How to Declutter Facebook Feed

The Facebook feed is where the action happens. It’s where we receive updates from friends, groups, and pages. It also shows content based on the data Facebook collects on us. Over time, the feed can get cluttered with updates and content we don’t want to see. So, how do we declutter it?

Facebook’s algorithm aims to please and often succeeds. Many users, however, are dissatisfied and want to see less from certain sources while increasing visibility of others. To tackle this issue, we offer a few suggestions to help clean up your Facebook feed.

1. Unfriend Some

Not everyone on your friend list is your friend. Some of them may no longer be friends or were known acquaintances or old colleagues who no longer work with you. It’s a good idea to go through your friend list and unfriend those you can. Don’t worry, they won’t receive a notification.

There are two ways to unfriend someone on Facebook. The first way is to visit their profile, click on the Friends button, and select Unfriend.

This will take time as you’ll have to visit individual profiles. A faster way is to open your profile page by clicking on your profile picture and selecting the Friends tab.

Here, you’ll find a list of all your friends. Just click on the three-dot menu icon and unfriend them.

2. Unfollow or Take a Break From Friends

You can unfriend everyone but take a break from their feeds. Facebook offers two features to declutter your feeds. One is Unfollow and the other is Take a Break.

Essentially, you are saying that we are still friends, but I don’t want to hear from you for some time because your interests do not align with mine. You will remain friends on Facebook but won’t receive updates in your feed when they post pet photos or images with motivational quotes.

3. Snooze for 30 Days

Another way to declutter your Facebook feed is by snoozing a profile for 30 days. When you snooze an alarm clock, it means you are deferring it and it will go off again after a set time period. When you snooze a profile on Facebook, you will stop receiving updates from them in your feed.

You will still be friends, message each other, check each other’s profiles, and do everything else. You just won’t view updates from them in your feed. After the 30 days, you will be notified and begin seeing updates again. You can snooze anyone from the feed by opening the three-dot menu.

4. Hiding Posts

Your friends might share posts or updates from pages they follow, which you do not. Yet, you still see these updates in your Facebook feed as you are friends with the person who shared them.

Click on the three-dot menu and notice two options: Hide post and Hide all from the page name. Choosing the first option tells Facebook that you want to see fewer posts like this. Choosing the second option hides all posts from that Facebook Page. The Hide option works on profiles, pages, and groups.

5. Unlike Facebook Groups

There is a Facebook group for everything. Some users end up receiving a ton of updates from pages they don’t even remember following. This is a good time to go through the list and unfollow some.

Maybe you no longer support that soccer team or have moved to a different city and no longer have any interest in what’s happening there. Regardless, open Facebook Groups and click on the Liked button to unfollow.

6. Change Follow Settings of Group

Not ready to stop using Facebook? Want to keep following but with more control? Luckily, Facebook lets you decide how and when a page posts on your feed. Just click the three-dot menu icon on the group page and choose Follow settings.

You will be greeted with a pop-up divided into two parts. In the News Feed, you will find:

Favorites: posts from this page take priority and are displayed higher up in your newsfeed.

Default: posts are displayed as they come.

Snooze: you will view no posts for the next 30 days.

Off: you will never view any posts again.

The Notifications settings allow control over the type of content you want to be notified about, such as posts, videos, offers, and live videos.

Inside Posts, the Standard option sends you up to 5 new notifications per day. You can reduce the frequency by selecting Highlights or turn it off by choosing Off. Set the content type according to your needs and fine-tune these settings later if necessary.

7. Sort Feeds

Finally, you can filter posts on the feed page by using the filter option. Click on the filter icon, which looks like two parallel lines.

The Home is the default option on Facebook, showing relevant posts and updates based on years of collected data.

The Favorites option displays posts from friends and pages you’ve marked as Favorites.

The Recent option displays posts in chronological order.

Click on News Feed preferences to add and remove friends and pages from Favorites by clicking the Star icon. You can then filter and consume posts from sources in the Favorites list. You can also Unfollow or Reconnect from here and manage the Snooze list.

About Face

Social media sites like Facebook can be a great way to catch up with friends, follow topics we love, and stay informed. However, if unchecked, they can lead to procrastination and time wastage. It’s important to use these tools wisely and not let them control us.

Fortunately, Facebook offers ways to manage feeds and declutter our experience, allowing us to make more sense of what’s happening around us.

Next, if you want a break from Facebook, consider uninstalling the apps instead of just decluttering. Click the link below to learn what happens when you uninstall Facebook and Messenger apps.