How to Find New Friends on Facebook (Computer & Mobile)

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Find new Facebook friends with these tips & tricks

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: July 14, 2025 Fact Checked

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Ways to Find New Friends

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View & Manage Facebook Friends (Mobile)

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View & Manage Facebook Friends (Computer)

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FAQ

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Video

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Tips

If you’re looking to find new friends on Facebook (whether you're an iPhone, iPad, Android, or using your computer), there are a lot of ways you can go about it. You can browse through your existing friends' friends lists and individually add them, or even try the "Find Friends" feature on Facebook. In this article, we'll teach you various methods to find new friends on Facebook. We also go over some frequently asked questions if you can't find your friends on Facebook.

Finding New Facebook Friends

Use the "Find Friends" feature on your Friends list to find suggested friends and people you may know.
Use Facebook's search feature to find friends by name, location, school, or workplace.
Check your existing friends' friend lists for people you might know, or join Facebook groups to meet people with common interests.

Section 1 of 4:

Ways to Find New Friends

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Use the "Find Friends" feature on Facebook to find new friends. Formerly known as the "friend finder," Facebook's "Find Friends" tool makes it easy to find new and old friends on Facebook with whom you have yet to connect. This tool shows you a list of people you may already know, mutual friends, and other people Facebook thinks you might be interested in getting to know.
- In the Facebook mobile app, tap the three-line menu, tap your name at the top, then scroll down to the "Friends" section. Tap Find friends to scroll through suggested friends, and tap Add friend to send someone a friend request.^{[1]
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- On a computer, click Friends at the top of your Facebook profile, then click Find Friends on the right side of the page. To add a friend, click Add friend.^{[2]
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- When you send a friend request, the person will be notified, and they will have to accept your request before you two become official Facebook friends.
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Search for new friends. If you already know who you're looking for, searching for new friends is easy—use the search bar at the top of Facebook to look for your friend's profile. But what if you want to find new friends? There are a few ways you can do this:
- Finding friends by location: Instead of typing a name into the search bar, search for the current city or hometown of someone you want to add.
- Finding friends by school: Enter the school of the friend you’re looking for. You can enter a high school or a university.
- Finding friends by employer: Enter the employers of the friend you’re looking for. This could be a current or past employer.
  - Finding friends with information other than their name depends on whether they have added that info to their Facebook account. Cities, schools, and employers are all optional on Facebook, so you might not be able to find the person you're searching for with this info if they haven't put it on their account.
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Look for new friends in Facebook groups. If you're in a Facebook group, you can add friends by clicking or tapping on their name, or by viewing the member list. It's best to only add people you've talked to before, as most people won't accept random friend requests.
- Some Facebook groups are dedicated to allowing people to find new friends. If you're looking to meet new people, try searching for one of these groups and joining them.
  - If you do join one of these groups, make sure to review the group rules, and only add new friends that you click with.
- You could also try joining groups based on your interests if you want to meet like-minded people. This also gives you an easy conversation topic with the other person, since you already know that you have something in common.
- If you want to meet new local friends, try finding a Facebook group based around your city.
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Try Facebook Dating. While Facebook Dating is primarily a dating platform, some people do use it to look for friends only. However, make sure that you're maintaining your boundaries and keep your intentions up front. Try putting "looking for friendships only" in your dating profile.
- If you end up using Facebook Dating to find friends, you may encounter some people who either don't see or ignore the fact that you're only looking for friends. Be prepared to handle these conversations if they arise.
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Add mutual friends. Your current friends might be friends with people you'd like to know. Click or tap on a friend's profile, then open their friends list. You can add people from your friends' friends lists by tapping Add friend.
- You can sort your friends' friends lists by a few categories, such as Current City, Hometown, and more.
  - Skip the Mutual Friends section. This section shows friends that you and this friend have in common. You won't be able to add anyone from this section as you are already friends with them.

Section 2 of 4:

View & Manage Facebook Friends on Mobile

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Look for the Facebook app on your mobile device. It’s the one with the app icon with the Facebook logo.
To do this, tap on the icon of two people at the bottom of your screen that says Friends.
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Accept friend requests. Tap the Requests button on the header menu bar, and you will see a "Friend Requests" section that contains the people on Facebook who have sent you friend requests that you haven’t answered yet.
- If you find someone you know and will like to add, tap the Confirm button beside their name.

Section 3 of 4:

View & Manage Facebook Friends on a Computer

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Open Facebook. If you want to see your friends list, find recently added friends, or respond to friend requests, you can do so from your friends list. Go to facebook.com from any web browser on your computer.
- Log in if you aren't already.
At the top of the screen, click the button that has an icon of two people. It's to the right of the home icon.
Click on Friend Requests. This section contains the people on Facebook who have sent you friend requests that you haven’t answered yet. If you find someone you know and would like to add, click the Confirm button under their name.

Section 4 of 4:

FAQ

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Why can't I find a friend on Facebook? If you're looking for someone on Facebook and you can't find them, there are a couple of reasons why this might be happening:^{[3]
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- The other person could have their Facebook privacy settings set in a way where their profile can't be found. If this is the case, you might need a direct link to their profile, or you can ask the person to add you first.
- The other person might have you blocked, or you might have blocked them at some point.^{[4]
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Why is my friend suggestions page blank? If you haven't gotten a friend suggestion, you won't see anything on the friend suggestions page. You'll have to wait until you get a friend suggestion from someone else.
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How do I see someone's newest friend on Facebook? If the other person has their friends list public (or you have them as a friend), go to their friends list and click the Recently added section to see their newest friends.

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Likewise, be careful about accepting friend requests from people you don't know. This is especially true if you're a kid or teenager, and you're getting friend requests from adults who are strangers.^{[5]
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Avoid adding people you don't know on Facebook. If you do, the friend request will likely be ignored, as many people don't like to add random people they don't know on Facebook.

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