5 Ways to Find Out Who Unfriended or Blocked You on Facebook

It’s unhealthy to obsess over your follower count or the number of friends on social media. However, every once in a while, you may want to know if someone special has unfriended or blocked you on Facebook. We explore several tips to help you get to the bottom of whether that happened.

Tip: need to block someone on Facebook? Here’s how to do the deed on most social apps.

Unfriend vs. Unfollow vs. Block vs. Restricted

Usually, there are signs that something has gone amiss with a Facebook friendship, like not seeing updates or being unable to find their profile on Facebook. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve been unfriended. You could have been blocked or unfollowed. Let’s learn the differences below:

• Unfriend: When someone unfriends you on Facebook, you will be removed from their friend list, and they will be removed from yours. You should be able to see their profile (in a limited capacity depending on their privacy settings) and send a friend request again.
• Unfollow: When someone unfollows you, the other person stops seeing your updates but remains friends with you. Unfollow works the same for profiles as it does for groups or pages.
• Block: If you search for the person’s profile but can’t find it, that’s when you know the other person has blocked you on Facebook. You will stop seeing any and all updates from them.
• Restricted: If you’ve been added to someone’s Restricted list, you won’t be able to see what they post unless they are “Public” posts. You’ll remain friends with them on Facebook and can still send them messages.

Now that you know the subtle differences between Unfollow, Restricted, Unfriend, and Block, let’s see how to find out who unfriended you on Facebook.

1. Are You Seeing Public or Private Posts?

You get two options when creating a new post for your Facebook wall. You can either set it to “Public” or “Friends.” Public posts are viewable by all, irrespective of whether they are on your friends list. Private posts are for those who are on your friends list.

Public posts have a globe icon, whereas posts shared with friends have a two-person icon.

If you can only view public posts from a particular profile, they might have unfriended or restricted you, or their profile is set to public. If you want to find out how to tighten up the privacy of your Facebook account, we have a few tips.

2. Can You Send Them a Message?

Open up Messages and try to send the person in question a message. If, after you press “Send,” you get a “Message could not be sent. Tap for details” underneath it, it can be a sign that you’ve been blocked. Another variation of this message is “This person isn’t available right now.” At the same time, your Internet connection could be to blame for the message not being delivered. Here’s how to fix a slow Internet connection in your house.

Or perhaps your W-Fi network has gone missing from Windows. In this case, you may want to try these fixes to resolve the problem. If you’re accessing Facebook on mobile, you may want to switch to mobile data to see if sending a message works.

Another possibility is that they’ve deleted their account. If so, you’ll find them in your Messages list as “Facebook Account.” In addition, you’ll see the “You cannot message this account” at the bottom instead of the text box.

Please note that Facebook gives you the option to only block messages. In this case, make sure you check the other points in this article to see whether you’ve been completely blocked.

3. Check Your Friends List

This is the fastest and surest way to figure out whether someone doesn’t want to be friends with you anymore.

Open your Facebook profile and go to your friends list under your profile page. Press on “See All Friends” to have a complete list of your friends. In the upper right, you’ll notice a search bar. Start typing the name to filter the results.

If you can find the name, you are still friends. If not, they have unfriended you. It is also possible that you have been blocked.

Another possibility is that they deleted their Facebook account without letting you know. If they deactivate their account, you’ll still see their name in your friends list, showing a blank profile picture. If they eventually decide to reactivate their profile, you will still be friends with them.

Tip: learn how to hide your Friends list from others on Facebook.

4. Search Facebook for Their Profile

We noted how blocking and unfriending someone can have some similar effects. To make sure you have been unfriended and not blocked on Facebook, use the search bar on the homepage to search for the person’s profile.

You may find some other profiles with similar or even the same names, but if you don’t see your friend’s profile in the search results, they have blocked you or perhaps deleted their entire Facebook presence. If you do see their name, you were unfriended.

5. Ask a Friend to Check Their Profile

If you need absolute confirmation that someone has blocked you, get a mutual friend to check the other person’s profile to see if it still exists on the platform.

Alternatively, you can create a new Facebook profile and check whether it appears when you search on the app. It’s also possible to access some information on Facebook without an account. However, this method will most likely yield limited results. Even so, it can’t hurt to try if creating another Facebook account doesn’t appeal to you.

Good to know: find out how you can change the email address that’s tied to your Facebook account.

What to Do If Someone Unfriends or Blocks You

If you were unfriended, you can send a fresh friend request to the person. Simply search for the profile, open it, and click on “Add Friend” to send a new friend request.

It is possible that they unfriended you on impulse and may feel differently now. Another option, especially if you got blocked, could be calling them first to determine what happened if you are clueless about the issue that led to this drastic outcome. You could also message them, but since you’re not in their Friends list anymore, your message will go into the “Message requests” folder.

They will get notified that they’ve received a request, but sometimes it can get lost. The better alternative is to try and send a message through another social app, although depending on your relationship with them, it might not be appropriate to do so. If you spoke to them only a few times, it’s best that you try to move on.

If you really feel like you need closure, get a mutual friend to message them on Facebook or through other means and plead your case.

Can You Still View the Person’s Updates and Photos If They Unfriend or Blocked You?

If you were unfriended, you can still see their profile but not their updates and photos unless they have been shared publicly. As discussed earlier, one of Facebook’s privacy settings allows users to share updates privately with friends.

Much will also depend on the said profile’s privacy settings, but for the most part, you won’t be able to view, post, or comment on their private updates and photos unless you are tagged in them. Those photos and updates could still be visible to you.

You may also see some updates involving common friends you and that person share.

If you were blocked, on the other hand, you won’t be able to see any of their updates, as their profile won’t be visible to you anymore.

Tip: curious to know how people feel about a topic? Here’s how to quickly create a poll on Facebook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any third-party apps to find out who unfriended you on Facebook?

On iOS, the Still Friends app keeps track of your Friends list and can provide information and statistics regarding the friends you lost and the ones you’ve gained. On Android, there are various apps that claim to offer similar functionalities, but unfortunately, their ratings are pretty low.

Will you receive a notification when someone unfriends you?

No. Facebook will not send you a notification if you have been unfriended by someone. The same is also true if you have been blocked or unfollowed.

If someone unfriends you on Facebook, can you still follow them?

It depends. Each Facebook user can decide who can follow them using the “Who Can Follow Me” option under “Settings -> Settings & privacy -> Public posts.” Based on this setting, you may or may not be able to follow their profile.

Can I still message someone who blocked me?

You can, but only in mutual groups. If the person who blocked you chooses to leave these groups, you won’t be able to contact them on the Facebook app unless you create a new account and send them a message from there.

Can I tag or invite someone to an event if they blocked me?

You won’t be able to do any of these things anymore.

Can I block someone who blocked me?

Yes. If you want to show them that you’re on the same page in case they someday decide to unblock you, go to “Settings -> Privacy -> Blocking” and add click “Edit” next to “Block users” to add their name.

Image credit: Freepik. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.