How to See the Friend Requests I Sent on Facebook
The list exists, it is two taps deeper than it should be, and the number on it matters more than people realize.
Open the friend requests area, then look for the view sent requests option inside it. That screen lists every pending request you have sent, oldest first, with a cancel control on each one.
Cancelling is silent. The other person is not told, and if they never opened the request they will not know it existed.
The same screen is the one to use when Facebook has temporarily stopped you adding people, because a long pending list is usually the reason.
The pending list is not just clutter. It is the input to the limit that catches people.
Facebook watches the ratio between requests sent and requests accepted. A long queue of requests that nobody acted on reads as someone adding strangers in bulk, which is the pattern behind both spam and scraping. The response is a temporary block on sending new requests, and the message that announces it does not explain which behavior triggered it.
That is why the cancel screen is the practical fix rather than a tidy-up. Clearing requests that have sat unanswered for months shortens the queue and removes the evidence of indiscriminate adding.
The other half is the ignore signal. A request that is declined counts against you more than one that is pending, and there is nothing to clear afterwards, which is a reason to send fewer and better ones.
And the limit is not about the size of your friends list. People with large lists and people with small ones hit the same wall, because the system is reading behavior, not inventory.
Finding the list
On the phone, open the menu, go to friends, then friend requests. Inside that screen there is a control for requests you have sent.
On a computer, go to the friends area and choose sent requests in the left-hand list.
The list is ordered by age, which is convenient: the oldest entries are the ones worth clearing.
If you cannot find it, note that it is never on the main profile page. It always lives inside the friend requests screen.
Canceling, and what the other person sees
Each entry has a cancel control. Confirming removes the request immediately.
If the person had not opened the notification, nothing remains for them to find.
If they had already seen it, the request simply disappears from their list. Facebook does not say it was withdrawn.
After canceling, there is a cooling-off period before you can send a request to the same person again. It exists to stop repeat adding and it is not an error.
Why requests stay pending forever
Many people never check the request screen. Requests from strangers in particular can sit for years.
Accounts that are inactive or disabled hold requests indefinitely, because nobody is there to act.
If the person has their request settings limited to friends of friends, your request may be in a filtered area rather than in their main list.
None of this means you were declined. Declined requests disappear from your sent list rather than lingering in it.
When Facebook blocks you from sending requests
The message mentions a temporary restriction and gives a date. There is no appeal that reliably shortens it.
What helps afterwards: cancel the old pending requests, stop sending to people you have no connection with, and wait out the period rather than trying from another device.
Adding people who share groups, workplaces or mutual friends has a far higher acceptance rate, which is the actual way out of the cycle.
If what you want is an audience rather than friends, switch on followers and let people follow instead. That removes the request mechanic from the equation entirely.
Managing the incoming side too
The same screen lists requests you have received, and leaving them unanswered has no cost to you.
Declining is silent. The sender is not told, and they will not see that it was refused.
If unwanted requests are constant, the setting for who can send them can be narrowed to friends of friends.
That setting affects strangers trying to reach you and does nothing to the requests you send, which are governed by the behavior described above.
Questions people ask about sent friend requests
Where are the friend requests I sent?
Inside the friend requests screen there is a view for sent requests, listing everything still pending with a cancel control.
Does canceling a friend request notify the person?
No. It disappears from their list silently, and if they never opened it they will not know it was there.
Can I resend a request after canceling?
Yes, but not immediately. Facebook applies a waiting period to the same person before another request can be sent.
Why can't I send friend requests any more?
A temporary restriction, usually triggered by many requests that were ignored or declined. Clearing old pending requests and waiting is the fix.
Do pending requests expire?
Not reliably. Requests can sit for years on accounts that are inactive or whose owner never checks the screen.
Is there a limit on how many friends I can have?
There is a ceiling on friends, but the restriction people hit is on sending requests, which is about behavior rather than the size of the list.
Keep reading
- followers on a Facebook profile — Followers are the half of the profile that needs no request and no approval, and followers on a Facebook profile acts on that number directly.
- stopping requests coming in — The incoming side has its own controls, and stopping requests coming in covers the setting and its side effects.
- why a request will not send — When the button refuses, the cause is usually one of a few specific states, and why a request will not send lists them.