How To Block Someone On Facebook: The Complete Guide

Have you ever wanted to block someone on Facebook? Maybe an ex, a former friend, or that one annoying relative who won‘t stop posting questionable memes. Blocking someone on Facebook restricts their ability to view your profile and prevents any further unwanted communication.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know about blocking users on Facebook, from start to finish.

What Does Blocking Someone Actually Do?

When you block someone on Facebook, you prevent them from being able to:

View your Facebook profile
See posts on your Timeline
Tag you or invite you to events/groups
Start conversations with you
Add you as a friend

Essentially, blocking hides your entire existence from their point of view. They’ll be unable to find your profile in searches or mutual friends’ profiles.

However, blocking has a few key limitations:

You may still appear in Facebook “People You May Know” suggestions shown to the blocked person if you have friends in common.
Similarly, your comments on mutual friends’ posts remain visible.
Blocking only applies on Facebook. Someone could still contact you on other platforms.

Now let’s get into the step-by-step process of blocking a user.

How to Block Someone on Facebook from a Desktop

Blocking someone from a desktop only takes a few clicks:

Log in to your Facebook account on a desktop browser and navigate to the profile page of the person you want to block.
Click on the three-dot “More” button located in the upper right corner of their cover photo:
[Insert original screenshot demonstrating the process]
Select “Block” from the dropdown menu.
A popup will appear asking you to confirm. Click “Block” again.

And that’s it! The user has now been blocked and will no longer be able to interact with you on Facebook.

How to Block Someone on Facebook from Mobile

The process of blocking a user in the Facebook mobile app is quite similar:

Open up the Facebook app on your phone and tap on the profile icon of the person you want to block.
Tap on the three-dot icon in the upper right corner of their cover photo.
Select “Block” from the menu.
Tap “Block” again in the popup to confirm your choice.

Just those few taps will fully block that person from interacting with you or seeing your profile on Facebook.

Blocking Someone in Facebook Messenger

What if the unwanted contact is happening specifically on Messenger rather than your main Facebook feed? Blocking someone in Messenger prevents further communication over chat but does not block their main Facebook profile.

Here is how you block another user in Messenger:

Open your Messenger app and navigate to your conversation thread with that person.
Tap their name at the top of the chat window.
Select “Block Contact” from the bottom of their profile screen in Messenger.

Now they will be unable to send you any messages or react to your messages in group threads. Keep in mind you can still view each other’s Facebook profiles at this point.

Unblocking Someone on Facebook

Made a mistake? Or has enough time passed you now want to reconnect? Unblocking a user restores their ability to view your Facebook profile and contact you.

Unblocking on Desktop

Click the down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page and select “Settings & Privacy” followed by “Settings”.
Choose “Blocking” from the left sidebar.
Locate the user you want to unblock and click “Unblock”.
Confirm your choice to unblock.

Unblocking on Mobile

Tap the hamburger menu icon and tap “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”.
Tap “Blocking”.
Tap “Unblock” next to the user’s name.
Confirm the unblock action.

The user will now regain access to interact with you and view your Facebook profile. Keep in mind they don’t automatically get re-added as a friend if you had previously removed them.

Unblocking in Messenger

Similarly, if you had blocked someone solely in Messenger rather than all of Facebook:

Open Messenger and tap your profile icon.
Go to “Privacy” > “Blocked People”.
Tap “Unblock” next to the user’s name.

With that quick action, the user can once again freely message you on Messenger.

Managing Your Blocked Users List

Want to view, edit or clean up your blocked users list? Easy.

Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings” as before on mobile or desktop.
Choose “Blocking”.
Here you can view your full list of blocked users, along with the option to unblock them.

I recommend reviewing this list periodically to ensure you don’t have anyone blocked unnecessarily. A few friendly reminders around blocking:

Block judiciously. Only block truly bothersome contacts rather than minor annoyances.
Combining blocking with unfollowing or snoozing is often a better initial step than the more severe block.
Blocking is personal. Only you can decide if it’s truly right for your situation with another user.

Now let’s move beyond the blunt hammer of blocking to explore more nuanced ways of limiting contact.

Advanced Options Beyond Blocking

Blocking someone on Facebook is a fairly extreme, final measure. In many cases, you may want to simply limit interactions rather than go for the complete block.

Here are a few alternative options that stop short of fully blocking someone:

Hide Someone‘s Posts from Your Timeline

If you just want to avoid seeing annoying posts without blocking the user entirely:

Go to their profile page.
Click the three-dot menu in the upper right.
Select “Hide from Timeline”.

You can reverse this at any time to resume seeing their posts.

Unfollow Someone

Similar to above, but prevents seeing all their posts in your feed rather than just on your Timeline.

Go to their profile.
Click the three-dot menu.
Choose “Unfollow”.

Their posts will no longer appear in your News Feed.

Snooze Someone for 30 Days

Need a short-term one month break from someone‘s posts? Snoozing is perfect.

Click the three-dot menu on their post.
Select “Snooze for 30 Days”.

After 30 days, their posts will automatically resume unless you snooze them again.

Adjust News Feed Preferences

Rather than targeting specific people, you can filter posts in your News Feed based on keywords, post types, friends lists and more. I won‘t cover the full details here but this lets you mute broad categories of posts.

So in summary – blocking cuts off all communication, but solutions like unfollowing or snoozing someone provide more nuanced control.

What Are the Risks of Blocking Another User?

While blocking can be an effective self-protection method, it does carry social risks including:

Strained relationships. Blocking someone you know well may cause hurt feelings or relationship damage.
Retaliation. Though less common, the blocked person may attempt to retaliate or escalate harassment through other means.
Loss of access to mutual friends’ content. Since you can no longer see posts that the blocked person is tagged in.

Here is a diagram summarizing the potential risks:

[Insert original diagram outlining risks such as damaged relationships, retaliation risk increasing, losing access to mutual friends‘ posts]

As always, carefully consider whether blocking is the right decision for your specific situation before taking action.

Facebook Blocking and Privacy Concerns

While blocking increases your privacy substantially, it does not completely isolate you or make your profile invisible. As mentioned earlier:

Blocked users may still see your name/profile photo on mutual friends‘ posts or in "People You May Know" suggestions unless privacy settings are adjusted.
Similarly, your comments on mutual friends’ Timelines remain visible.
Blocking only applies on Facebook. Someone could still contact you on other platforms or face-to-face.

Here are a few extra tips around privacy and security related to Facebook blocking:

Check your privacy settings. Adjust options like public visibility carefully.
Be cautious about posting personal information that blocked individuals could exploit.
Use blocking as part of a larger security strategy rather than a standalone solution. Additional steps like stronger passwords, two-factor authentication, and updated software/OS versions all contribute to safety.
Seeking support from professionals (law enforcement, counselors, social workers, etc) may be warranted for more serious cases like stalking or criminal harassment campaigns. Facebook blocking alone is often insufficient.

While no solution is 100% effective, blocking remains a useful self-defense tool as part of a layered approach to online privacy and security.

Key Takeaways: A Recap of Facebook Blocking Best Practices

Let’s quickly recap key learnings around blocking users on Facebook:

Blocking restricts someone’s access to view your profile or contact you on Facebook. They won’t see your posts, tags or messages.
Block by clicking the “More” menu > “Block” on desktop or mobile profiles. Confirm your choice in the popup.
Messenger blocking is distinct – block users directly in chat app to limit messaging ability while still allowing Facebook access.
Unblocking reopens access to your Timeline and messaging ability. Follow same steps but choose “Unblock” option.
Use alternatives like unfollow or snooze to subtly decrease contact before considering a full block.
Weigh relationship/privacy tradeoffs carefully based on your specific circumstances before blocking someone.

I hope this guide gives you clarity into precisely how blocking works on Facebook. Use this newfound knowledge wisely as you curate your social media contacts and online privacy.