How to Take a Break from Someone on Facebook

Social media websites have evolved from the traditional approach placing greater importance on the mental well-being of their users. A few examples include Snapchat’s partnership with Headspace, a popular meditation app, Instagram enforcing stricter penalties for users sending abusive messages to others, etc. Facebook too has introduced similar features; one such feature that we will be talking about today is – Take a Break. In this article, we bring to you a perfect guide that will help understand how to take a break from someone on Facebook or mute someone on Facebook and how Facebook take a break vs unfollow are different.

How to Take a Break from Someone on Facebook

Follow are some difference between Facebook take a break vs unfollow feature.

• When you take a break from a person/profile on the platform, you essentially mute them for an indefinite period.
• Their posts stop appearing on your news feed, and likewise, any posts you make won’t appear on their feed.
• You can also modify privacy settings for the posts already on your timeline to prevent the person from viewing them.
• All the mutual tags between you and the person will be deleted along with posts made on each other’s timelines.
• The person’s profile won’t be prompted/notified when adding tags, sending messages and also posts made by your friends tagging the concerned person won’t appear on your news feed, etc.
• It is different from unfollow option as the selected person won’t be able to see your posts which doesn’t happen when you unfollow someone i.e. they can still see your posts after you unfollow them.

It is intended to ease users through a change in relationship status without taking serious actions like blocking or unfriending the other person. It does not have a time limit and you can take a break from someone for as long as you wish/need. The person you are taking a break from won’t be alerted about your actions, thus, preventing any awkward conversations. Now after understanding about this feature let’s move to how to take a break from someone on Facebook.

Note 1: Smartphones don’t have the same Settings options, they vary from manufacturer to manufacture so check the correct settings before changing anything.

Note 2:  For some bizarre reason, the take a break feature is not available on desktop browsers and you can only take a break from someone through the mobile application or by using a mobile browser.

Taking a break from someone on Facebook is quite easy and only demands a few taps as explained below:

1. Launch the Facebook app on your mobile device by tapping on the app icon.

2. Tap on the search button and type the name of the person you would like to take a break from. Visit their profile.

3. Tap on the Friends button. Select the Take a Break option from the menu.

Note: On some devices, you will need to tap on three horizontal dots to view Profile Settings.

Select Take a Break option from the menu.

4. In the following See less of *name of the person* pop-up, tap See Options to fine-tune the settings.

5. From the provided options, select Limit where you see. The person’s posts and the posts he/she/they are tagged in won’t appear on your feed and you also won’t be prompted to message or tag the person after selecting this option. Tap the Save button.

6. If you would like to hide your posts from this person, tap See Options and select Hide your post from on the next screen. This option will indirectly add the person to the Restricted Friends list. Remember to tap on Save.

7. To change the privacy settings of past posts of you and the concerned person, tap on See Options in Edit who can see past posts section.

8. Select Edit all of my posts and posts that I’m tagged in and Save. Any posts made by you & the person on each other’s timelines will be deleted and you will be untagged from their posts. You can also choose to individually change the privacy settings of each past post.

You have completed the process of how to take a break from someone on Facebook.

Also Read: Fix Facebook Message Sent But Not Delivered

If you are unable to see the Take a Break option when you tap on Friends as shown in Step 3, make sure your app is updated. To update the Facebook application, follow these steps;

1. Tap on the Google Play app icon.

2. Either perform a search for Facebook or tap on your display picture at the top-right corner and then select My Apps & Games.

3. Check if an update is available for Facebook. If yes, tap on the Update button and wait for the update installation to finish.

4. Once the app has been updated, go ahead and check if the take a break option is available.

Pro Tip: How to Revert Take a Break on Facebook

If after some time you wish to revert the changes, you can set all the above preferences back to their default state and end the break. You will need to manually follow the person (only if you wish to see their posts on your news feed) and remove them from your restricted list. Follow the given points to perform the respective actions.

• To follow the person, simply visit their profile and tap on Follow button.
• To remove them from the restricted list, tap on the Friends button on their profile and select Edit Friend Lists (or Add to another list). Open Restricted list and tap on the check icon next to the person’s name to remove him/her from the list.

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We hope that this guide was helpful and you were able to teach you how to take a break from someone on Facebook or mute someone on Facebook and the difference between Facebook take a break vs unfollow. Let us know which method worked for you the best. If you have any queries or, suggestions then feel free to drop them in the comments section.