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Tutorials and guides for Facebook Dating, Messenger, Instagram and other social platforms.

How to Unblock Someone on Facebook (and the 48-Hour Catch)

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Contents
  1. How to unblock someone on Facebook
  2. On iPhone or Android
  3. On a computer
  4. Three things unblocking does not do
  5. The 48-hour rule (and the myth attached to it)
  6. Can’t find them in your blocked list?
  7. Unblocking on Messenger is a separate switch
  8. Unblocked them but the friend request won’t send
  9. FAQ
  10. Does Facebook tell someone when you unblock them?
  11. Will we be friends again after I unblock someone?
  12. How long after unblocking can I block them again?
  13. Do I have to wait 48 hours to send a friend request after unblocking?
  14. Can I see a list of everyone I’ve blocked?
  15. Does unblocking on Facebook also unblock them on Messenger?
  16. Related guides
  17. Share this:

Quick answer: Unblock someone from Settings & privacy → Settings → Audience and visibility → Blocking, then tap Unblock next to their name and confirm. Two catches worth knowing first: unblocking does not make you friends again (blocking unfriended you, so you’ll have to send a fresh friend request), and once you unblock someone you can’t block them again straight away — there’s a cooldown, widely reported as 48 hours.

So you’ve cooled off and you want to undo a block. Totally normal — people block in a bad moment all the time. Just know that “unblock” isn’t an undo button. It reopens the door; it doesn’t put the room back how it was. Here’s exactly what happens, and how to do it on every device. 💛

How to unblock someone on Facebook

On iPhone or Android

  1. Tap Menu in Facebook, then Settings & privacy, then Settings.
  2. Scroll to Audience and visibility and tap Blocking.
  3. You’ll see your blocked list. Tap Unblock next to the person’s name.
  4. Tap Unblock again to confirm.

On a computer

  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Click Settings and privacy, then Settings.
  3. Click Blocking under Audience and visibility.
  4. In Block profiles and Pages, click Edit, find the person, and click Unblock, then confirm.

That’s it — no waiting period to unblock, and nothing is announced anywhere.

Three things unblocking does not do

This is the part that surprises people, so let’s be really clear about it.

  • It doesn’t restore your friendship. Meta spells this out: blocking someone you were connected to unfriends, unlikes and unfollows them — and if you block then unblock a profile, you’ll need to send that profile a new friend request. Your old friendship, and the date you became friends, are gone.
  • It doesn’t notify them. Facebook never tells someone they were blocked, and never tells them they were unblocked. They may well have guessed — your profile vanished for them — but there’s no alert either way.
  • It doesn’t rebuild what the block removed. Depending on how long ago it happened, things tied to your connection — old tags, some comment threads, group nicknames — may not come back looking exactly as they did.

If the goal was “put everything back,” unblocking gets you maybe 70% of the way, and re-friending covers the rest.

How to Unblock Someone on Facebook (and the 48-Hour Catch)

The 48-hour rule (and the myth attached to it)

Here’s the one people get wrong.

What’s real: after you unblock a profile, Facebook won’t let you block that same profile again immediately. There’s a cooldown, and 48 hours is the figure everyone reports. It exists so the block button can’t be used as a toy — blocking and unblocking someone repeatedly is its own kind of harassment.

What’s not quite real: the very common claim that you must wait 48 hours before you can send them a friend request. Meta’s help pages don’t say that. What they say is that you’ll need to send a new friend request — no waiting period attached. So if your request isn’t going through, the cooldown probably isn’t the reason (more on the real reasons below).

So think before you unblock. If you’re only half-sure, sit on it a day. The moment you unblock, you’ve spent your ability to re-block them for the next couple of days — and that’s exactly the window where you might want it back.

Can’t find them in your blocked list?

If the blocked list looks shorter than you expected, one of these is usually why:

  • You blocked them on Messenger, not on Facebook. These are two separate lists (see below) — the Facebook blocked list won’t show a Messenger-only block.
  • They deactivated or deleted their account. Blocked profiles that no longer exist can drop off the list.
  • They changed their name. Search the list by their current name, not the one you remember.
  • You’re looking at the wrong section. Blocking has several lists — blocked profiles, blocked Pages, blocked event invites, blocked app invites. You want Block profiles and Pages.

Still stuck on whether you’re the one who’s been blocked? That’s a different question, and Facebook never confirms it outright — our blocked or restricted checker walks through the signals honestly, without pretending to be certain.

Unblocking on Messenger is a separate switch

Blocking someone’s messages and calls in Messenger is not the same as blocking their profile on Facebook. Meta treats them as two controls: block messages and you can still see their Facebook profile, and vice versa. Which means you can absolutely unblock someone on Facebook and still find you can’t message each other.

To lift the Messenger side:

  1. In Messenger, tap your profile picture to open settings.
  2. Scroll to Privacy & safety, then tap Blocked accounts.
  3. Tap their name, choose Unblock messages and calls, and confirm.

If messages still aren’t landing after that, the problem may not be a block at all — restricted vs blocked on Messenger covers the difference, and sent but not delivered covers the other likely causes.

Unblocked them but the friend request won’t send

Assuming you’ve waited a few minutes for Facebook to catch up, the usual reasons are:

  • They’ve limited who can add them. If their setting is Friends of friends and you have no mutual friends, the Add Friend button simply won’t appear on their profile. Nothing personal, nothing to fix on your end — here’s how that friend request setting works.
  • They blocked you. If they blocked you independently, their profile stays out of reach no matter what you do on your side.
  • You’ve hit a request limit. Facebook throttles accounts sending lots of requests, especially ones that get ignored.
  • They deactivated. No profile, no button.

FAQ

Does Facebook tell someone when you unblock them?

No. Facebook doesn’t notify people about blocks or unblocks. They might notice your profile reappearing, but there’s no alert.

Will we be friends again after I unblock someone?

No. Blocking unfriended you, and unblocking doesn’t reverse that — you’ll need to send a new friend request, and they’ll need to accept it.

How long after unblocking can I block them again?

Not straight away. Facebook enforces a cooldown before you can re-block the same profile, and 48 hours is the figure consistently reported. Meta doesn’t publish an exact number in its Help Centre, so treat 48 hours as the well-established estimate rather than an official promise.

Do I have to wait 48 hours to send a friend request after unblocking?

There’s no documented wait. Meta only says you’ll need to send a new request. If it isn’t working, it’s more likely their friend request setting, a block on their side, or a deactivated account.

Can I see a list of everyone I’ve blocked?

Yes — it’s the same Blocking screen you unblock from. Here’s the full walkthrough: how to see your blocked list on Facebook.

Does unblocking on Facebook also unblock them on Messenger?

Not necessarily. They’re separate controls, so check Privacy & safety → Blocked accounts in Messenger as well.

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