You can cancel a friend request on Facebook in two taps, and the other person won't get a notification
When you send a friend request on Facebook, you can change your mind at any point before the person accepts it. Cancelling the request removes it from their notifications and their pending requests list. The person won't see a notification that you cancelled it — the request simply disappears from their view.
The steps differ slightly depending on whether you're using Facebook on a phone or a computer, but both take less than a minute. You have three places where you can cancel: from the person's profile, from your own Friends section, or from your pending requests list.
Key Takeaways
- You can cancel a pending friend request from the other person's profile, from your own Friends section, or from your pending requests list at any time before they accept.
- On a phone, tap the "Cancel Request" button next to the person's name; on a computer, click the same button or use the three-dot menu.
- The other person won't receive a notification that you cancelled the request — it simply vanishes from their pending list without any trace.
- If you want to send a friend request to the same person again later, you can do so immediately with no waiting period or penalty.
- Once someone accepts your request, you can no longer cancel it — you would need to unfriend them instead if you want to disconnect.
How to cancel a request from the person's profile
The quickest way is to go to the person's profile and look for the button that says "Cancel Request" or shows a checkmark with a clock icon. On a phone, this button appears near the top of their profile, usually where an "Add Friend" button would normally be. On a computer, it's in the same location — the top right area of their cover photo, next to or below their name.
Tap or click that button once, and the request is cancelled immediately. You'll see the button change back to "Add Friend," which confirms the request is gone. This method works whether you're viewing their profile on the Facebook app, Facebook's mobile website, or the desktop version.
How to cancel a request from your own Friends section
You can also manage pending requests from your own Friends section. On a phone, open the Facebook app, tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines at the bottom right), scroll down to "Friends," and tap it. Look for a section called "Friend Requests" or "Pending" — this shows all the requests you've sent that haven't been accepted yet.
Find the person's name in that list. On a phone, tap the three-dot menu next to their name and select "Cancel Request." On a computer, go to your Friends page, find the "Pending" or "Sent Requests" section, hover over the person's name, and click the "Cancel Request" button that appears. The request disappears from your list immediately.
How to cancel a request from your Friends list
If you've already added the person to a custom list or started following them, you might see them in your Friends list with a "Cancel Request" button visible. This works the same way — tap or click the button, and the request is cancelled. Some people organize their pending requests into custom lists to keep track of them, and you can cancel requests directly from those lists using the same method.
The location of the button may vary slightly depending on your phone model or which version of Facebook you're using, but it will always say "Cancel Request" or show a clock icon with a checkmark. If you can't find it, going to the person's profile directly is the most reliable method.
What happens after you cancel a request
Once you cancel a request, the person will no longer see it in their pending requests. They won't receive a notification saying you cancelled it. If you want to send them a friend request again later, you can do so immediately — there's no waiting period or penalty for cancelling and resending.
If the person had already started typing a response or was about to accept your request, they'll simply see the request disappear. They might wonder what happened, but Facebook doesn't tell them you cancelled it. From their perspective, the request was never there.
If you sent multiple requests to the same person
Facebook only allows one active friend request per person at a time. If you've cancelled a request to someone and then sent another one, you can only cancel the current request — you can't undo a cancellation from weeks or months ago. Each new request replaces the previous one in the system.
If you're trying to figure out whether a request is still pending, go to their profile. If you see "Cancel Request," your request is active. If you see "Add Friend," there's no pending request from you to them. This is the clearest way to check the status without digging through your Friends section.
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, and they won't see any message about it unless they were actively looking at their pending requests at that exact moment.
Can I cancel a request after someone has already accepted it?
No. Once someone accepts your friend request, you're connected as friends. To remove them, you'd need to unfriend them instead, which is a different action. Unfriending may show up in their activity depending on your privacy settings.
What if I accidentally cancelled a request I meant to keep?
You can send a new friend request whenever you want. There's no penalty or waiting period for resending a request after you've cancelled one. Just go to their profile and tap or click "Add Friend" again.
Does cancelling a request affect my friendship history with someone?
No. Cancelled requests don't show up in your message history or anywhere else on your profile. It's as if the request never happened, from both your perspective and theirs.
Can I cancel a request on mobile if I sent it from a computer?
Yes. Your pending requests sync across all devices, so a request you sent from a computer will show up in your pending list on your phone, and you can cancel it from either place. The cancellation takes effect immediately on all devices.