Why Can’t I Add Someone on Facebook (Here’s Why & The Fix!)

Last updated on January 31st, 2023 at 06:49 pm

At the core of every social media platform is the ability to connect and relate with people from different walks of life.

Networking and relating with people that you don’t know before owning an account on Facebook, yet, getting tremendous value as a result of such a relationship happens a lot.

Why Can’t I Add Someone on Facebook

All things being equal, connecting with people on Facebook should be pretty easy.

What then could be the problem if you are finding it difficult to add someone to your Facebook space?

Find out why you are may be having difficulty adding someone on Facebook as we check out the different reasons that can make it hard or impossible to add someone on Facebook.

Normally, all you will have to do is either send a Friend request to someone you want to add to your Friendship base on Facebook or accept a Friend request from a person seeking to be your Facebook acquaintance.

However, it is possible to either not find the “Send Friend Request” feature or send out a Friend request, yet, not have the person added to your Facebook space.

The following reasons should explain why and how this is possible.

 

Why You Cannot Add Someone on Facebook

There are several reasons and situations that will either make it difficult or not permit you to add someone on Facebook.

 

Privacy Setting

The privacy settings of the person you are sending a Friend request to can affect your ability to connect with the person.

Some people restrict the persons that can have access to them via Friend requests.

If a Facebook user sets their account to accommodate Friend requests only from persons whom they share mutual friends with, you have to be a friend of their mutual friend to be able to send a Friend request to them.

So, the reason why you might find it difficult to send a friend request and consequently, add someone to your Friends on Facebook can be a result of their privacy setting that permits Friend requests to come only from Friends of Friends.

 

Account Deactivation

A deactivated account cannot do anything on Facebook. Therefore, if an account is deactivated, you cannot add the user of such account to your Friends on Facebook.

Usually, when a person deactivates an account, you may not be able to tell that something like that has been done.

For the period when the account remains deactivated, it will be impossible to add the person to your Facebook space.

You can send a Friend request though and have it pending when the user chooses to reactivate their account.

Then, they will accept the request and be added to your account as Friends.

 

Blocking

If you have been blocked by a user, sadly, you will not be permitted to add the person to your account.

You will not be able to access any of their posts or send them messages. You can confirm if you have been blocked by looking for their recent posts or trying to send them a message.

The inability to either access their most recent posts or send them messages can confirm if you have been truly blocked.

In a situation where you have been blocked, there is no way you can directly send a friend request to such an account or add them up.

The same goes for you. If you have blocked someone on Facebook, you will not be able to add them up until you unblock them.

It is possible to have done this as a mistake. So, if you are struggling with adding someone on Facebook, you can confirm if you have blocked them.

Follow the simple steps below to check:

  1. Go to your Settings and Privacy.
  2. Press the Settings button.
  3. Go to the Blocking section to see those you have blocked.

If the person you want to add is in the category, you can have the account unblocked by pressing the “Unblock” feature close to their account name.

 

Request Already Sent

You cannot send a Friend request to a particular user twice at the same time.

Therefore, if you had already sent a request for friendship to a user, it has to either be accepted or denied for you to access the Friend Request feature for that particular account.

You will get a “Request Sent” notification if this is the case when you try to send a Friend request.

There is a possibility that the account you are trying to add may have had a lot of requests and yours went down the request column.

In this case, you can send a direct message to the account if you are certain it will be of help in making you get connected to the person.

 

Friend Request Denied

Well, if your Friend request is denied, you cannot have such an account added.

The “Add Friend” feature will become active for an account that you have sent a Friend request to and it was denied.

This could have been a mistake, so, there is no harm in repeating the Add Friend action.

You can send another Friend request if you want and maybe, this time around it will be accepted.

 

Friendship Limit Exceeded

Every normal Facebook account has a Friendship limit. This means that once the limit of an account is exceeded, the account is no longer allowed to add more persons.

The maximum number of persons you can have in a regular Facebook account is 5000 friends.

Afterwards, you will not be allowed to send more friend requests or accept the ones sent to you.

A remedy for this will be to create a Facebook page to accommodate more Facebook users in your space.

 

Account Restriction

In a situation where an account has been restricted on Facebook, you will not be able to add such an account at the time of restriction.

Depending on the reason for the restriction of the account, the time of the restriction can vary from a few hours to a couple of days.

You may have to be patient and check back to see if you can add the account at a later time post the restriction of the account.

 

Why Can’t I Add Someone on Facebook FAQs

 

How can I reach a person whose account has been deactivated on Facebook?

Though an account has been deactivated on the main Facebook platform, such an account can still be active on Messenger.

You can leverage that to send a message(s) to the person directly on Messenger. If they happen to go active on Messenger, they can access your message.

 

Why can’t I send a Friend Request on Facebook?

Different reasons can make it impossible for you to send a Friend request to someone.

These reasons are; being blocked by the user or blocking the user from your account, having the friend request sent to the particular user still pending, the privacy setting of the user you are sending a request to not being configured to accept your request etc.

 

What can I do if my account is restricted?

If Facebook restricted your account, you can send a message to them requesting that the restriction be removed. Here’s how to do this:

  1. Open “Request Review Page”.
  2. Enter your login details and launch your account.
  3. Put in the details of your Username and have your Identification detail uploaded.
  4. Press the Submit button.

 

 

Conclusion

If you encounter difficulty in adding a person on Facebook, it can be one of many things.

It can be a result of the privacy setting of the person you are trying to connect to amongst other things.

You can send a message to the account on Messenger to add you up if the suspected reason is from the end of the user you are trying to add.

 

Also Read:

Harrison Acha is a Digital Marketing Expert, Seasoned Blogger, Facebook Marketing Expert, Writer, SEO Expert, and Digital Content Creator. Have been in the IT industry for more than a decade, and helping both tech and non-tech professionals become more productive and less frustrated with technology. Follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

PrimeGate Digital is a Result Driven Blog that strives to go beyond ‘Conventional Digital Marketing’ through digital innovation and performance marketing. We have experience working with world class brands and products.

 

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