Basic Facebook Guide: Friend Request Pending

Friend Request Pending

How to See Who Has Left Your Facebook Friend Request Hanging

While some people send Facebook friend requests to everyone they casually meet during their day, I tend to keep my friend list on the site limited to just people I’m actually friends with. That means I currently have over 242 pending friend requests from people like that guy I met at a wedding 10 years ago, and the girl who I rode the bus with in 7th grade but never spoke to.

Leaving a friend request pending always seemed like the respectful move. I’m not saying no to these people’s friendship, I just haven’t seen the request…in a decade. And they’ll probably never realize I left it there, right? Wrong. If you’re the sender, Buzzfeed pointed out this week that you can actually see who has left you hanging on the site (if it’s me, I’m sorry).

To see what pending friend requests you have, click on the friend icon at the top of your Facebook page (the spot where you accept all those new requests) and then select “Find Friends.”

Image credit:Facebook

A page will load with all the people currently waiting to become your friend. At the top, there’s a tiny “View Sent Requests” button. Click that, and you’ll see what requests you’ve sent that haven’t been approved.

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For me, it was pretty anticlimactic. I have three pending, one some guy that was part of my lunch crew in 12th grade, whom I arguably would have left hanging as well (touché sir). The other two look like friends who removed their presence entirely from Facebook. That, or I decided to friend two people with no photos and names that appear to just be jumbled letters.

If you’ve got a few on your list you’d rather not wait on (or if you want to resend it to get their attention and potentially double your rejection) you can click on the “Friend Request Sent” button beside the person’s name to cancel your request and free you up to send another.

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