Ever get that weird feeling when Facebook suggests someone you just met at a coffee shop three hours ago? It’s spooky. Honestly, the algorithm is a massive, complex machine, but finding where those suggestions actually live shouldn't be a mystery. If you're wondering how do you see suggested friends on facebook, you're likely looking for the "People You May Know" (PYMK) section. It’s tucked away in different spots depending on whether you’re doom-scrolling on an iPhone or clicking around on a desktop.
Let’s be real. Sometimes you want to find new people to connect with, and other times you just want to see who Facebook thinks you know so you can preemptively block them. Either way, the "People You May Know" feature is the hub.
Where the Suggestions Hide on Mobile and Desktop
If you are using the Facebook app on a smartphone, look at the bottom (or top) navigation bar. See that icon with the two little people silhouettes? Tap it. That’s your "Friends" tab. Once you are there, you’ll usually see your pending friend requests at the top. Scroll just a tiny bit past those, and you’ll hit the "People You May Know" section. It’s a horizontal scroll or a vertical list depending on your specific version of the app. Meta updates the UI constantly. Sometimes they hide it behind a "See All" button next to your current friend requests.
Desktop users have it a bit differently. On the web version, look at the left-hand sidebar. There’s a "Friends" link right there. When you click that, a secondary menu opens up. Click "Suggestions." This is the cleanest way to see a massive list of people the algorithm is pushing your way.
It is worth noting that Facebook doesn't just show these in one spot. They show up in your notifications. They pop up in the middle of your News Feed like an uninvited guest. They even appear after you’ve just added someone new.
Why do these people even show up?
The "People You May Know" algorithm isn't just random luck. It’s a mix of several factors. The most common one is mutual friends. If you have 50 friends in common with someone, Facebook assumes you’re probably in the same social circle. But it goes deeper. They look at your work and education info. If you both went to the same high school in 2012, you're going to see each other.
Then there’s the controversial stuff. Contact syncing. If you uploaded your phone’s contact list to Facebook years ago and forgot about it, the app is still using that data. It cross-references phone numbers and email addresses. If someone has your number in their phone and they synced their contacts, you might show up as a suggestion for them, and vice versa. It’s a bit of a privacy rabbit hole.
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Managing the List and Customizing Your Privacy
You don't have to just accept the list as it is. You can actually curate it.
Beside every suggested friend, there is usually an "Add Friend" button and a "Remove" button (sometimes an 'X'). If you click "Remove," it doesn't just hide that person for now. It actually teaches the algorithm something. It tells Facebook, "Hey, I don't know this person, or I don't want to know them." Over time, doing this makes your suggestions more accurate. Or at least less annoying.
Turning Off the Notifications
Does it drive you crazy when Facebook sends a push notification saying "You have a new friend suggestion"? You can kill those.
- Go to your Settings & Privacy.
- Hit Settings.
- Look for Notifications.
- Find People You May Know.
- Toggle it off.
This won't stop the suggestions from existing inside the "Friends" tab, but it will stop your phone from buzzing about them at 3:00 AM.
The Mystery of Profile Viewers
There is a long-standing urban legend that if someone shows up in your suggested friends, it’s because they were "stalking" your profile. Facebook has officially denied this for years. They claim that profile views do not influence the "People You May Know" list.
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However, many users remain skeptical. There are countless anecdotes of people seeing "suggested friends" who have zero mutual connections, didn't go to the same school, and aren't in their contacts. In these cases, it's often because of location services or third-party app data. If you were both at the same wedding and had your GPS on, the algorithm might put two and two together. It’s less about them "viewing" you and more about the data points overlapping in the cloud.
Does the algorithm ever get it wrong?
Constantly. You’ll see people you haven't spoken to in twenty years. You’ll see your ex-boss. You’ll see someone you met once at a bus stop. The system is designed to maximize "meaningful social interactions," but its definition of "meaningful" is basically anyone you might click on.
Taking Control of Your Friend Suggestions
If you want to stop seeing specific types of people, the best move is to tighten your privacy settings. Limit who can send you friend requests to "Friends of Friends" instead of "Everyone." This narrows the pool of who the algorithm considers a "potential" match for you.
Also, check your Off-Facebook Activity. Meta tracks what you do on other websites and apps. If you’re browsing a professional networking site or a specific hobby forum, that data can feed back into your friend suggestions. Clearing this history in your account settings can sometimes "reset" the weirdness of your PYMK list.
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Next Steps for Better Privacy:
Start by reviewing your Media and Contacts settings in the Facebook mobile app. If "Continuous Contacts Upload" is toggled on, your phone is constantly feeding your private address book to the algorithm. Turning this off is the single most effective way to stop getting suggestions based on your real-world phone calls and texts. Once that's off, spend five minutes hitting "Remove" on the top ten suggestions you currently have. This "cleans" your profile's social graph and forces the algorithm to find more relevant connections rather than just suggesting every person you've ever walked past in a grocery store.