What Does ‘Take a Break’ Mean on Facebook?: Everything Unfolded About the Feature Here

“Take a break from Facebook” isn’t really what many of you may have thought of it as in the first place. Definitely not what I thought, at least. 

While most may assume it means take a break from the mega social media platform, that is certainly not the case.

In fact, it comes with a twist that other social media websites don’t offer. Here’s the catch — its feature lets you have the break you need from people even on Facebook, which usually only happens in regular life. 

Like the locking profile feature on Facebook, it really knows how to come up with the coolest features despite so much competition.

So what does taking a break mean on Facebook? Let’s start with its meaning and use it first. 

About “Take a Break on Facebook” Feature

To put it simply, the “Take a Break” feature on Facebook is made with the idea of helping users manage and control interactions with specific friends once they hit a rough patch in real life.

Once the users change their status from being married or in a relationship to being single, Facebook might prompt them with the feature of “Take a Break.”

So if you’re wondering whether you can see who views your Facebook, with the help of this feature, users can easily restrict the visibility of their ex’s posts and prevent them from viewing each other’s updates. In addition, it also offers the option to customize who can see their tags in the past and future posts.

Basically, it is simply an attempt by Facebook for ex-partners and users to coexist without any discomfort on the platform and let them have more control over their interactions in this space. 

So now that you’ve got a grasp on what taking a break on Facebook means, let’s see how the process goes down and if there is really anything that you need to keep in mind before getting started with it.

How to Take a Break From Someone on Facebook?

As you’ve most probably gotten the answer to what is taking a break on Facebook, now the question that remains is how to take a break from someone on Facebook?

If you are planning on taking a break from someone, it might be due to a change in the route of your bond with them or because their posts were flooding your feed.

So whatever the reason might be, the steps to take a break on Facebook for both mobile phone and desktop are as follows: 

Using a Mobile Phone (iOS and Android) 

• Open the Facebook app on your preferred iOS or Android and tap on the search icon given at the top right of the page.

  

• Then type the name of the user that you want to take a break from.

  

• Now click on the Friends icon given below their profile picture.

  

• Select Take a Break, and now you will be prompted to change privacy settings page.

  

• Under See less of [friend’s name] profile, tap See Options. Click Save after selecting Limit where you see the profile.

  

• Select See Options under Limit what [friend’s name] will see after scrolling down. Next, choose to Hide your posts. They won’t be able to read your postings until you tag them, since it will place their profile on a restricted list. Select Save.

  

• For Managing your Past Posts: Select See Options from the Edit Who Can See Past Posts menu. To make posts private, select Edit all my posts and posts that I’m tagged in. To confirm, tap Done.

  

Make sure you execute all these steps carefully.

On a Desktop

• Login into Facebook and go to Take a Break webpage in your computer’s web browser.

• To utilize the feature, navigate to the Take a Break page and click on the designated text box/search bar. Proceed by entering the name of the individual you wish to apply the feature for. Once the person’s name appears on the list, simply select them.

  

  

• You will find three options on the next screen. Select the desired action to be performed on the profile of the person you have chosen.

  

• For stop/limiting seeing the person’s post: choose See Less of [Person Name]’s Profile.

  

• For hiding your post: To restrict the visibility of [Person Name]’s profile in your news feed, you can activate the Limit Where You See [Person Name]’s Profile option. Remember to click on Save to apply the changes.

  

• To manage the visibility of your profile to others: choose the Limit What [Person Name]’s Profile Will See option.

• For modifying the visibility of posts in which you and a specific person are tagged:To access this feature, simply click on Edit Who Can See Past Posts. If you prefer to adjust the privacy settings of your posts individually, select Edit Individual Posts.

In order to conceal all of your posts from everyone except those who are tagged, you can enable Edit All My Posts and Posts I’m Tagged In. Click on Done to save changes.

As you now know about the take a break FB feature, you might as well understand how to undo the feature in case you plan on keeping things that way for a short while only. 

How to Reverse “Take a Break” Feature on Facebook

If you want to know how to undo take a break on Facebook mobile, you can do so by visiting the app or its website on your Android, iOS, or desktop:

On Android and iOS 

Facebook app > Friends Profile > Take a Break > Remove Enabled Restrictions

On Desktop:

Facebook Take a Break Webpage > Enter Friend’s Name > Remove Enabled Restrictions

And just like you had earlier enabled the feature, it will now get turned off once you remove the applied changes. 

Now you can start speaking to the person and get to see their posts and latest updates once again!

What Happens When You Take a Break From Someone on Facebook?

As you now may have an idea about what does take a break on FB mean, let us tell you what exactly happens when you make use of the feature:

• You’ll see fewer posts from that person: Their posts won’t appear as frequently on your News feed as they used to earlier. So you’ll be provided with the required distance. 

• You won’t be receiving notifications about them: Once you’ve enabled the feature and set your preferences, you won’t be getting notified about their activities, like their latest posts or statuses.

• You can limit what they see from you: Just like you’ve limited the timeline activity and updates from the person you’ve taken a break from on Facebook, they will also see your posts less. 

• Your interactions on Messenger may get affected: If you and the other user were connected with each other on Facebook Messenger, and you’ve enabled the feature, you won’t be able to see their messages as much either. 

With these points, it is clear that the feature does come in pretty handy when you want to keep a distance from someone but don’t want to block or unfriend them at the same time. 

So if your ex used this feature, you won’t be curious or have to wonder who blocked you on Facebook!

Fixes for “Take a Break on Facebook not Working”

If you’ve applied for the take a break feature on someone’s profile, and it doesn’t seem to be working, there are some workarounds that you can try to get the issue resolved: 

• Check your internet connection: Ensure that you have a working internet connection in order to make use of the “Take a break” feature on Facebook.
  
• Update the Facebook app: If you’re using an older version of Facebook, you’ve to update it to the newer one as the previous version may not have the feature or support it.
  
• Clear cache and cookies: The accumulation of unwanted cache and cookies that get stored up often causes issues in the smooth functioning of the app. So make sure to clear them by going to Settings > Apps > Facebook > Clear Cache.
  
• Restart your device:  Restarting a device refreshes the apps so that they work efficiently. Try restarting your device, as it may resolve minor bugs if they are causing the issue.
  
• Reinstall the Facebook app: From the device you’re using, first uninstall the Facebook app and then redownload and install it from the App Store or Play Store.
  
• Wait for new Facebook updates: Depending on the area or region, your country may not have got the “Take a break” feature yet from Facebook. So check up with the official updates of the platform.
  
• Contact Facebook support: If none of the above-mentioned points are helping, the final resort is contacting Facebook support directly and letting them look into the issue.

By following the above-mentioned methods, you’d most likely be able to get the take a break feature working efficiently. Sometimes Facebook does give a hard time with problems like Facebook news feed not loading.

So, if despite trying these ways, the problem still persists, it is possible that there might be an issue from Facebook’s end, and you’ll have to wait some time for its team to get on it for fixation.

Conclusive Thoughts

Impulsive decisions can sometimes ruin bonds, so whether you have a fight with anyone or want to maintain some distance from anyone, you won’t have to block them on Facebook any longer. So, what you can do? 

All you need to do is make use of the take a break on Facebook feature. This feature let you have your peace of mind without having to worry about blocking and unblocking someone. What is even more astonishing is that Facebook is the only one platform that offers this exclusive feature to its users.