Human beings are social animals that need attention. Social platforms are a good way to communicate and make friends, and Facebook is a major network in this game. You can add, remove, and follow people around the world. Yet these timely interactions may come to an end in the meantime. Now you can see your friends are greyed out on Facebook after some time.

Quick Answer: If their profile appears in gray, their Facebook account may have been deactivated or blocked. In other cases, you may see the ‘add friend’ and ‘follow’ options grayed out for some friends. To add them, you may need to ask your friends to add you themselves.

It can be intriguing to discover that you can no longer reach your friends on Facebook. Even if they appear in your friends list, you may not be able to message them or view their profile. Still, you must be curious why some friends are greyed out on Facebook?

We are here to solve this problem. Here are 2 main reasons why you find some friends’ accounts greyed out.

Reasons why some friends are greyed out on Facebook

Facebook has millions of users. You add people you know and people you don’t. You can browse your chat or friends list and find your friend’s profile grayed out. There is another scenario where you may find the “Add Friend”, “Follow” or “Message” option greyed out.

In this case, there can be many reasons why you get a gray display. They are all described in detail below!

Reason 1: The friend’s profile has been deactivated

A deactivated account may explain why your friend’s profile has turned grey. When you check your message history and your friend has a gray profile picture, chances are they have deactivated their account.

Another interpretation is that Facebook may have blocked your friend’s account. He may have committed offences. You can contact them to find out what’s going on.

This can be frustrating, but another prediction is that your friend may have blocked you accidentally. You can contact your friend from other sources to find out what’s going on.

Reason 2: profile settings

Have you ever seen the “Add a friend” button in gray on Facebook? You need to send a friend request to someone, and the option is gray. In this scenario, the person may have changed and restricted who can send them friend requests. Therefore, you may not be able to send friend requests because you do not match their criteria.

By the way, when you send a friend request to someone on Facebook and they delete it, you also get a gray button. Much like “Add Friend”, you may also see the “message” and “follow” buttons in gray on Facebook. It’s the same thing: the other person may have limited the settings to people who can follow and message on Facebook.

Info: You don’t know how to modify the “Add a friend” function? Here’s what you need to do. Go to Facebook Settings > Privacy > Edit > Who can send you a request. When you get to the right option, click on it. You will get a drop-down menu. You can choose between everyone on Facebook and restricting to mutual friends.

FAQs

Why are the Add a friend and Message options greyed out on my profile?

If a person has set a limit on the engagement of their Facebook account, you may not be able to send them a friend request and send them a message. The person may not want to add strangers. If you know the person, you should ask them to send you a friend request.

Can you see who is following you on Facebook?

Yes, you can see who is following you. If you’re using a PC, go to your Facebook profile > Friends > Followers. On the other hand, if you are on a phone, view your profile and you will get a view of followers. The followers section only appears when non-friend users on Facebook follow you.

How do you know if someone has restricted you on Facebook?

There is no definite way to know if someone has restricted you. However, you can ask your friend to check their account profile and see if their posts are visible to them. If they can see the message and you can’t, that person has restricted you.

Summary

You must have been shocked to see your friend’s profile turned gray on Facebook. It can be difficult to know what went wrong with your friend’s profile. You don’t have to worry. We’ve covered all the possible reasons why some friends are greyed out on Facebook. The next time your friends disappear, you’ll know what to do.