How to stop friend suggestions on Facebook

Published on 18.04.2025 by Chizoba T

If you’ve been wondering how to stop friend suggestions on Facebook, you're not alone. Many users find these recommendations intrusive or unnecessary. Whether you're looking for more control over your privacy or simply want a cleaner experience, turning off these suggestions can help. Want to take your profile visibility further? get more followers on Facebook with help from industry pros.

 

Disable Facebook Friend Suggestions on a computer

Facebook’s friend suggestion feature is often based on mutual friends, contacts, and activity across the platform. But if you're using a desktop or laptop and you're tired of seeing these recommendations, here's how you can make them stop.

  1. Start by logging into your Facebook account using your preferred browser.
  2. In the top-right corner, click the small downward arrow and select “Settings & Privacy.”
  3. Then, head into “Settings.” On the left sidebar, find and click “Notifications.”
  4. From there, locate the "People You May Know" section.
  5. Toggle off the notification types: push, email, and SMS. This reduces alerts about friend suggestions.

This won’t remove all traces of the feature, but it stops the direct prompts. So if you’re still asking, how to stop friend suggestions on Facebook, this step takes care of a major part of the problem. If you're still seeing suggestions in your feed, that's because Facebook shows them based on algorithms — but it will stop pushing notifications specifically.

 

Disable Facebook Friend Suggestions on a mobile device

Mobile users get a similar wave of suggested friends, often while scrolling through the app. Here's what to do if you’ve been asking, how to stop friend suggestions on Facebook from your phone.

  1. Open the Facebook app on your mobile device.
  2. Tap the three horizontal lines (bottom right for iPhone, top right for Android).
  3. Scroll down and tap "Settings & Privacy," then tap "Settings."
  4. In the Settings menu, tap "Notifications."
  5. Choose "People You May Know."
  6. From here, toggle off push notifications, email, and SMS.

This change helps reduce how frequently Facebook nudges you with new suggestions. While this won’t completely eliminate them from your feed, it significantly tones things down. If you’re still asking how to stop friend suggestions on Facebook, know that this method cuts out the most active triggers.

Some users have also found success by removing their phone number or email address from their Facebook account, since suggestions can sometimes be triggered by your contacts. It’s a small change that might reduce some of the noise. For more tips beyond just settings, Subscriberz has detailed insights into optimizing your Facebook presence.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do you stop people from finding you on Facebook?

Go to your Facebook settings, then "Privacy." Under "How People Find and Contact You," adjust who can look you up using your email or phone number, and set your profile to be excluded from search engine results. You can also limit friend requests to “Friends of Friends” to reduce discoverability.

Why do I get friend suggestions on Facebook with no mutual friends?

Facebook uses multiple signals beyond mutual friends—like synced contacts, shared interests, location data, group memberships, and profile interactions—to suggest friends. Even if you don’t share mutual connections, overlapping digital behavior may trigger a suggestion.

Why am I suddenly getting so many suggested posts on Facebook?

Facebook’s algorithm adjusts based on your activity. If you've interacted with new topics, pages, or posts, the platform might increase suggestions to match your interests. Also, recent algorithm changes favor more "Suggested for You" content to boost engagement from new sources.