So someone sends me a friend request, I click Accept, and either nothing happens or it says “Request Sent” like I’m the one sending it. Or the request just disappears completely without adding them to my friends list. Like why is accepting a friend request so complicated??
This makes no sense…
And checking forums shows thousands of people stuck with the same nonsense. Friend requests that won’t accept, buttons that don’t work, or requests that vanish after clicking Accept. Facebook can’t even get basic friend functionality right anymore!
You Hit The 5,000 Friend Limit
Here’s something Facebook doesn’t tell you clearly – personal profiles max out at 5,000 friends. If you’re at that limit, you literally CAN’T accept any more requests no matter how many people send them!
The requests will pile up in your inbox but clicking Accept does NOTHING because Facebook won’t let you go over 5,000. The button might work but the person never gets added to your list.
Check your friend count…
Go to your profile and look at how many friends you have. If it says 5,000 exactly? That’s your problem. You need to unfriend some people to make room, or switch to Professional Mode which removes the friend limit entirely.
And if you’re dealing with other Facebook account issues while trying to manage friends, check out this guide on accounts that get locked since friend request problems sometimes happen alongside access issues!
Their Request Was Reported Or Flagged
If someone’s friend request got reported by other users as spam or unwelcome, Facebook might auto-reject it even when you try to accept. The system thinks it’s protecting you from a potential fake account or spammer.
This happens a lot with new accounts that sent too many requests too fast. Facebook flags them as suspicious and blocks their requests from being accepted by anyone, even people who actually know them!
There’s nothing you can do about this except wait for Facebook to unblock them, or ask them to send you a message instead so you can verify they’re real. And if messages aren’t working either, check out this guide on Messenger issues since communication problems often happen together!
Cache Is Corrupted (Shocking)
Corrupted cache strikes again! If clicking Accept doesn’t add the person to your friends, old cached data might be blocking the action from completing properly.
Clear your cache: On mobile Settings > Apps > Facebook > Storage > Clear Cache. On desktop browser Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data > Cached images and files.
After clearing, close Facebook completely, restart your device, then try accepting requests again. This fixes the issue like 50% of the time honestly.
The App Is Outdated
Running an old version of Facebook from months ago? Friend request functionality can break when the app is outdated compared to Facebook’s current server setup.
Update Facebook through App Store or Google Play. Then restart your phone completely before trying to accept requests. Old app versions cause all kinds of weird glitches with buttons not working!
I’m not gonna lie, this fixed my accept button issues immediately after I’d been fighting with it for days thinking my account was broken!
Privacy Settings Are Blocking Acceptance
If your privacy settings are configured wrong, you might not be able to accept requests even though they’re showing up in your inbox. Sounds backwards but Facebook’s settings are messy as hell!
Go to Settings > Privacy > How People Find and Contact You > check the setting for “Who can send you friend requests?” Make sure it’s set to Everyone or Friends of Friends, not some restricted option.
If it’s set to “Friends of Friends” and someone with no mutual friends sent you a request? It might show up but won’t actually let you accept it because your settings conflict with their request!
They Cancelled Their Request
Sometimes people send a friend request then change their mind and cancel it before you accept. When you click Accept on a cancelled request, nothing happens because the request doesn’t EXIST anymore on their end!
This is especially common when people accidentally send requests while browsing profiles. They realize their mistake, cancel immediately, but you STILL see the request notification for a while until Facebook syncs up.
Super annoying…
COMMON REASONS ACCEPT FAILS
Let me break down the most common situations where clicking Accept does absolutely nothing:
- Friend limit reached – You’re at 5,000 and can’t add more
- Request was cancelled – They changed their mind before you accepted
- Account deactivated – They shut down their profile
- Flagged as spam – Facebook blocked their request
- You blocked them – Even old blocks prevent acceptance
- Connection dropped – Internet failed mid-click
Any of these will make the Accept button either do nothing or fail silently without telling you why!
Network Connection Failed Mid-Accept
If your internet drops right when you click Accept, the action might look like it worked but actually failed in the background. Then when Facebook syncs, the request is still there because it never completed.
Make sure you have strong WiFi or cellular signal before accepting requests. And wait for the confirmation that they were actually added to your friends list before closing Facebook!
I’ve “accepted” requests like 5 times on shaky WiFi only to find out hours later they never actually went through. Had to accept them all over again on good connection!
Log Out And Back In
Sometimes your Facebook session gets stuck in a weird state where actions don’t complete properly. Logging out completely and logging back in refreshes your session and can fix accept button issues.
Go to Settings > Log Out. Wait 30 seconds. Then log back in and try accepting requests. Simple but it works more often than it should!
The Person Deactivated Their Account
If someone sent you a friend request then deactivated their Facebook account before you accepted, the request becomes invalid. Clicking Accept won’t work because their account doesn’t technically EXIST anymore!
The request will just sit there in your inbox until either they reactivate (then you can accept) or you delete it manually. Facebook should auto-remove these but sometimes they stick around causing confusion.
You Previously Blocked Them
If you ever blocked someone, even years ago, you can’t accept a friend request from them until you unblock them first. The request might show up but clicking Accept fails silently.
Check Settings > Blocking to see if they’re on your blocked list. If they are, unblock them. But remember – after unblocking, you have to wait 48 hours before friend requests work between you again! Another arbitrary Facebook rule that makes everything complicated!
Facebook Glitch Or Bug
Sometimes Facebook’s friend request system just glitches out temporarily. Accept buttons stop working for everyone, requests disappear randomly, or the whole system freezes up.
Check Downdetector to see if thousands of other people are reporting friend request issues. If they are, it’s a Facebook-wide problem and all you can do is wait for them to fix their servers.
These glitches usually resolve within a few hours but sometimes last a day or two while Facebook scrambles to patch whatever they broke with their latest update!
Try Desktop Instead of Mobile
If accepting requests isn’t working on mobile, try logging in through a desktop browser. Sometimes features that are broken on the app work perfectly fine on desktop, or vice versa.
Facebook’s interface is buggy enough that one platform might have issues while the other works normally. Switching platforms is annoying but it’s a solid troubleshooting step!
What Actually Fixed It For Me
After fighting with friend requests that wouldn’t accept, here’s what finally worked: Checked my friend count and realized I was at 4,998 friends (so close to the limit!). Unfriended some old inactive accounts I didn’t recognize. Cleared my cache. Updated the Facebook app. Then requests started accepting normally again.
Problem solved!!
Turns out I was almost at the 5,000 limit which was causing weird glitches with the accept button. Combined with outdated cache, my friend request system was completely broken until I fixed both issues.
The most frustrating part? Facebook never tells you when you’re approaching the friend limit or that it might cause problems. They just let your accept button silently fail without any error message explaining why. You’re supposed to somehow magically know what’s wrong!
For a social network that’s supposed to make connecting easy, they sure put a lot of hidden obstacles in the way. Friend limits, arbitrary waiting periods, mysterious blocks with no explanations. It’s like they’re actively trying to prevent people from making friends on their friendship platform!
If this article helped you finally accept those friend requests after hours of clicking Accept over and over, share it with someone else who’s probably stuck in the same broken button hell right now!!