If you no longer want to read news and updates from a friend, you'll be happy to know that you can mute--or, in Facebook terminology, "unfollow"--them, and all without the socially taboo process of blocking or unfriending them! After you mute a user, their updates will no longer display in your News Feed; fortunately for you, your selected user won't know that you've muted them. You can also mute messages from users in Facebook's "Messenger" feature.

Method 1
Method 1 of 5:

Muting Friends in the News Feed (iOS)

  1. 1
    Open the "Facebook" app. If you aren't already logged in, enter your username and password to continue.
  2. 2
    Tap . This button is in the bottom right corner of your screen.
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  3. 3
    Tap Settings.
  4. 4
    Tap News Feed Preferences.
  5. 5
    Tap Unfollow people to hide their posts.
  6. 6
    Tap each friend you wish to unfollow.
  7. 7
    Tap Done when you're finished. You should no longer see updates from your unfollowed friends!
    • You may need to refresh your News Feed before these changes take place.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 5:

Muting Friends in the News Feed (Android)

  1. 1
    Open your "Facebook" app. You'll need to enter your username and password to continue if you aren't already logged in.
  2. 2
    Tap . These are in the top right corner of your screen.
  3. 3
    Tap Settings.
  4. 4
    Tap News Feed Preferences.
  5. 5
    Tap Unfollow people to hide their posts.
  6. 6
    Tap each friend you wish to unfollow.
  7. 7
    Tap Done when you're finished. You have successfully unfollowed friends in your News Feed!
    • You may need to refresh your News Feed before these changes take place.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 5:

Muting Friends in Facebook Messenger (Mobile)

  1. 1
    Open the "Messenger" app. If you aren't already logged in, you'll also need to enter your phone number and password.
  2. 2
    Tap a conversation.
  3. 3
    Tap your contact's name. It should be at the top of the conversation.
  4. 4
    Tap Block.
  5. 5
    Tap the switch to the right of the "Block Messages" option. This will mute any members of your selected conversation.
    • To reverse this process, simply tap the "Block Messages" switch again.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 5:

Muting Friends in the News Feed (Desktop)

  1. 1
    Open Facebook. To proceed, you'll need to enter your email address (or phone number) and password if you aren't already logged in.
  2. 2
    Click the menu button. You'll find this option, which resembles a downward-facing arrow, in the top right corner of your Facebook page.[1]
  3. 3
    Click News Feed Preferences.
  4. 4
    Click Unfollow people to hide their posts.
  5. 5
    Click each friend you wish to unfollow.
  6. 6
    Click Done when you're finished. You will no longer see posts from your unfollowed friends!
    • You may need to refresh your News Feed in order to view these changes.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 5:

Muting Friends in Your Inbox

  1. 1
    Open your Facebook page. You may need to enter your phone number or email address and password if you aren't logged in.
  2. 2
    Click the message icon. This is the speech bubble icon in the top right corner of your screen.
  3. 3
    Click on a conversation you'd like to mute.
  4. 4
    Click the "Options" gear. This is in the top right corner of the chat window, directly to the left of the "X".
  5. 5
    Click Mute Conversation.
  6. 6
    Select a duration for which to mute the conversation. Your options include:
    • For 1 hour
    • Until 8 AM
    • Until you turn it back on
  7. 7
    Click Mute to complete the process. You won't receive notifications from this conversation on your desktop or mobile devices until your mute duration expires.
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Warnings

  • If you unfollow someone with whom you used to frequently converse, they may take note of your sudden absence from their statuses and so on.
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About This Article

Jack Lloyd
Written by:
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jack Lloyd. Jack Lloyd is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. He has over two years of experience writing and editing technology-related articles. He is technology enthusiast and an English teacher. This article has been viewed 126,972 times.
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Co-authors: 4
Updated: March 29, 2019
Views: 126,972
Categories: Facebook
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