Cancel a friend request before they respond

You can cancel a friend request on Facebook at any time before the other person accepts it. Once you send a request, you have the option to withdraw it — the person won't be notified that you cancelled it, and they won't see the request in their inbox anymore. This is useful if you sent a request by mistake, changed your mind about connecting with someone, or sent it to the wrong account.

The process is straightforward and takes about 10 seconds. Facebook doesn't send a notification to the other person when you cancel, so there's no awkward message on their end. The request straightforward disappears from their pending list.

Key Takeaways

  • You can only cancel a request you sent — you cannot unsend a request after someone has already accepted it.
  • The person you sent the request to will not receive a notification when you cancel it.
  • On a computer, find the pending request in your Friends list and click "Cancel request."
  • On a phone, open the person's profile, tap the pending request button, and select "Cancel request."
  • If someone sent you a request and you want to reject it instead, you can decline it without sending a cancellation back.

Cancel a request on a computer

Open Facebook in your web browser and go to your Friends page. Click the Friends icon at the top of the screen (it looks like two people), then select "Friend requests" from the dropdown menu. You'll see a list of requests you've sent that are still pending — these are requests the other person hasn't responded to yet.

Find the person whose request you want to cancel. Next to their name, you'll see a button that says "Cancel request." Click it. The request is now cancelled, and the person will no longer see it in their inbox. You can send them a new request later if you change your mind.

Cancel a request on your phone

Open the Facebook app and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) at the bottom right of the screen. Scroll down and tap "Friends." At the top, you'll see "Friend requests" — tap it to see requests you've sent that are still pending.

Tap the person's name or profile picture to open their profile. At the top of their profile, you'll see a button showing "Friend request pending" or similar wording. Tap that button, and a menu will appear. Select "Cancel request." The request is now withdrawn, and they won't see it anymore.

The difference between cancelling and declining

Cancelling a request means you sent the request and now want to take it back. Declining a request means someone else sent you a request and you don't want to accept it. These are two different actions.

If you want to decline a request someone sent to you, go to your Friend requests and find the request in your inbox. You'll see two buttons: "Confirm" (to accept) and "Delete" or "Decline" (to reject it). Clicking decline removes the request without accepting the friendship. The other person won't know you declined — the request just disappears from their pending list after a while.

What happens after you cancel

Once you cancel a friend request, the other person cannot see it anymore. They won't receive a message saying you cancelled it. If you look at your Friends list later, that person will no longer appear in your pending requests.

You can send them a new friend request whenever you want. There's no waiting period or penalty for cancelling. If you're not sure whether you want to be friends with someone, you can always cancel the request and send it again later.

If you can't find the cancel button

If you're looking at someone's profile and don't see a "Cancel request" button, it's likely because they've already accepted your request — in that case, they're now your friend. You cannot cancel a request after it's been accepted. If you no longer want to be friends with them, you'll need to unfriend them instead, which is a different process.

Another reason you might not see the button is if you're looking at an old request that Facebook has already removed from the system. Facebook sometimes clears very old pending requests after several months. If this happens, you can straightforward send a new request if you'd like to connect with that person.

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 request straightforward disappears from their pending list, and they won't receive any message about it. They may notice the request is gone if they were looking at it, but they won't get an alert.

Can I cancel a request after someone accepts 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 haven't been accepted yet.

What if I accidentally sent a request to the wrong person?

Cancel the request right away using the steps above. Then find the correct person and send them a request instead. Since the wrong person won't be notified, there's no need to send them a message explaining the mistake.

Can I cancel multiple requests at once?

No. You have to cancel each request one at a time by going to that person's profile or your pending requests list and clicking the cancel button for each one. There's no bulk cancel option in Facebook.

If I cancel a request, can I send another one right away?

Yes. You can send a new request to the same person when ready after cancelling the old one. There's no cooldown period. However, sending multiple requests to someone who hasn't responded might make them uncomfortable, so use this option thoughtfully.