What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook

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It's okay to move on. Here's the easy way to do it

Updated on November 5, 2021

What to Know

  • Go to the profile page of the person you want to unfriend. Select the Friends icon at the top of their profile, then select Unfriend.
  • The person you unfriended no longer sees posts you publish but you can still receive direct messages from them.
  • Facebook users aren't notified when you unfriend them.

This article explains how to unfriend someone on Facebook. It also explains what happens after your social media friendship is over.

How to Unfriend Someone on Facebook

Unfriending someone on Facebook is a fast and straightforward solution that's a bit stronger than unfollowing them, yet not as dramatic as blocking someone completely.

When you unfriend someone on Facebook, that person won't see posts that you publish to your friends, and any direct messages are filtered into your Message Requests inbox for you to approve before reading.

Unfriended Facebook friends can still view your public posts and follow you if you enabled the option on your profile.

  1. Go to Facebook or open the app and log in, if necessary.

  2. Go to your profile and select Friends.

  3. Choose the name of the person you want to unfriend to open their profile page.

  4. Select the Friends icon at the top of their profile.

  5. Select Unfriend.

Can People Tell They've Been Unfriended?

Facebook users aren't notified when someone unfriends them. However, there are indirect ways in which they are likely to discover what's happened.

  • They might realize that they haven't seen any of your posts in their Facebook feed and visit your profile. They can tell you unfriended them when they see the option to add you as a friend.
  • If you have mutual friends, Facebook might recommend you as a suggested friend.

How Do I Reverse an Unfriending on Facebook?

It is impossible to undo an unfriending. The only way to reconnect with someone on Facebook is to send them a friend request as you did when you first became Facebook friends.

Because they must approve your friend request manually, they will realize that you unfriended them. If you unfriended them by accident, explain what happened.

Is Unfriending the Same as Blocking and Unfollowing?

Unfriending someone on Facebook isn't the same as blocking or unfollowing them. Unfollowing someone on Facebook maintains the friend connection but hides their posts from your Facebook feed. Unfollowing can be a good option for friends or family members that you can't cut off entirely yet don't want to see the content they post in your timeline. People you unfollow can still send you messages and see your posts.

Blocking someone on Facebook is the most-extreme action you can take as it not only unfriends an account but also prevents them from seeing your public posts and stops them from sending you any form of direct message.

What Is a Facebook Purge?

A Facebook purge is what many users humorously call it when they go through their list of Facebook friends and unfriend those that they no longer talk to, don't get along with, or don't recognize.

After the mass unfriending, the user often posts something to their remaining Facebook friends to let them know that a purge took place and that if they can read that message, it means that they have survived and are still considered a true friend.

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Getting annoying messages on Messenger is a nightmare, so in this article, we tell you how to remove someone on Messenger without blocking them.

Facebook Messenger is a popular instant messaging application that you can use to talk to all your Facebook and Instagram friends. It is a great platform to connect with your friends and have fun interactions.

The app has truly evolved from being a simple chat application. The new version allows you to video chat with your friends, send voice messages, texts, and even funny gifs to liven up your chatting experience. Most importantly, all these amazing features are completely free to use!

But there is a downside to this platform. No one loves getting annoying messages or spam texts from random strangers. And if you have faced something similar, you are probably wondering how to remove someone on Messenger. 

So in this article, we have written all the ways to answer how to remove someone from Messenger without blocking them so you no longer have to worry about receiving annoying messages. We also touch upon ways you can remove non-friends in bulk so you only have to interact with people you know and are friends with.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. How to remove someone on Messenger
  2. How to remove someone from a Messenger group chat
  3. How to remove all the nonfriends from Messenger
    • How to bulk remove non-friends from Messenger
    • How to remove non-friends from Messenger - Method #2
  4. How to remove someone on Messenger by unfriending them
  5. How to stop messenger from an automatic sync
  6. How to mute a contact on Messenger
  7. Will the person know when they are removed on Messenger?
  8. Conclusion

How to remove someone on Messenger

Unfortunately, removing someone on Messenger is not as straightforward as it actually should be. There is no direct delete button that is clearly visible to just get rid of a chat. You will have to go through the pain of finding alternate ways to do this. But lucky for you, we have covered all the different ways you can accomplish this task. 

You can follow the steps below to successfully remove someone from Messenger without blocking them:

  1. Open the Messenger app on your phone and log in to your account.
  2. Go to the People icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.

  3. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  4. Here, click on the contacts icon on the top right. 

  5. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  6. Here you’ll see the contact list from your phone synced to your Messenger along with other social media contacts.
  7. Go to the contact you want to remove and click on the info icon.
  8. Tap on the Message button, their chat will open.
  9. Here click on the info icon again in the top right corner

  10. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  11. You’ll find the block button here. Click on the button to no longer receive messages from this contact.

  12. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook

In the previous version of Messenger, you could easily remove a contact from the contact list without having to block them, but the latest version makes it a bit confusing. The previously delete contact option is now changed to block.

How to remove someone from a Messenger group chat

If you want to remove a member from a Messenger group, here’s how you do it.

  1. Open the Messenger app on your phone.
  2. Go to the Messenger group to remove the member.
  3. Click on the Members icon, you’ll find all the group members listed here.

  4. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  5. Click on the profile you wish to remove.
  6. Tap on the “remove from group” option in the profile.

  7. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook

This will successfully remove the said contact from your group but users must note that only the admin can remove members from the group. 

How to remove all the nonfriends from Messenger

At times your Messenger is filled with random messages from contacts you might not personally know. It is also possible that you have synced Messenger with your phone contacts and now you have to interact with them on Messenger. 

If you only wish to receive messages from your Facebook friends and not your contacts, there is a solution to this. You can either bulk remove non-friends from Messenger or simply remove the contacts that you don’t wish to receive messages from. Keep reading to know-how.

How to bulk remove non-friends from Messenger

Below we have explained how to bulk remove all the non-friends on Messenger.

  1. Open the Messenger app on your phone. 
  2. Click on your profile picture in the top left corner
  3. Scroll down to find the “Phone Contacts” option

  4. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  5. Here click on Manage contacts, you’ll find all your phone contacts that are added to the Messenger.

  6. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  7. Click on “Delete All Contacts” to remove these contacts from Messenger altogether.

  8. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook

There you go! Now you know how to remove all non-friend contacts in bulk from Messenger.

How to remove non-friends from Messenger - Method #2

Unfortunately, there is no direct way to remove a single non-friend contact from Messenger. You’ll most likely have to block them to stop receiving messages. Here’s how you do it.

  1. Open the Messenger app on your phone.
  2. Click on the people icon in the bottom right corner.
  3. Tap on the contact list at the top right corner of your screen.
  4. Scroll down to find the contact you want to block.
  5. Click on the info icon and then on the “Message” button.
  6. Here, click on the info icon at the top right corner
  7. Tap on the Block option to permanently stop receiving messages from this contact.

How to remove someone on Messenger by unfriending them

The best way to permanently remove someone on Messenger is to simply unfriend them on Facebook. They are no longer your friends and hence are not part of your friend’s list. This will keep them from sending you annoying messages.

So here’s how you can directly unfriend someone through Messenger.

  1. First, you have to open the Messenger app on your phone.
  2. Tap on the “People” tab in the bottom right corner.
  3. Go to the contact list by clicking on the top-right icon.
  4. Navigate to the person you wish to remove from Messenger.
  5. Click on the said person to open their profile. 
  6. In the chat, you’ll find the “View Profile” option, click on that.

  7. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  8. Just below their name, you’ll find the “View Profile on Facebook” button, tap on that.

  9. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  10. On their Facebook profile, click on the Friends button and choose the “Unfriend” option.
  11. Confirm the operation

Congratulations, you have successfully unfriended a contact on Facebook.

How to stop messenger from an automatic sync

One way to stop adding non-friends to Messenger is by disabling the automatic sync. The sync option essentially syncs all your phone contacts with the Messenger app, so you can interact with them via the app. 

So if you just want to keep your Facebook friends on the Messenger contact list disabling the automatic sync is the way to go. Here’s how you can stop Messenger from automatically syncing with your phone contacts.

  1. Open the Messenger app on your mobile phone.
  2. Click on your profile picture in the top left corner
  3. Scroll down to find the “Phone Contacts” option and then tap on it.

  4. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  5. Here click on the “Upload Contacts” button

  6. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook
  7. If the sync option is turned on you can just turn it off by clicking on the “Turn Off” button on the screen.

  8. What happens to messenger when you unfriend someone on facebook

How to mute a contact on Messenger

Sometimes you just get annoyed by people sending annoying messages or memes on Messenger. So you might not really want to find how to remove someone from Messenger without blocking them, but in this case, just mute their conversation for a bit. If this is the case, here’s how you can mute a contacts conversation on Messenger.

  1. Open the Facebook Messenger app on your phone and log into your account.
  2. Click on the specific contact you wish to mute.
  3. Tap on the contact icon at the top right corner of their profile
  4. Here you’ll find the option to mute the contact to get a break from that conversation.
  5. You can unmute this particular contact again later

Will the person know when they are removed on Messenger?

Once you have removed the contact on Messenger, you are probably wondering if the person will be notified about the removal. So this depends on whether you have blocked the contact or have unfriended them on Facebook.

If you have blocked the contact on Messenger the person won’t be able to find out from your profile or send a message to you once they get blocked. So that will intimate them that they are probably blocked by you.

If you have instead unfriended them on Facebook, they won’t be notified about the action. But when they visit your profile on Facebook the “Add Friend button will reappear” which is a hint that you might have unfriended them.

Overall, in neither of these cases, the Messenger app will directly send a message to the user telling them that contact has blocked or unfriended them.

Conclusion:

The above methods basically will help you remove any contact from your Messenger. This entire process used to be comparatively easier in the earlier versions of Messenger, as there was a visible remove option for any contact in the contacts list.

We are not sure why Facebook decided to eliminate this feature. But in the present application, it is better to block a contact or unfriend them to stop receiving messages.

Does unfriending on Facebook delete Messenger?

When you unfriend a Facebook contact, it requires only that you view that person's profile and remove the connection. The entire process takes seconds. That doesn't, however, disconnect you from Messenger. Your conversations in messenger are still present.

How can you tell if someone has unfriended you on Facebook Messenger?

Select Friends to view your list of Facebook Friends. Search for the person's name via the search bar. Search for the name they use on Facebook if it's different from their legal name. If they don't show up in the search results, they may have unfriended you.

Can you send messages to someone who unfriended you on Facebook?

You can send a message to anyone on Facebook, regardless of friend status or privacy settings. The only exception applies to members you've blocked and those who've blocked you.

Can you unfriend someone but still have them on Messenger?

Instead of deleting you will have to block someone on Messenger. If the person you want to remove is in your phone contact then you will see their information icon next to their name. You can click on the option Remove Contact. However, if it is someone not on your contact list then you can select the option to Remove.