You can cancel a friend request on Facebook in seconds, and the other person won't get a notification
When you send a friend request on Facebook, you have the option to take it back at any time before the person accepts or declines it. Cancelling a request is straightforward: find the person's profile, look for the button that says "Cancel Request" (it replaces the "Add Friend" button once you've sent a request), and click it. The request disappears from their pending list, and they won't receive a notification that you cancelled it.
This matters for your privacy and safety because friend requests are visible to the other person until they act on them. If you change your mind about connecting with someone, or if you sent a request by mistake, cancelling it removes the record that you tried to contact them. It also prevents awkward situations if you realize you don't actually want to be connected to that person.
Key Takeaways
- You can cancel a friend request from your own profile by visiting the person's page and clicking "Cancel Request".
- The person you sent the request to will not receive a notification when you cancel it.
- Once you cancel a request, you can send a new one later if you change your mind.
- If someone has already accepted your request, you must unfriend them instead of cancelling — there is no cancel option once they accept.
How to cancel a request from someone's profile
Open Facebook and search for the person whose request you want to cancel. Click on their name to go to their profile. At the top of their profile, you'll see a button that says "Cancel Request" — this only appears if you've already sent them a friend request that they haven't responded to yet. Click that button, and the request is gone.
On mobile, the process is the same. Open the Facebook app, find the person's profile, and tap the "Cancel Request" button. The button location may shift slightly depending on your phone's screen size, but it will always be near the top of the profile where friend options appear.
What happens after you cancel a request
Once you cancel a request, the person will not see it in their pending friend requests anymore. They won't receive a notification saying you cancelled it — Facebook doesn't send notifications for cancelled requests. From their perspective, it's as if the request never arrived.
You can send a new request to the same person whenever you want. There's no waiting period or penalty for cancelling and resending. If you change your mind again, you can cancel that second request too.
The difference between cancelling and unfriending
Cancelling a request and unfriending are two different actions. You cancel a request when the other person hasn't accepted it yet. If they have already accepted your request and you're now friends, you can't cancel — instead, you must unfriend them. To unfriend someone, go to their profile, click the "Friends" button, and select "Unfriend" from the menu.
Unfriending is different from cancelling because the person may notice. Facebook doesn't notify them directly that you unfriended them, but they might realize it if they try to visit your profile or if they notice you're no longer in their friends list. Cancelling a request, by contrast, leaves no trace.
Why you might want to cancel a request
You might cancel a request if you sent it to the wrong person, or if you realize you don't actually want to connect with them. You might also cancel if you're cleaning up your pending requests and want to remove ones that have been sitting there for months without a response.
From a privacy perspective, cancelling requests you no longer want to send reduces the number of people who have seen you try to contact them. This is useful if you're being cautious about who knows you're interested in connecting with them, or if you sent a request during a time when you were less careful about your privacy settings.
If the person has already declined your request
If someone has declined your friend request, you won't see a "Cancel Request" button because there's nothing left to cancel. The request is already gone. You can send a new request whenever you want, but Facebook doesn't require you to wait any specific amount of time.
Keep in mind that if someone declines your request, they may not want to be friends with you. Sending multiple requests to the same person who has already declined can come across as pushy. If someone declines once, it's usually best to respect that choice.
Managing pending requests on your own profile
You can see all the friend requests you've sent by going to your own profile and looking at your friends list. Click "Friends," then look for a section that shows pending requests you've sent (this is sometimes labeled "Friend Requests Sent" or similar, depending on your version of Facebook). From there, you can cancel any request without visiting the other person's profile.
This is a faster way to cancel multiple requests at once if you're cleaning up your pending list. You don't have to visit each person's profile individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person know I cancelled my friend request?
No. Facebook does not send notifications when you cancel a request. The person will straightforward see that the request is no longer in their pending list, but they won't receive any alert about it.
Can I cancel a request if the person has already accepted it?
No. Once someone accepts your request, you're friends, and the cancel option is no longer available. If you want to remove the connection, you must unfriend them instead. Unfriending doesn't send a notification, but the person may notice if they check your profile.
What if I cancel a request and want to send one later?
You can send a new request anytime. There's no waiting period or limit on how many times you can send and cancel requests to the same person. However, if someone has declined your request, sending multiple new ones may seem unwelcome.
Can I cancel a request on mobile the same way as on a computer?
Yes. The process is identical on the Facebook app and on a computer. Find the person's profile, tap or click "Cancel Request," and it's done. The button location may look slightly different on mobile, but the action is the same.
Is there a way to cancel multiple requests at once?
You can cancel them one at a time from your own profile by viewing your pending requests sent, or by visiting each person's profile. Facebook doesn't have a bulk cancel feature, so if you have many requests to cancel, you'll need to go through them individually.