Cancel a pending friend request in three steps
Open Facebook and go to your profile. Click the "Friends" button near the top of your profile, then select "Friend Requests" from the dropdown menu. Find the person whose request you want to cancel, hover over their name, and click the "Cancel Request" button that appears. The request disappears immediately, and the other person will not receive a notification that you cancelled it.
If you cannot find the "Friends" button, you may be on an older version of Facebook's mobile app. In that case, tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines), scroll down to "Friends," tap "Friend Requests," and look for the pending request you sent. Tap the "X" or "Cancel" button next to their name. The interface varies slightly between Android and iPhone, but the basic steps are the same on both.
Key Takeaways
- You can cancel a friend request you sent by going to your profile, clicking Friends, selecting Friend Requests, and clicking Cancel Request next to the person's name.
- The person you sent the request to will not be notified when you cancel it.
- Once you cancel, you can send a new request to that person at any time with no waiting period.
- Cancelling a request is different from unfriending someone — unfriending removes an existing friendship, while cancelling stops a pending request.
- Facebook does not automatically expire friend requests, so a pending request will remain until you cancel it or the person responds.
Where to find pending requests you have sent
Facebook keeps your outgoing friend requests separate from incoming ones. On desktop, click your profile picture in the top right corner, then select "Friends" from the menu. Look for a section labeled "Friend Requests" or a number badge showing how many requests you have sent. Click that section to see everyone you have sent a request to who has not yet responded.
On mobile, the path is similar but the layout differs slightly. Tap the menu icon (usually three lines), scroll to "Friends," then tap "Friend Requests." You may see a tab or toggle that lets you switch between requests you received and requests you sent. Make sure you are looking at the "Sent" or "Outgoing" section, not your incoming requests. Some versions of the app show this as a separate tab at the top of the screen.
What happens after you cancel
Once you cancel a request, that person will not see it in their notifications or friend request list. They will not receive a message saying you cancelled it. From their perspective, the request simply never existed or has disappeared from their queue. If they check their friend requests at that moment, your name will no longer appear.
You can send a new request to the same person whenever you want. There is no waiting period or penalty for cancelling and resending. If you change your mind after cancelling, just go back to their profile and send a fresh request. Facebook treats each new request as a separate action, so you can repeat this process as many times as you need to.
Cancelling versus unfriending
Cancelling a friend request and unfriending are two different actions with different purposes. Cancelling stops a request that the other person has not yet accepted — it removes a pending connection. Unfriending removes someone who is already your friend — it ends an active connection. If you are already friends with someone and want to end that connection, you need to unfriend them instead, because there is no pending request to cancel.
To unfriend someone, go to their profile, click the "Friends" button, and select "Unfriend." That person will not see a notification that you unfriended them, but they will no longer appear on your friends list, and you will no longer appear on theirs. If you later want to be friends again, you will need to send a new friend request.
If you cannot find the cancel button
Sometimes the cancel button does not appear right away, especially on mobile or if Facebook is slow to load. Try refreshing the page or closing and reopening the app. If the button still does not show, make sure you are looking at requests you sent, not requests you received — the interface is different for each, and the cancel button only appears next to outgoing requests.
On very old versions of Facebook's mobile app, the cancel option may be hidden in a menu. Try long-pressing or right-clicking on the person's name to see if a menu appears with a cancel option. If you still cannot find it, updating your Facebook app to the latest version should restore the standard cancel button. You can check your app store for updates to Facebook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I cancelled my friend request?
No. Facebook does not send a notification when you cancel a request. The person will simply see that the request is no longer in their queue. They may not even notice it is gone, especially if they receive many friend requests.
Can I cancel a request if the person already accepted it?
No. Once someone accepts your friend request, you are friends with them. At that point, you can only unfriend them if you want to remove the connection. Cancelling only works on requests that are still pending and have not been accepted.
How long does a friend request stay pending before it expires?
Facebook does not automatically expire friend requests. A request you send will stay in the other person's queue until they accept it, decline it, or until you cancel it. There is no time limit, so old requests can sit indefinitely.
Can I cancel multiple friend requests at once?
Facebook does not have a bulk cancel feature. You must cancel each request individually by finding the person's name and clicking the cancel button next to it. If you have sent many requests, this takes a few minutes but is straightforward.