Delete a contact by unfriending them
To remove someone from your Facebook friends list, find their profile and click the "Friends" button, then select "Unfriend" from the menu. The person will no longer see your posts, and you will no longer see theirs in your feed. They won't receive a notification that you unfriended them, but they can figure it out if they visit your profile and notice they're no longer listed as your friend.
If you want to stay connected but hide their posts, unfriending isn't your only option — you can mute them instead, which keeps the friendship but removes their content from your feed. However, if you want them completely removed from your friends list, unfriending is the direct way to do it.
Key Takeaways
- Unfriending someone removes them from your friends list and stops them from seeing your posts, but they won't get a notification.
- You can unfriend someone from their profile by clicking "Friends" and selecting "Unfriend" from the dropdown menu.
- Muting someone keeps them as a friend but hides their posts from your feed without removing the friendship.
- You can bulk-remove friends by visiting your friends list and unfriending multiple people in sequence, though Facebook doesn't offer a mass-delete feature.
- After unfriending someone, you can still message them, but they may not see your messages if they have strict privacy settings.
Unfriend someone from their profile
Open the person's Facebook profile by searching for their name or clicking their name anywhere on Facebook. Look for the "Friends" button near the top of their profile — it's usually next to or near their profile picture. Click that button and a small menu will appear with the option "Unfriend." Click "Unfriend" to remove them from your friends list.
After you unfriend someone, their profile will show an "Add Friend" button instead of "Friends," which means the friendship has been removed. You can still visit their profile if it's public, but you won't see their posts in your feed anymore, and they won't see yours.
Unfriend someone from your friends list
Go to your own profile and click on the "Friends" section. This shows everyone on your friends list. Hover over or click on the person's name or profile picture, and a menu will appear with options including "Unfriend." Click that option to remove them.
This method is faster if you're removing multiple people, since you can move through your friends list without navigating to each person's individual profile. The result is the same — they're removed from your friends list and won't see your posts.
Hide someone's posts without unfriending them
If you want to stay friends with someone but don't want to see their posts, muting is a better choice than unfriending. Find one of their posts in your feed, click the three dots in the corner of the post, and select "Mute [Person's Name]." This hides their future posts from your feed without removing them as a friend.
Muting is temporary and reversible. You can unmute someone anytime by visiting their profile, clicking the three dots, and selecting "Unmute." The person never knows they've been muted, and the friendship remains intact. This is useful when you want to reduce clutter in your feed without the awkwardness of unfriending.
Remove multiple contacts at once
Facebook doesn't have a built-in feature to unfriend many people at the same time. If you need to remove several contacts, you'll need to unfriend them one by one. Go to your friends list, find each person, and click the "Unfriend" option for each one. It takes longer than a bulk delete would, but it's the only way to do it through Facebook's standard tools.
Some third-party apps claim to offer mass-unfriend features, but Facebook's terms of service restrict what these tools can do, and using them may put your account at risk. The safest approach is to unfriend people individually through Facebook itself, even if it takes more time.
What happens after you unfriend someone
Once you unfriend someone, they can no longer see posts you mark as visible to friends only. However, if you've posted something publicly or to a specific group they're in, they can still see it. They also can't see your friends list, your photos in albums marked for friends, or other content you've restricted to friends.
You can still send them a message after unfriending, but depending on their privacy settings, they might not see it — it could go to their message requests folder instead of their main inbox. If you want to stay in touch, it's often better to mute them than to unfriend them completely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know if I unfriend them?
Facebook doesn't send a notification when you unfriend someone, so they won't get an alert. However, they may notice on their own if they visit your profile and see that you're no longer listed as a friend, or if they realize your posts have stopped appearing in their feed.
Can I unfriend someone and then add them back later?
Yes. After you unfriend someone, their profile will show an "Add Friend" button instead of "Friends." You can click that button anytime to send them a new friend request. They'll have to accept it before you're friends again.
What's the difference between unfriending and blocking?
Unfriending removes someone from your friends list but they can still see your public posts and visit your profile if it's public. Blocking prevents them from seeing your profile, posts, or contacting you at all. Blocking is more restrictive than unfriending.
Can I undo an unfriend by accident?
There's no undo button for unfriending. If you unfriend someone by mistake, you'll need to send them a new friend request and wait for them to accept it. Facebook doesn't restore the friendship automatically.
If I unfriend someone, will they see old comments I left on their posts?
Yes. Unfriending doesn't delete your past comments or interactions. Any comments you left on their posts before unfriending will still be visible to anyone who can see that post. If you want to remove a specific comment, you can delete it individually.