Friends and Groups
FAQ
There is a limit on the number of users you can add as a friend, and who can add you as a friend.
If the message “Sorry, the account you are trying to add cannot accept any more friends” appears when you try to add a user, the user has been added by many other users, so you cannot add them as a friend.
If all of your friends have disappeared, you may have minimized your friends list. Please tap the light gray bar that says Friends (number) on the friends tab to display all your friends again.
If only some of your friends have disappeared, your friend may have deleted their LINE account. When a friend deletes their LINE account, they will be removed from your friends list. To find out about your friend’s usage status, please check with them directly.
Other than the above, please check whether they have been added to the Blocked or Hidden Users list. Please follow the steps below to check your Blocked or Hidden Users list.
1. Tap the settings icon > Friends.
2. Tap Hidden Users or Blocked Users.
Please note that you will not be able to see your friends on the lists above if you have already deleted them. Please add them again.
Friends
Friends are the users you make contact with on LINE.
When you add friends, you can chat with them, and invite them to chats and groups. If you add each other as friends, you can also use voice and video calls with them (unavailable on some devices).
Adding Friends
You can add friends (or they can add you) by scanning a QR code.
To have a friend add you using your QR code:
1. Tap the QR code icon on the right side of the search bar > My QR code, or tap here from your smartphone.
2. Have your friend scan your QR code with their QR code reader.
To add a friend using their QR code:
1. Tap the QR code icon on the right side of the search bar, or tap here from your smartphone.
2. Scan your friend's QR code.
3. Tap Add.
Note: The search bar appears at the top of the Home and Chats tabs.
You can also send your QR code via email by tapping the Add friends icon > Invite. For details, see this Help article.
Important: If your QR code is leaked, anyone using LINE will be able to add you as a friend. Take care not to share your QR code with people you don't know.
If you want to prevent people you don't know from being able to add you as a friend, you can deactivate your current QR code by tapping Regenerate on the My QR code screen.
You can add friends by having them access your link or by accessing theirs.
To have someone add you as a friend using your link:
1. Tap the Home tab > the Add friends icon > QR code > My QR code.
2. Tap Copy link.
3. Send the link to the person you want to have add you as a friend.
Important: If your link is leaked, anyone using LINE will be able to add you as a friend. Take care not to share your link with people you don't know.
If you want to prevent people you don't know from being able to add you as a friend, you can deactivate your current link by tapping Regenerate on the My QR code screen.
To add a friend using their link:
1. Tap the link you received.
2. Tap Add.
You can add friends by searching for their LINE ID.
1. Tap the friends icon.
2. Tap the add friends icon on the top right of the friends list > ID/Phone No.
3. Enter your friend’s ID.
If the ID does not appear in search results, please see the article below.
Issues with Adding Friends
There is a limit on the number of users you can add as a friend, and who can add you as a friend.
If the message “Sorry, the account you are trying to add cannot accept any more friends” appears when you try to add a user, the user has been added by many other users, so you cannot add them as a friend.
If your friend can't scan your QR code, try regenerating it by following the steps below.
1. Tap the QR code icon on the right side of the search bar.
2. Tap My QR code.
3. Tap Regenerate > OK.
Note: The search bar appears at the top of the Home and Chats tabs.
Friends List Settings
About Hiding, Blocking and Deleting
Removing a friend deletes them from your friends list, and unlike blocking, cannot be undone. Please be careful when removing a friend you cannot contact otherwise.
Before you remove a friend, you need to hide or block them. To see more details, please see the following articles.
To remove a friend
1. Tap the settings icon > Friends.
2. Tap Hidden Users or Blocked Users.
3. Tap Edit next to the friend you wish to remove.
4. Tap Remove.
The following happens when you block a friend.
- You will no longer receive chat messages or voice and video calls from them.
- They will be moved from your friends list to your Blocked Users list.
Blocking a user does not completely remove them from your friends or friend recommendations list. To do so, please see the following article.
To block a friend
1. Tap the friends icon.
2. Swipe to the left the friend you want to block.
3. Tap the Block button.
To unblock a friend
1. Tap the settings icon > Friends.
2. Tap Blocked Users.
3. Tap Edit to the friend you want to show again.
4. Tap Unblock.
It may take a while for the changes to take effect.
When you hide an account on LINE:
• You can still receive chat messages from that account.
• It will appear in Hidden accounts instead of your friend list.
Hiding an account doesn't completely remove it as a friend or friend recommendation. If you'd like to do so, see this Help article.
To hide an account:
1. From the Home tab, tap your friend list.
2. Tap and hold the name of the account that you want to hide.
3. Tap Hide > Hide.
To unhide a hidden account:
1. Tap Settings.
Note: Tap here to open the Settings menu from your iPad.
Note: Tap here to open the Settings menu from your iPad.
2. Tap Friends.
3. Tap Hidden accounts.
4. Tap Edit next to the account you want to unhide.
5. Tap Unhide.
Note: It may take some time for the changes to be applied.
For more information about archiving chats, see this Help article.
The Friends List
If contacts are not showing up on your friends list even though they are in your device contacts list, the following may be the case.
- You or your friend have set Auto Add Friends off on your respective smartphone devices.
- They were added to your Blocked or Hidden users list.
- They are in your Friend Recommendations List.
Please see the following articles for more details
Friend Recommendation Settings
Someone may appear under Friend recommendations because they:
• Have your phone number saved in their contacts and are also using LINE (but you don't have their number in your contacts).
• Knew your LINE ID and added you by searching for it on LINE.
• Added you from the Members list of a group chat you were both in.
• Added you using your contact information (LINE account information) that was shared in a chat by a friend of yours.
Note: If your contact information was shared, the person will only be able to see your name registered on LINE, profile icon, and status message.
• Added you using the URL in an invite email, or using your QR code.
The method a friend recommendation used to add you will appear if they added you via:
• Phone number.
• QR code.
• LINE ID.
If you don’t see how someone added you, it may be because:
• They added you directly from a group that you were both in.
• They got your contact information from another one of your friends and added you.
If you have Auto-add friends turned on and someone in your contacts shows up in your friend recommendations on the smartphone version of LINE, it means they have the following settings configured.
• Auto-add friends: ON
• Allow others to add me: OFF
The name that appears for someone in your friend recommendations is the name they set on LINE. If an unfamiliar name appears under your friend recommendations, the only way to confirm who they are is to ask them directly.
About Other Settings
Display names
The display names in your friend list will appear in one of the following ways, depending on how the friend was added, what name your friend set, and whether or not you have edited their name.
• Friends that were added by syncing your device's contacts on the smartphone version of LINE will appear with the names saved in your device.
• Friends that were added using a method other than syncing your contacts (e.g. ID search, QR code) will appear with the names they set for themselves on LINE.
• Friends whose names you changed manually will appear with the names that you set.
Note: The changed names will only appear that way in your friend list.
Profile photos
Your friends' profile photos are the ones they set from the profile screen. You can change your own profile photo any time, but you cannot change your friends' profile photos.
For information on how to change display names or your profile photo, see this Help article.
To change your own display name
1. Tap the settings icon > Profile > Display Name.
2. Enter the display name you want to change to, then tap Save.
To change a friend's display name
1. Tap the friend you wish to change the name from the friends list.
2. Tap the pencil icon from the pop-up.
3. Enter the name and tap Save.
To change your profile photo
1. Tap the settings icon > Profile.
2. Tap the image on the top left, then select the upload options.
3. Trim the photo if necessary, then tap OK.
Please note you are not able to change your friends' photos.
If a LINE friend is registered using their phone number, the name they are saved in your smartphone device contacts will be displayed. If they are not registered using their phone number, the display name they set in LINE will be displayed.
If you add a friend who is saved in your smartphone contacts using their ID, the display name they set in LINE will be displayed.
If the friends whose display names are garbled are all saved in your smartphone contacts, please try the steps below on the smartphone version of LINE to resolve the issue.
1. Tap More > Settings > Friends.
2. Turn ON Add Friends. If this option is already turned on, tap the refresh button next to the last synced date to manually sync your contacts.
About Groups
Creating Groups/Inviting Members
To create a group:
1. On the Chats tab, tap the speech bubble icon > Group.
2. Select the friends you want to invite to the group and tap Next.
3. Enter a group name and tap Create.
Note: If the Members join automatically setting is turned off, the friends you invite won't become group members until they select Join in their invitation.
For the steps to create a group from a multi-person chat, see this Help article.
To invite new members to a group:
1. Tap the menu icon at the top of the chat screen > Invite.
2. Select the friends you want to invite from your friend list.
3. Tap Invite.
Note: Friends who have already been invited or are already in the group will appear grayed out.
1. Tap the menu icon at the top of the group chat screen > Members.
2. Under Pending members, tap the member whose invitation you want to cancel.
3. Tap Cancel.
To cancel a group invitation: To remove members from a group created with the Members join automatically setting turned on, follow the steps in this Help article.
The Members join automatically setting lets you choose whether the friends you invite to a group are added automatically, or asked if they would like to join first.
If Members join automatically is turned on:
The friends you invite will automatically be added to the group.
If Members join automatically is turned off:
The friends you invite will receive an invitation message, from which they can choose to Join or Decline.
Note:
- If someone declines, they will continue to appear as a pending member, and the person who created the group will not be notified.
- If you create a group with this setting turned off, you will not be able to turn it on afterwards.
- For more information on how friends that decline a group invitation appear to other group members, see this Help article.
Multi-person chats have been integrated into group chats, so you can now use the Notes and Albums features that were previously unavailable in multi-person chats.
If you want to create a group that doesn't require permission from members to join (like a multi-person chat), turn ON Members join automatically when creating a group chat.
If you have any existing multi-person chats, you can continue using them.
For the steps to create a group from a multi-person chat, see this Help article.
For the steps to create a new group, see this Help article.
Group Notes/Albums
To view a group's notes and albums:
1. Tap the Home tab > Groups > the group of your choice.
2. Tap Notes or Albums.
The number next to the profile icons shows how many members posted photos in the album. Tap this number to see the photos each member added.
To post a group note:
1. Tap the Home tab > Groups > the group of your choice.
2. Tap Notes.
3. Tap "+" at the bottom right of the screen > Write.
4. Tap What's new? and write your note, then tap Post.
If you want to post a photo, you can do so using the Albums feature, which is specifically for posting and viewing photos.
Leaving a Group
Your posts, albums, and photos will not be deleted even if you leave a group. If there is any data you wish to delete, please do so before leaving the group.
When a group member deletes their account or leaves the group, a message saying “(friend name) left the group.” will appear.
To leave a group
1. From your friends list, swipe left on the group you want to leave.
2. Tap Leave.
Once all members of a group leave, all data posted will be deleted. In this case, the data cannot be restored.
A group is automatically deleted when all members leave. If there are multiple members in the group, you will need to remove all of them by following the steps below before the group can be deleted.
1. Tap the friends icon.
2. Tap the group you want to delete.
3. Tap the members icon on the pop-up.
4. Swipe left on the names of the members.
5. Tap Delete.
Once you are the only member left, tap Leave to leave the group and delete it.