their notifications and friend requests list. The person won't get a notification that you cancelled it — the request simply vanishes.
You have two ways to do this depending on where you are in Facebook: from your own profile or from the other person's profile. Both take about 10 seconds. The request stays cancellable until the person actually accepts it, at which point you would need to unfriend them instead.
Key Takeaways
- A cancelled friend request disappears without notifying the other person, so they won't know you sent one.
- You can only cancel a request before someone accepts it; once they accept, you must unfriend them to remove the connection.
- The cancel button appears in the same place where the send button was, on their profile or in your friends list.
- If you cancel a request and later want to send one again, you can do so immediately with no waiting period.
Cancel a request from someone's profile
Open Facebook and search for the person's name or go to their profile directly. Look for the button that says "Cancel Request" — this appears where the "Add Friend" button normally sits, usually in the top right area of their profile or next to their name.
Click or tap "Cancel Request". The button will change back to "Add Friend" immediately, and the request is gone. If you're on a phone, the button might be under a menu (three dots) instead of visible directly on the screen.
Cancel a request from your friends list
Go to your own profile and click the "Friends" section. Look for a tab or filter that says "Friend Requests" or "Pending" — this shows requests you've sent that haven't been accepted yet. You'll see a list of people you've requested.
Find the person you want to cancel on and click the "Cancel Request" button next to their name. The request disappears from the list. On mobile, you may need to swipe left on the name or tap a menu icon to see the cancel option.
What happens after you cancel
The person will not see any notification that you cancelled the request. From their perspective, the request simply won't appear in their notifications or pending requests. If they check their friend requests list, your name won't be there.
You can send them a new friend request immediately after cancelling the old one. There's no waiting period or limit on how many times you can send and cancel requests to the same person. However, if you send multiple requests in a short time, Facebook may temporarily limit your ability to send new requests as a spam prevention measure.
The difference between cancelling and blocking
Cancelling a request is not the same as blocking someone. When you cancel, the person can still see your profile (unless it's already private), and they can send you a friend request. Blocking prevents them from seeing your profile, messaging you, or finding you in search.
If you want to prevent someone from ever contacting you, blocking is the stronger option. If you just want to take back a request you sent by mistake, cancelling is what you need.
If the person already accepted
Once someone accepts your friend request, the "Cancel Request" button disappears and you become friends. At that point, you can't cancel — you have to unfriend them instead. To unfriend, go to their profile, click the "Friends" button, and select "Unfriend" from the menu.
Unfriending works differently from cancelling: the person may notice you're no longer on their friends list if they check, though Facebook doesn't send them a notification. If you want to remove them without them potentially noticing, you can also unfollow them instead, which keeps you as friends but hides their posts from your feed.
Troubleshooting if the button doesn't appear
If you can't find the "Cancel Request" button, the most common reason is that the person already accepted your request — you're now friends, so you need to unfriend instead. Check your friends list to confirm whether they're listed as a friend.
Another possibility is that you're looking at an old cached version of the page. Refresh your browser or close and reopen the Facebook app. If the button still doesn't appear after refreshing, try accessing the person's profile from a different device or browser to rule out a temporary glitch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I cancelled my friend request?
No. Facebook doesn't send a notification when you cancel a request. The request simply disappears from their pending list without any alert. They would only know if they happened to check their friend requests at the exact moment you sent it and then checked again after you cancelled.
Can I cancel a request if I already sent a message with it?
Yes. Cancelling the friend request doesn't affect any messages you've already sent. If you sent them a message before they accepted the request, that message stays in their inbox. Cancelling just removes the pending friend request itself.
What if I cancel and then want to send a request again?
You can send a new request immediately. There's no cooldown period between cancelling and resending. However, sending multiple requests to the same person in a short time may trigger Facebook's spam filters, which could temporarily prevent you from sending new requests to anyone.
Is cancelling the same as unfriending?
No. Cancelling removes a request that hasn't been accepted yet. Unfriending removes someone you're already connected with. Once someone accepts your request, you must unfriend them to remove the connection — the cancel option no longer exists.
Can I cancel a request on mobile the same way as on a computer?
Yes, but the button location might be different. On mobile, the cancel button might be hidden under a menu icon (three dots) next to the person's name instead of being directly visible. Tap the menu and look for "Cancel Request" in the options that appear.