Unfriend someone on Facebook (Remove or delete friends)

It is easy to add new friends on Facebook, but it is just as easy to "unfriend" someone, in other words to remove or delete a friend. In this tutorial, you will learn how to unfriend friends on Facebook, and most importantly, how the unfriend process works for the person you are removing from your friends list. It is always delicate to unfriend someone without creating a situation out of it.

How to unfriend a friend

Follow these steps to unfriend someone on Facebook:

If needed, login to your Facebook account
Click on your picture or name to access your Facebook profile (see screenshot)
When your profile has loaded, search for the person's profile in your list of friends (click on the "See All" link to open your entire list of friends).
Then, click on the photo of the friend you want to delete and remove
When that friend's profile loads, scroll to the very bottom of their profile
Click on the "Remove from Friends" link to delete this friend:
Facebook will give you a last chance to change your mind, and display a final confirmation message: "Are you sure you want to remove {Facebook user name} as your friend?" Click on the "Cancel" button to keep this friend, or click on the "Remove from Friends" button to permanently delete this friend from your profile:
Facebook will show a confirmation that "{Friend Name} has been removed from your friends" - this former friend will be removed from your profile, and no longer appear on any of your friends list he/she may have belonged to.

What happens when you remove a friend?

When you add someone as a friend on Facebook, they will receive an email confirming that you accepted their friend request (example). But what happens when you delete a Facebook friend? Will they know?

Tactfully, Facebook will not send an email telling a Facebook user that a friend has unfriended them. But if this former friend stays on top of his/her friend count, or regular looks for your wall posting, etc. he / she will realize sooner or later that you are no longer friends.

Practically, as soon as you unfriend someone, they are removed from your friends list, but your picture is also removed from their own list of friends. By the same token, both their total number of friends and yours will be diminished by one. So, if you delete a friend whose only friend you happen to be, they will end up with zero friends, and will clearly notice that you have unfriended them.

Facebook Tutorial

These free Facebook tutorials were written for the new Facebook, and are updated with each latest version of your favorite social networking site on Windows and Mac.