Cancel a Friend Request on Facebook

Did you accidentally just friend someone you shouldn't have? Don't panic! There still may be time to undo the damage. If you act before they respond to the request, you can retract it and act like nothing ever happened. See Step 1 below to learn how.

Steps

  1. Check your pending requests. You can see all of your pending requests by using the Activity Log. You can access the Log by going to your profile page and clicking the Activity Log button to the right of your name.
    • In the left menu of the Activity Log click "More", underneath "Photos", "Likes", and "Comments".
    • Click "Friends" in the expanded list.
    • Browse the log for "<Your name> sent <name> a friend request".
  2. Visit the person's profile. In order to cancel the request, you will need to visit their profile. Click their name in the log to open their page, or search for it in the Facebook search bar.
  3. Hover the mouse over the "Friend Request Sent" button. A menu will pop up, and at the bottom will be an option to "Cancel Friend Request." Click it to retract the friend request. You will be asked to confirm if you really want to cancel.[1]
    • If you see the "Add Friend" button instead of "Friend Request Sent", the person has deleted your friend request.



Tips

  • Next time, think carefully before friending someone who might not accept your invitation.

Warnings

  • Alternatively, if the person sees your request before you have a chance to cancel it, you should still block him or her. Depending on how Facebook-savvy the person is, you should be able to convince him or her that they only imagined the request, or that it was some odd thing that happened by accident.
  • If the person is online while you do this, they may have already seen the request. You will have to unfriend them or block them at this point.
  • Remember that while a person is blocked, they cannot interact with you through any Facebook channels. If you decide you'd rather wait until the friend requests you, you should unblock them as soon as possible.
  • If the person receives email notifications, they will see your friend request. This is why it's important to block the person as soon as possible before Facebook can send them an email.
  • There have been instances where accounts have been hacked on Facebook. If this happens and you need to remove unwanted names from your friends list, here's what you should do: Go to the "search friends" space and methodically type in each letter of the alphabet one letter at a time. As you're doing this, Facebook will supply you with the names of your friends that correspond to the appropriate letter. If you see a name that you don't recognize, simply go to that person's page and remove them from your friend feed.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/help/124960554250816
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