List’s Run Amok!
(How To Delete
Unneeded Facebook Lists!)
Sometimes… too many… is just too many!
Facebook lists are one of the advanced tools that are absolutely ESSENTIAL to staying sane while using Facebook For Business.
It’s incredibly easy to create lists on the fly and modify them overtime.
Often however, after a specific use, we need to delete A Facebook List and that is surprisingly not as easy to figure out how to do!
Fortunately, once you know where the delete button is hidden it’s really easy delete those facebook lists.
Disclaimer: This only works for lists you have created (aka “by You”), not for the new “Smart Lists” that are auto-created by FB including “Close Friends” and “Acquaintances”.
How To Delete A Facebook List
1. Log Into Facebook and click on the word Facebook to ensure you are on the home page.
2. In the left-hand navigation, click on “Friends” (formerly: “Lists”) to open the lists page. You can also get there by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists
3. Now click on the name of the list you want to delete.
4. To The Right, click “Manage List” and then in the drop-down select “Delete List”.
5. Click Delete List, confirm, and you’re done!
(You may want to click on the image if you’d like to see a larger view of it.)
That’s it! That’s all there is to Deleting a List in Facebook!
Hope you enjoyed this Facebook For Business tip and if it helped you out please share it with others!
Are you using lists for your Facebook management? What other Facebook tips would you like to see covered?
I look forward to reading your comments below!
Kimberly Castleberry
Your Partner In Online Success
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Edited to change navigation elements in the image that alter how you delete a Facebook friend list on 04/17/12.
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Good grief, it’s really that simple, as with most things on Facebook I was expecting something quite complicated, thanks for this Kim, now I can get on to removing unwanted lists
Hey Kim, thanks for the great info.
Although I have not used any Facebook lists YET, it’s great to have this to refer to when I do. I see why it would not be that straight forward to delete these lists, people seem to hate scrolling! You’re a well of good information
.
Thanks!
BW
Good grief, it’s really that simple, as with most things on Facebook I was expecting something quite complicated, thanks for this Kim, now I can get on to removing unwanted lists
Is it just me or am I so over Facebook? I saw your headline and thought “oh, good, Ive been meaning to do this” but after reading your article I realized that I really dont feel like managing FB anymore. I think Im over it. You?
Yeah, it’s pretty simple to delete lists… and “un-friend” Facebook friends haha!
Yeah, it’s pretty simple to delete lists… and “un-friend” Facebook friends haha!
Its interesting to explore facebook but the tools are just too many and those who’re not too well versed with the tools consume a lot of time just as I do every now and then
I’ve also noticed that facebook has recently introduced some more updates. Now that I’ve read the article and knows exactly how to execute the unneeded facebook lists I’m definitely sorting my lists and thanks to you Kim for that.
Hey Brian,
Facebook has this really insane habit of updating so many granular details… so frequently… that even I who specialize in it can’t always keep up. The only constant is that stuff changes almost every day. I know that keeps them improving the technology but it just seems to me that that behavior is VERY hard on the average visitor. You can tell the addictive power of Facebook that folks will continue to be frustrated, annoyed, and disappointed… and yet not ACTUALLY leave in any sizeable numbers. I think that’s a degree of “stickiness” we all kinda envy, how about you? Let me know if you have any troubles getting the lists resolved they really are a neat tool but sometimes its time to clean house!
Kimberly
Setting up lists is a great way to manage your friends and what you want them to see. So far I haven’t needed to delete a list – what I struggled with the other day was how to delete one person … who was repeatedly spamming me in private chat.
Tks Donna
Uggg, that’s so awful when people do that! I’m sorry you had to fuss with it, Donna!
I assume you figured out how to remove and report them? I’ll try to get a quick guide up shortly on that since now that you mention it, I’m missing one and my new screencapture software makes doing images with scrolling stuff clipped out really easy.
Be sure to let me know if you have any other FB related questions!
Kimberly
Hi Kim,
thank you for the great visual demonstration on how to delete a list.
It was possible to go to friends under the profile picture and click on a list there and then see the status updates of that list.
I haven’t been able to do that lately.
Any suggestions?
I really appreciate all the valuable tips you supply.
Cheers,
Yorinda
Yorinda,
Are you asking about viewing ALL the updates (that includes more that status updates which are text only) of a particularly list…
Or are you asking where to go to filter the entire newsfeed (not lists) down to only the status updates.
Two different questions!
Kimberly
That looks easy. Do you know how I can make my settings where I am not tagged in photos unless I tag myself?
I love FB, but sometimes it annoys me when I get random messages or links on my page. Hopefully this list will clean it up.
This is a good tip to know. My lists haven’t run amok yet but if it does, I’ll know what to do or at least who to ask
It is crazy sometimes when you want to do one simple thing but it takes up so much of your time figuring out how to do it.
I do have a question about FB: How do you post only to a certain list and not to everyone?
Hey Kim – Great post. Thanks so much for the wonderful visuals you added to it. I’ve been meaning to get to updating and fixing my list for a while now. Kinda like a Spring Cleaning. However I am putting that project on hold while I downsize and “spring clean” my entire house to move to Florida by July.
You pictures helped keep the skills in my head for when I’m ready. Hopefully FB won’t change how to do it. If so, I’ll come back and ask.
Debi
Kim, thank you for this post. I had a snag with a few lists I had created last night. I couldn’t see them for some reason so kept trying to recreate the same list multiple times… Eventually today I saw all the lists, but gave up after several clicks here and there trying to figure out how to delete the duplicate ones. Thanks, just what I needed!
Kim, thank you for this post. I had a snag with a few lists I had created last night. I couldn’t see them for some reason so kept trying to recreate the same list multiple times… Eventually today I saw all the lists, but gave up after several clicks here and there trying to figure out how to delete the duplicate ones. Thanks, just what I needed!
Hi Kim, I really found this a very useful post. I do find the list settings a great benefit for managing my Facebook account. But it is great to know how to cancel a list . I have shared your tip with my Facebook pals. All the best Rosemary
I’ve only created 2 on my friends list and the rest are on the Friends list .. How do I do that ? Should I go one picking them one by one just to have them wiped out?
I’ve only created 2 on my friends list and the rest are on the Friends list .. How do I do that ? Should I go one picking them one by one just to have them wiped out?
There is already an update of facebook and it really sucks. I can’t find a way to delete my List
Bernard, I just updated this post to reflect the new Smart Lists and show you how to delete any list you have personally created. Hope that helps!
Kim
Cool, FB has always been some thing dangerous from security point of view,Good blog and thanks.
I’m /not/ using lists. It seems more essential when personal branding is part of your business, right?
Do the lists option only come with the personal (I think it’s called) Facebook type page? Because I’ve got a brand/website type page, and I have not seen in my account setting nor have I ever heard of lists on Facebook (on Twitter, yes)…
Hey Sonny, sorry that was confusing! Yes, lists are part of profiles and are how a profile can filter their newsfeed. Apologies for not being more clear on that!
Kim
With you showing it, it really looks easy but without this I could spend minutes figuring out where the list of lists is located. To think that just a year ago, I was in love with Facebook because it is so easy to use.
is it just me? i followed the instruction but wen i clicked on the list i want to delete, the page returns to the news feed/ homepage. what should i do? please help
Hi Kim,
Apparently Facebook yet again changed the way they do lists. I don’t know why they can’t make it simple. There is now no option to delete in the manage lists drop down. Do you know the new way to delete a list????
Susan, you may want to have a close look that you are trying to delete a custom list and not one of their new fancy “smart lists”. The smart lists are not deletable.
Kim
The list is for a high school that I did not attend and is not on my profile. The high school I did attend is on my profile and is another list.
I have the same problem with the so-called smart list. Just a random thing I deleted from my profile that was quite meaningless and now it is part of this undeletable list cadre’. It’s quite totalitarian.
Great Tutorials! I like how Facebook added this list feature. At least we could organized our friends based on their group. However, there are times that we don’t want to keep this particular group or we need to transfer the list to another, so it is important for us to at least know how to it in a right way.
Mine does not have a “delete list” option
…and it is a list I created, of my workplace, there is no “delete list” option.
I would check to make sure first that your list is a “custom list” which will be right under the list name after you open it. Only the custom lists have delete options. The smart lists can not be deleted as they are a very different creature.
Kim
i did as you said. but there is no delete option where its written MANAGE LIST…? help plss
Be sure you are in a custom list and not in a list with a colored icon. If you are definitely in a custom list and have no delete option then you should probably file a bug report in the “REPORT” tab at http://facebook.com/knownissues
Kim
I have been using FB lists for a long time. I have two businesses with clients, friends, family, old coworkers, old classmates… that I keep track of and keep updated in various ways on FB.
I am having a lot of trouble with the new interface. Do you know of a way to list all of my friends and see the lists they are on and easily add/remove groups or individuals from lists? Putting people on, or taking people off lists one at a time is fairly straightforward. I figured out how to go into an individual list and select people from all my friends to add to that list, or to remove people from that list… but can’t find a way to easily sort out those who are (for some reason) not on a list, or to take people that are already on one list and add some or all of them to another list.
I really miss the old layout that showed all my friends and the lists they were on – with a few clicks it was easy to move people around.
Unfortunately, the current display under my Manage List does not include the “delete” option, the closest option is “archive”. So I’ve archived a boat load of lists that I don’t give a hoot about.
David would there be a chance you could take a screenshot for me so I could see what you are seeing (or in this case not seeing with the delete option)?
Kim
No ‘delete list’ option available on my ‘manage lists’ dropdown. Is there another way of deleting lists?
Dani, is it possible your in one of the pre-created lists (they have colored icons) and not a custom list you made? The pre-created lists are not removable.
Kim
when i go to the Manage List and then i go to the drop-down select Delete List is not there what do i do?
I went to facebook, and the menu with LISTS is not showing up – did they remove it as part of the timeline roll out? or have I gone braindead?
Hey Steve, the menu option says “Friends” not Lists any more. Confusing I know but you open it up and there it is. Good catch on this subtle change.
Kim
So you delete them the same way? I can’t find the delete for them
I just updated the post with a fresh screenshot. Be sure you are looking only at lists you made, not any of the auto-generated ones (have colored icons). The auto ones do not obey any of the rules.
Kim
this did not work for me. When I click on manage list only thing that displays in the drop down is Edit List and Updates. I clicked on both to try to find a delete button, but nothing….
uhg
Aubrey – those are the only 2 options available if you are not in a custom list. It sounds like you’re looking at a “smart list” (which has a colored icon). You can not delete the auto-created smart lists. This includes “close friends”, “acquaintances”, “family”, “employer” & “restricted”.
Kim