If you no longer wish to be contacted by a friend via Facebook messaging, the easiest way is to block him directly in Messenger: he will remain in your list of friends, but will no longer be able to call or write to you.
Like many Facebook members, you probably use Messenger to chat with friends, privately or in groups. You may even use the social network’s messaging service on your mobile, thanks to the Messenger app – or Messenger Lite, its lighter version – which is independent of the Facebook app. In any case, it is possible that one of your contacts becomes intrusive or heavy, by sending you insistent or annoying messages at times when you do not have the desire or the time to answer. Of course, you can always eject them purely and simply from your circle of friends (see our practical sheet Blocking or deleting a friend from Facebook), to no longer have any contact. But it is sometimes delicate, on the diplomatic level…
It is then much wiser to block him only on Messenger, which will prevent him from seeing you and therefore from soliciting you. They will remain in your friends list and you will continue to see their comments and posts on Facebook. But he won’t be able to write to you or call you! The blocking procedure is carried out both with the Messenger mobile app and with the web version of Facebook. In both cases, your friend will not be notified and you can always unblock him later to resume your exchanges.
Note, however, that if you don’t want to be disturbed by anyone for a given time, the best solution is to activate offline mode (see our practical sheet Going offline on Facebook and Messenger).
Even though Messenger is intimately linked to Facebook, conversation blocking is done within the messaging app – and even in its Lite version, if you use it.
- Launch the Messenger app. Open a conversation with the friend you want to block, then tap the i button, at the top right of the screen in the Android version, or on her nameat the top of the screen, in the iOS version for iPhone and iPad.
- Scroll down and tap To block.
- A new window asks you to specify whether the blocking concerns only Messenger or Facebook as a whole. Tap the icon No entry, on the right of Block on Messenger.
- Confirm your choice in the window that opens by pressing To block. It’s over !
There is no Web version for Messenger: everything happens on the Facebook site.
- Access your Facebook account with your usual browser.
- Go to the Messenger section. Open the chat window with the friend you want to block, then click her name in the bar at the top of the window.
- In the menu that appears, click To block.
- A new window asks you to specify whether the blocking concerns only Messenger or Facebook as a whole. Click on Block calls and messages to limit the blocking to Messenger.
- A validation window opens. Confirm your choice by clicking on To block. That’s it: your friend is now blocked in Messenger. He will not be notified but you will be invisible to him in the messaging system.
