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How to Stop Random Friend Requests on Facebook

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Contents
  1. The honest bit: there’s no “off” switch
  2. How to limit who can send you friend requests
  3. On iPhone
  4. On Android
  5. On a computer
  6. What actually changes after you switch
  7. Two extra settings that cut the flow further
  8. Dealing with the requests already waiting
  9. If it’s the same person, over and over
  10. FAQ
  11. Can I stop friend requests completely on Facebook?
  12. Will people know I changed my friend request setting?
  13. Does “Friends of friends” stop fake accounts?
  14. Can people still message me if they can’t send a friend request?
  15. Does deleting a friend request notify the sender?
  16. I sent a request by mistake — can I take it back?
  17. Related guides
  18. Share this:

Quick answer: Facebook has no switch that turns friend requests off completely — there are only two options, Everyone and Friends of friends. Setting it to Friends of friends hides the Add Friend button from anyone who has no mutual friends with you, which kills almost all of the random requests. You’ll find it in Settings & privacy → Settings → Audience and visibility → How people find and contact you.

Okay so here’s the thing — if you came here hoping for a “block all friend requests” toggle, I have to be straight with you: it doesn’t exist. Plenty of pages promise one. Facebook has never shipped it. What it does give you is one really effective narrowing setting, plus a few side controls that quietly cut the flow even further. That combo is what actually stops the 3am requests from accounts with two photos and no posts. 🙈

The honest bit: there’s no “off” switch

Meta’s own help page on this lists exactly two choices for who can send you a friend request: Everyone or Friends of friends. That’s the whole menu. No “no one,” no “pause requests,” no allowlist.

So the real goal isn’t zero requests — it’s zero requests from strangers. And Friends of friends gets you most of the way there, because Facebook stops showing the Add Friend button on your profile to people who aren’t friends with any of your friends. No button, no request.

Worth knowing: this is a privacy setting, not a block. Nobody is told you changed it, and nobody sees a “this person restricted requests” message. Your profile just quietly stops offering strangers the button.

How to limit who can send you friend requests

Same setting on every device, just a slightly different route. Takes about 20 seconds, promise.

On iPhone

  1. Tap Menu (top left of Facebook).
  2. Scroll down, tap Settings and privacy, then tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to Audience and visibility and tap How people find and contact you.
  4. Tap Who can send me friend requests?
  5. Tap Friends of friends.

On Android

  1. Tap Menu (top left of Facebook).
  2. Scroll down, tap Settings & privacy, then tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to Audience and visibility and tap How people find and contact you.
  4. Tap Who can send you friend requests?
  5. Tap Friends of friends.

On a computer

  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Click Settings and privacy, then Settings.
  3. In the left menu, scroll down to Audience and visibility, then click How people find and contact you.
  4. Click Who can send you friend requests?
  5. From the drop-down, click Friends of friends.

Tiny thing you might notice: iPhone says “send me friend requests,” Android and desktop say “send you.” Same setting, Facebook just never made the wording match. You’re in the right place either way.

What actually changes after you switch

  • Strangers lose the button. Anyone with zero mutual friends won’t see Add Friend on your profile at all.
  • Friends of friends still get through. One shared friend is enough. This is the setting’s real limit — and it’s why spam accounts that mass-add your friends first can still reach you.
  • Nothing already sent disappears. Requests sitting in your inbox stay there until you deal with them.
  • Following is a different setting. Locking down requests doesn’t stop someone seeing your public posts — that’s controlled separately by who can follow you and by the audience on each post.

That last one catches people out. If your worry is “I don’t want this person seeing my stuff,” the request setting isn’t the fix — posting to Friends instead of Public is.

Two extra settings that cut the flow further

In that same How people find and contact you menu, two more controls decide how findable you are in the first place:

  • Who can look you up using your email address / phone number — set these to Friends if you’d rather not be matched from a contact list you never opted into.
  • Whether Facebook can suggest your profile based on an email address or phone number someone uploaded — Meta documents this one separately, and turning it down means you surface in fewer “people you may know” panels.

Fewer suggestions means fewer people ever landing on your profile with a button to press. It’s the slow-burn version of the same fix.

How to Stop Random Friend Requests on Facebook

Dealing with the requests already waiting

You have three moves, and only one of them is loud:

  • Delete / ignore — quiet. The sender isn’t notified, and from their side the request just sits there looking pending. No awkwardness, no notification.
  • Block — permanent-ish and effective. Blocking removes the request, hides you from them, and stops them contacting you. Heads-up though: if you were ever friends, blocking also unfriends you, and undoing it isn’t a clean reversal — see how to unblock someone on Facebook before you tap it.
  • Report — for requests that are actually abusive, or accounts obviously pretending to be someone. Use the Report option on their profile rather than just deleting; that’s the bit that helps other people too.

One myth to bin: declining a request does not hide your public posts from that person. Anything you’ve posted publicly stays visible to anyone, request or no request. If that’s the real concern, change your post audience — not your request setting.

If it’s the same person, over and over

A setting change won’t help when someone keeps making new accounts. That’s a blocking job, and it’s worth doing properly: block each account as it appears, and check your blocked list on Facebook now and then so you can see who’s already on it.

And if you’re not certain whether you’re dealing with a block, a restriction, or someone who’s just gone quiet, our blocked or restricted checker walks you through the difference in about a minute.

FAQ

Can I stop friend requests completely on Facebook?

No. Facebook only offers Everyone or Friends of friends — there’s no option for “no one.” Friends of friends is as locked-down as the setting goes.

Will people know I changed my friend request setting?

No. There’s no notification and no message on your profile. People with no mutual friends simply won’t see an Add Friend button.

Does “Friends of friends” stop fake accounts?

It stops most of them, but not all. Spam accounts often add a handful of your friends first, which makes them a friend of a friend — and the button comes back. Blocking and reporting is the answer for those.

Can people still message me if they can’t send a friend request?

Yes — messaging is controlled separately in Messenger, not by this setting. Requests from non-friends land in your message requests folder rather than your inbox. If you’re trying to work out whether someone’s been cut off from messaging you, restricted vs blocked on Messenger explains which is which.

Does deleting a friend request notify the sender?

No. They’re not told, and the request appears to still be pending on their side. It’s the quietest option available.

I sent a request by mistake — can I take it back?

Yep, and they won’t be notified. Here’s how to cancel a sent friend request on Facebook.

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