How to Reconnect with People You Unfollowed on Facebook: A Comprehensive Guide

We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through your Facebook feed, and a post from a certain someone triggers that familiar feeling of ‘ugh.’ Maybe it’s constant political rants, endless baby photos, or simply a personality clash. In the heat of the moment, the ‘Unfollow’ button feels like the perfect solution. It’s a quick fix for a less cluttered and more pleasant social media experience. But what happens when you realize you miss seeing their posts, or you need to reach out to them and struggle to find them? Perhaps time has passed, perspectives have changed, or you simply want to reconnect with someone you unfollowed? The good news is, Facebook doesn’t make unfollowing permanent. Reconnecting is easier than you might think, and this comprehensive guide will walk you through each step.

Understanding the Difference Between Unfollowing and Unfriending

Before we dive into the process of reconnecting, let’s clarify the critical difference between unfollowing and unfriending. These two actions have very different consequences:

• Unfollowing: This action hides a person’s posts from your newsfeed but keeps you as friends on Facebook. You are still connected, and they can see your posts (if your privacy settings allow), and you can still view their profile. You simply don’t see their content in your feed.
• Unfriending: This action completely removes the person from your friends list. You will no longer be connected on Facebook, and neither of you will see the other’s posts. You will have to send them a friend request again to reconnect.

This distinction is crucial for understanding why reconnecting with someone you’ve unfollowed is much simpler than reconnecting with someone you’ve unfriended. When you unfollow, the connection still exists; you’ve just chosen to mute their content.

Why Reconnect? Reasons to Re-Engage on Facebook

There are countless reasons why you might want to reconnect with someone you’ve unfollowed. Here are a few common scenarios:

• Missing Their Content: Perhaps their updates were annoying at one point, but now you find yourself curious about their life and what they’re up to.
• Shifting Perspectives: Your opinions or feelings about a person may have changed, and you’re ready to see their posts again.
• Missed Important Updates: They may have shared important announcements or news that you missed because they were hidden from your feed.
• Professional Networking: You may need to see their posts for work-related purposes or to reconnect for business opportunities.
• Personal Connections: You may simply want to re-engage with someone you care about but unfollowed during a difficult time or misunderstanding.
• A family member you may not have spoken to in a while: It’s easy to lose track with family, and seeing their posts can be a reminder to get in touch.

Whatever the reason, Facebook provides the tools to easily mend these digital connections.

How to Reconnect with People You Unfollowed: Step-by-Step Guide

Reconnecting with someone you unfollowed is a straightforward process, and Facebook provides multiple ways to do it. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the methods you can use:

Method 1: Using the News Feed Settings (Mobile App and Desktop)

This is the most common and arguably the easiest method for managing who you see in your feed. This method works on both the Facebook mobile app and the desktop version.

Step 1: Access Your News Feed Preferences

On the Mobile App:

1. Open the Facebook app on your smartphone or tablet.
2. Tap the three horizontal lines (the ‘hamburger’ menu) at the top right corner (Android) or the bottom right corner (iOS) of the screen.
3. Scroll down and tap on ‘Settings & Privacy’.
4. Tap ‘Settings’.
5. Scroll down to the ‘Preferences’ section and tap ‘News Feed’.
6. Tap ‘Unfollow’.

On a Desktop Computer:

1. Go to Facebook.com in your web browser.
2. Click the downward-facing arrow in the upper-right corner of the page.
3. Select ‘Settings & Privacy’ from the dropdown menu.
4. Click on ‘Settings’.
5. In the left sidebar, click on ‘News Feed’.
6. Click on ‘Unfollow’.

Step 2: Find the People You Unfollowed

You will now see a list of all the people, pages, and groups that you have previously unfollowed. The list is presented as tiles. If you haven’t unfollowed too many, they should be easy to locate by their name or profile picture.

Step 3: Re-follow the Person

To re-follow someone you’ve unfollowed:

• Mobile App: Tap on the profile picture of the person you want to re-follow, or tap on the person’s name from the list. You’ll be taken to their profile page. At the top of their profile, you’ll see a button saying ‘Follow’ tap this to re-follow them.
• Desktop: Click on the name of the person you want to re-follow. It will take you to their profile page. Click on the ‘Follow’ button, located next to their name and profile picture.

After completing this step, their posts will start appearing in your news feed again. You can confirm this by scrolling through your feed or by searching their name, and if they have posted recently, you should see that.

Method 2: Directly from the Person’s Profile

If you remember the name of the person you want to re-follow, you can go directly to their profile page and re-follow them. This method is quick and efficient if you know who you are looking for. Here’s how:

1. Use the search bar at the top of the Facebook page (on both mobile and desktop). Type the person’s name.
2. Locate the profile of the person from the list of results.
3. Click on their name or photo to go to their profile.
4. If you have unfollowed them, you will see a ‘Follow’ button on their profile page near their name and profile picture. Click on the ‘Follow’ button to see their posts again.

Method 3: Checking the Unfollow List From a Specific Post

If you remember that you unfollowed someone in response to a specific post, or you can find a post of theirs in search results (or if a friend shared one of their posts) there’s another way to re-follow them, this method is a bit less reliable if the post is very old, as it might be difficult to find the post again.

1. Find any post from the person whose feed you wish to see again. This could be a direct post they have made themselves or one they have been tagged in.
2. Locate the three vertical dots in the top right of the post.
3. Click on these dots and click “Follow [persons name]” if you have unfollowed them, or if you are following them the option will instead say “unfollow [persons name]”.

Method 4: Using Facebook’s Activity Log (less common but useful)

While the previous methods are usually sufficient, Facebook’s Activity Log provides a detailed history of your actions, including who you unfollowed. This method can be helpful if you’ve unfollowed a large number of people and can’t remember who they were.

Accessing the Activity Log

On the Mobile App:

1. Open the Facebook app.
2. Tap the three horizontal lines (menu) icon.
3. Tap your name at the top to go to your profile page.
4. Tap the three dots to the right of ‘Edit Profile’.
5. Select ‘Activity Log’.

On a Desktop Computer:

1. Go to Facebook.com in your browser.
2. Click your profile picture in the top right to access your profile.
3. Below your cover image click the button with three dots.
4. Select ‘Activity Log’.

Navigating the Activity Log

1. Once you’ve opened the Activity Log, you may need to filter the results for better navigation. In the mobile app select “Filter” then ‘Categories’ and on desktop click on “Filter” in the left menu then select “Categories” and choose “Logged actions and other activity”.
2. Look for “Unfollowed [person’s name]” in the results.
3. If the unfollow action is shown, click on the name and this will take you to the person’s profile.
4. Follow the steps from Method 2 to re-follow them.

The Activity Log will contain all your past activity, so it may be a bit time consuming to locate an unfollow action you did some time ago. However, it will be the most comprehensive method to ensure that you haven’t missed anyone you had previously unfollowed.

What Happens After You Re-Follow Someone?

Once you’ve re-followed someone, their posts will start appearing in your news feed again. The frequency of their posts will depend on their activity and Facebook’s algorithm, which decides what content you see based on your engagement. If you re-followed someone recently, do not be alarmed if they do not immediately appear in your feed. It takes the algorithm a bit of time to process the update.

It’s important to remember that re-following someone is a unilateral action. They will not be notified that you’ve re-followed them unless they happen to see one of your posts in their feed. You can also like and comment on their posts to show up on their feed more often and in general interact with their activity.

Tips for Managing Your Facebook Feed Moving Forward

To avoid situations where you’re repeatedly unfollowing and re-following people, consider these strategies for managing your Facebook feed:

• Use the ‘Snooze’ Feature: Instead of unfollowing, use the ‘Snooze’ option for 30 days. This hides their posts temporarily without permanently breaking the connection.
• Customize Your News Feed Preferences: Adjust your news feed settings to prioritize posts from friends and pages you want to see most. You can do this by navigating to ‘Settings & Privacy’ then ‘News Feed’.
• Engage Thoughtfully: Liking, commenting, and sharing content can influence Facebook’s algorithm to show you more of what you enjoy and less of what you don’t.
• Manage Your Groups: If you find group content overwhelming, consider muting notifications or leaving groups that no longer interest you.
• Review Your Friends List: Periodically review your friends list and unfriend accounts you no longer connect with.

Conclusion: Reconnecting on Facebook is Simple

Life changes, and so do our relationships with the people we follow on social media. Sometimes we need a break, and sometimes we miss the people we chose to mute. Thankfully, Facebook provides tools that make it easy to manage these connections. Whether you choose to re-follow someone through your news feed settings, directly from their profile, or via the activity log, the process is straightforward. By understanding these methods, you can tailor your Facebook experience to suit your current needs and reconnect with friends, family, or acquaintances that you’ve previously unfollowed. Reconnecting on Facebook doesn’t have to be complicated. With the step-by-step methods provided in this comprehensive guide, you’ll be back in the loop in no time at all, seeing those posts again that you may have been missing!