How people find you on Facebook — requests, search and suggestions
Three groups of settings shape how people reach you: who can send you friend requests, who Facebook can suggest your profile to from your phone number or email, and who can see your number or email on your profile. A search for your number or email doesn’t show your profile — unless the email address includes your full name.
Three groups of settings
- Who can send you friend requests?Who can send you a request at allEveryone or Friends of friends
- Who can Facebook suggest your profile to based on your phone number or email?Whether your number or email can make you a suggestionPossible connections (default), Friends of friends, Friends, No one
- Your number and email on your profileWho sees them on your profileThe audience you choose for each
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Where the settings are
Friend requests and suggestions sit together: Settings and privacy → Settings → Audience and visibility → How people find and contact you. Privacy Checkup walks you through them too: profile picture → Settings and privacy → Privacy Checkup → How people can find you.
What these settings don’t do
- Even with suggestions restricted, People you may know may still suggest your profile based on other information.
- People whose requests you ignore or delete start following you.
- A search by an email address that includes your full name may show your profile.
Questions
01Can someone find my profile by searching my phone number?
No — the search results won’t show your profile. The exception is an email address that includes your full name: a search for it may show your profile.
02What is the default for suggestions from my number or email?
Possible connections.
03Is my phone number shown in People you may know?
No. Facebook says your phone number or email address isn’t shared in People you may know.
04What happens when I delete a friend request?
The sender isn’t notified and can’t send you another request for one year.
Other areas of your account
Sources for this guide
Facts on this page come from the Help pages listed here, read between 21 October and 4 November 2026.