What Is Facebook Take a Break Feature and How to Use it
Mehvish Mushtaq is a computer engineer by degree. Her love for Android and gadgets led her to develop the first Android app for Kashmir. Known as Dial Kashmir, she won the prestigious Nari Shakti award from the President of India. She has been writing about technology for 6+ years and her favorite categories include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for Android, iOS/iPadOS, social media, and web apps.
Arshmeet has been a tech tinkerer since childhood, but she realized her love for technology and writing about 5 years ago. Since then, she has been honing her skills and helping people figure out how things work, troubleshoot problems, choose the right app and products, and dig deep into the new and old concepts of technology. She is a self-professed Apple Enthusiast who loves debating what’s good and what’s not. It is her passion for finding techniques, hacks, apps, and products that make everyday life simpler.
What Is Take a Break Feature
The Take a break feature lets you literally take a break from someone on Facebook withoutblocking or restrictingthem. The person could be your ex, a friend, a business partner, or anyone.
Say you broke up with someone and want to avoid that person as much as possible — both in the real and digital world. You canunfollow,unfriend, orblock them. However, these are harsh and apparent actions. That is where the Take a break feature helps you.
It’s designed to help you avoid or view fewer posts and stories from the person on your feed. Furthermore, it restricts the other person from viewing your updates on Facebook.
While it offers a similar result to unfollowing or unfriending someone,Take a Bbeak is distinctively different, here’s how.
What Happens When You Take a Break from Someone on Facebook
The feature offers you three key options and the result depends on what you choose.
1. Limit What You See of Someone
The first major change you can make is tohide the person from your viewas much as possible. So, youwon’t be seeing their posts and posts they’re tagged in on your News Feed. However, you can visit their profile to see the latest updates.
Even if a mutual friend tags the said person in a picture or post, that won’t show up on your feed. Moreover, youwon’t be prompted to message or tag themin photos. You’ll have to search for their name to tag them.
Moreover, like Facebook usually does, it won’t send a notification if you and they are going to the same events.
2. Limit What Other Person Sees of You
The Take a break feature also allows you to hide your posts from the other person’s feed. It’s done byadding the person to Facebook’s restricted list.
It will change the privacy settings so that your futureposts and storieswon’t be visible to that person. They can only view the update if the post is public or you have tagged the said person.
3. Limit Privacy of Past Posts Between Two of You
You can also decide what will happen to previous posts that you tagged each other in. What’s more, you can do so individually for every post or set a default for all posts.
Firstly, they will beuntagged from the posts. They won’t be able to see the content (unless public), although it will be visible to other tagged people.
Secondly, if the other person has tagged you or someone else has tagged you both in the same posts,you will automatically be untaggedfrom such posts. Naturally, you won’t see those posts.
Thirdly, yourposts on each other’s timelines before taking a break will be deleted. Notably, it cannot be brought back after you stop taking a break from someone.
Further, if you were a contributor to any shared album with them, you will be removed from it. That is, you can no longer add to those albums.
Where Can You See Each Other
Let’s see what doesn’t change by using this feature.
Messages
Nothing happens to the messages on Facebook Messenger.You can still message each other. However, you won’t see their name as a shortcut. To hide the chat thread from your view on Messenger, you canarchive or deleteit.
Wall Posts
Both of you can still post on each other’s timeline after taking a break if your privacy settings allow that. Who else can see the post again depends on your existing privacy settings.
Comments
If you bothcomment on the same postfrom a friend or a common page/group, you can see other’s comments. You can even reply to the comments.
How to Take a Break from Someone
To take a break from someone on Facebook, you need to perform two major steps — launch the take a break mode and then select its preferences.
Note: By default, when you change your relationship status to single, divorced, or empty, you will be prompted to use the take-a-break feature. Otherwise, you can follow these steps for the Facebook mobile apps and desktop.
Via Facebook Web
Step 1: Go toTake a Breakon Facebook Website.Search and select the nameof the person.
Step 2: Now, set preferences for how you want to Take a break. Click all you back laterSee less of Persons’ profile.
Step 3: SelectLimit where you see Person’s profileand tapSave.
Step 4: Next, clickLimit what Persons’s profile will see. Select a preferred setting and tapSave.
Step 5: ClickEdit who can see past posts. Choose a preferred setting and tapSave.
Step 6: Once you’ve selected all the preferences, tapDoneto Take a break from that person.
Via Mobile app
Open the Facebook profile of the special person. TapFriendsand selectTake a Breakfrom the menu.
Now, you’ll be directed to the preferences window. Select the terms of your break (as shown above) and tapDoneto confirm changes.
How to Reverse Take a Break on Facebook
The process isn’t as easy as removing someone from a list by clicking one button. You need to take slight pain to reverse some of the effects.
On the Facebook website, open theTake a break linkor go to their profile andtap Friends > Take a break(on mobile). Type the name of the person from whom you were taking a break.
On the preferences page, tap Edit and bring back the settings to their original values, i.e.,
Alternatively, if you want to go through all this, you can simply start following their Facebook profile again and take them off therestricted listto end the break.
Note: Just like relationships, not all things will be back to as they were. The untagged posts will not be tagged automatically (you can do it manually) and the posts on each other’s timeline (before break), will not come back. However, you could see content posted during the break on each other timeline.
FAQs For Taking a Break On Facebook
Unlike the snooze on Facebook ormute on WhatsAppthere is no time limit on this feature. It lasts until you follow the person again or remove them from the restricted list.
No. Nobody gets to know that you have taken a break from someone, including the special person. It’s a sweet little secret between you and Facebook. However, they get a bit suspicious when your posts can’t see your posts on their feed or your wall.
Yes, as messaged earlier, it doesn’t affect Messenger. They can message and call you unless youblock them on Messenger.
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Last updated on 02 August, 2024
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