More friends. Fewer distractions. A little control over what fills your screen. Facebook’s current tools let you browse recent posts, prioritise favourite people and quieten the sources you have had quite enough of.
Remember when you opened Facebook and saw a steady flow of posts from your nearest and dearest? Those were the days! Now, a quick catch-up can turn into a tour of recommended videos, strangers’ opinions and things you never asked to see.
You cannot choose every post Facebook puts in front of you, but you can make better use of the controls it gives you. Start with the one that matches what is bothering you.
Catch up properly
Open Feeds for recent posts from your connections.
Stop missing people
Add important friends and Pages to Favourites.
Turn down the noise
Use Snooze, Unfollow and post feedback.
1Use Feeds for the newest posts
Your usual Home feed is ranked. Facebook predicts what might interest you, so a post from several days ago can appear above something a friend shared this morning.
Feeds is the current place to browse recent posts from people, Pages and groups you follow, with the newest first. It replaces the old “Most Recent” route described in earlier versions of this guide.
On a computer
- Return to Home.
- Choose Feeds in the left menu. Click See more if it is hidden.
- Choose All, or narrow it down to Friends, Favourites, Groups or Pages.
Tap or click the image to enlarge.
On a phone: open Menu, then look for Feeds, sometimes under See more. Choose the filter you want. Some app versions also offer a Feeds shortcut.
This does not permanently replace Home. When you return to Home or reopen Facebook, its ranked feed can appear again. Feeds is not a promise of every post, and it does not remove adverts.
2Give Favourites a little priority
If you regularly miss a particular person’s updates, add them to Favourites. You can choose up to 30 friends and Pages combined. Groups cannot be added.
- Click your profile picture at the top right.
- Choose Settings & privacy → Content preferences.
- Open Favourites.
- Search for a friend or Page, then use the favourite control beside their name. Use it again to remove them.
Their posts get extra priority in your main Feed. To browse just this selection, open Feeds → Favourites.
Friends and Pages are not notified when you add or remove them. Close friends and custom friend lists are different tools. See Facebook Lists for Newsfeed Preferences for the distinction.
3Find your Content preferences
This is your central place to review who you see and undo changes you have made before.
On a computer: profile picture → Settings & privacy → Content preferences.
On a phone: open Menu → Settings & privacy → Settings, then look for Content preferences or Feed. Use the settings search if the label has moved.
Tap or click the image to enlarge.
The account checked for this guide also shows Political content and Sensitive content controls. Open these to review the choices available to you. They are not a guarantee that a subject will never appear.
4Choose between Snooze and Unfollow
Snooze: a 30-day break
Temporarily hide posts from a profile, Page or group. Useful when one topic has taken over your feed. The source is not notified.
Unfollow: a longer break
Stop seeing a person, Page or group’s posts in your Feed. Unfollowing a friend keeps the friendship in place.
From a post
- Open the three-dot menu at the top right of a post.
- Look for Snooze [name] for 30 days or Unfollow [name]. Some menus put further choices under More options.
- Read the name carefully, especially when somebody has shared another person’s post.
Not every post offers the same options. A recommended post from a source you do not follow can have a different menu from a friend’s update.
To undo a Snooze: open Content preferences → Snooze and look for End snooze. To follow someone again: use Reconnect. These are better starting points than a wholesale clear-out of your friends list.
Snoozing or unfollowing changes what you read. It does not restrict who can see your posts or block someone from messaging you. For that, review your audience or blocking settings separately.
5Give Facebook useful feedback
The three-dot menu can also offer Interested, Not interested, or similar wording such as Show more and Show less. Use the choices available on your screen to signal what you want more or less of.
- Not interested: ask for fewer posts like that recommendation.
- Hide post: remove that particular item, where the option is offered.
- Save post: keep something useful for later.
- Report post: flag a possible rule violation. It is not a general dislike button.
One click will not reset your whole feed. Nor is there a reliable rule that using a particular reaction emoji will get you the feed you want. Reaction-count settings change the numbers displayed, not who you follow or which sources you have prioritised.
6Review apps and websites separately
The old advice to “block all posts from an app” does not fit every current post menu. For content somebody else shares, use the relevant post controls. For an app connected to your own account, check its permissions.
On a computer
- Open Settings & privacy → Settings.
- Choose Apps and websites. If necessary, search settings for it.
- Open View and edit beside an app to review its permissions.
- If you no longer want the connection, read the removal information before choosing Remove and confirming.
Not every app has permission to publish posts. Removing a connection is also different from deleting old posts or stopping friends tagging you. Check each task separately, and make sure you have another way to sign in to a service before removing a Facebook login you rely on.
On a phone: look for Apps and websites in Settings. The menu location can differ from desktop.
A five-minute tidy-up
Open Feeds → Friends, add a few people you miss to Favourites, and Snooze one source that is drowning out everything else. Small changes, less irritation.
If adverts are the main problem, use the separate guide: How to Change the Adverts You See on Facebook.
Next in the series: What Happens to my Facebook Account when I Die?
Sources and update notes
Updated 17 October 2026. Desktop Feeds, Content preferences and a post menu were checked in Facebook, alongside the current Help pages below. Options vary by post, account and app version. Phone instructions describe the relevant settings; the mobile apps were not tested directly.
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