How to Mute Someone on Facebook Without Unfriending Them (2026)

To stop seeing someone's posts on Facebook without unfriending them, go to their profile, click the 'Friends' button, and select 'Unfollow'. Their posts disappear from your feed immediately. No notification is sent. You remain friends, you can still visit their profile, and you can re-follow them anytime.

Last verified: May 27, 2026 · Reading time: 4 min · Difficulty: Easy

The situation this solves

Your cousin posts three times a day. Your old coworker shares every news article they agree with. A friend from years ago has gone deep into content you’d rather not see.

You don’t want to unfriend them. That can cause a whole thing — hurt feelings, questions at the next family event, an explanation you don’t want to have. And honestly, you’re still friends. You just don’t need to see every post.

Facebook’s Unfollow feature was built exactly for this. It’s silent, permanent until you change it, and completely invisible to the other person.

How to unfollow someone on Facebook (desktop)

Step 1 — Go to their profile. You can find them by searching their name or clicking their name anywhere it appears in your feed.

Step 2 — Click the “Friends” button. It’s near their profile picture and cover photo, usually showing a checkmark or person icon.

Step 3 — Select “Unfollow [Name]”. A dropdown appears with several options. Click “Unfollow.” Done.

Their posts stop appearing in your feed immediately. No notification goes to them. Nothing changes on their end — they still see your posts, they can still message you, and the Friends connection is intact.

How to unfollow someone on Facebook (mobile app)

The steps are the same in the app:

1. Go to their profile (search their name or tap their profile picture anywhere).
2. Tap the Friends button.
3. Tap Unfollow.

Same result — posts gone from your feed, no notification, friendship unchanged.

What changes and what doesn’t

What changes:

• Their posts no longer appear in your news feed.
• Facebook’s algorithm no longer uses your engagement (or non-engagement) with their posts as a signal.

What doesn’t change:

• You remain friends on Facebook.
• They can still see and interact with your posts.
• You can still visit their profile and see everything they’ve posted.
• You can still message them in Messenger.
• You can still comment, like, and share their posts if you visit their profile directly.
• They receive no notification and cannot see that you’ve unfollowed them.

The “Snooze” option — when you need a temporary break

If the situation is temporary — someone going through a rough patch, a politically heated season, a period where you’d rather not see updates — Facebook also has a Snooze option.

Snooze hides someone’s posts for exactly 30 days, after which they automatically return to your feed. You don’t need to remember to re-enable anything.

To snooze someone:

1. When you see one of their posts in your feed, click the three dots (···) in the top-right corner.
2. Select “Snooze [Name] for 30 days.”

Or go to their profile → Friends button → Snooze.

Unfollow vs Snooze:

• Use Snooze for a temporary situation where you’ll want their posts back.
• Use Unfollow when you want a lasting change that you control.

What if the whole feed is the problem?

Unfollowing specific people is the right tool when you have a short list of people whose posts are the issue. If the problem is the feed itself — a mix of political arguments, strangers’ content, and Reels you never asked for — unfollowing individuals won’t fully fix it.

In that case, consider News Feed Eradicator — a free browser extension that replaces the entire Facebook news feed with an inspirational quote. Messenger, groups, and events still work normally. You simply stop seeing the feed.

How to re-follow someone

Change your mind? Go to their profile and click Follow. Their posts return to your feed immediately.

There is no history kept of who you’ve unfollowed and re-followed. No notification is sent when you re-follow.

Related guides

• How to hide political posts on Facebook — a targeted approach for when the issue is a topic, not a person.
• How to stop suggested posts on Facebook — deal with content from pages and strangers you never followed.
• How to control your Facebook feed — the complete guide covering every method.