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Friend/Friend recommendations basics

Topics covered

- About friends on LINE

- Checking/changing your friends' display names

- Changing how your friend list is sorted

About friends on LINE:
Users that you can communicate with on LINE are called your friends. You can add up to 5,000 users as friends. By adding someone as a friend, you can:
• Talk to them in a chat and invite them to chats and groups.
• Have voice calls with them, once they've also added you as a friend.

Useful info

To protect minors who are using the service, LINE has in cooperation with various mobile service providers partially restricted some features, such as setting a LINE ID and searching for friends using their IDs or phone numbers for users under 18. To gain full functionality, verify your age. (Linked Help article only available in Japanese.)

Checking/changing your friends' 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 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.

To change an account's display name, follow the steps below.
Note: You cannot change an account's profile icon.

1. Tap the Home tab > Friends.
2. Tap the account whose name you want to change.
3. Tap pen icon

next to their display name.
4. Enter a name and tap Save.

Changing how your friend list is sorted:
You can change your friend list to be sorted by:
• Name (default): Your friends will be ordered by name.
• Recently added: You'll see your friends in the order that you added them.
• Profile updated: Your friends will appear in order of who updated their profile most recently.
• Recently messaged: The friends you've exchanged messages with most recently will appear first.

To change how your friend list is sorted:
1. Tap the Home tab > Friends.
2. Tap the Friends tab and choose one of the options above from the drop-down menu at the top right.

See also:
Adding friends on LINE
Hiding/blocking/deleting LINE accounts
How groups work on LINE

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Users who appear in your friend recommendations have added you as a friend.

Topics covered

- Ways you could have been added by someone as a friend

- Reasons shown for being added as a friend

- Users saved in your device's contacts appearing in your friend recommendations when Auto-add friends is turned on

- Blocking accounts that appear in your friend recommendations

Ways you could have been added by someone as a friend:
• They have your phone number and added you with it.
Note: This only applies to LINE accounts created with LINE versions earlier than 13.11.0 if you're not using LINE in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand.
• They knew your LINE ID and added you by searching for it on LINE.
• They added you from the member list of a group you were both in.
• They added you by using your contact information (LINE account information) that was shared in a chat by a friend of yours.
• They added you using the URL in an invite email, or using your QR code.

If you want to prevent others from adding you as a friend in the future, see Preventing others from adding you.

Reasons shown for being added as a friend:
In some cases, you'll see how a user added you in your friend recommendations.

If you see how a user added you, it will be because they added you with your:
• Phone number.
Note: This only applies to LINE accounts created with LINE versions earlier than 13.11.0 if you're not using LINE in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand.
• QR code.
• LINE ID.

If you don’t see how someone added you, it may be because:
• You were added from a group that both you and the other person were in.
• They got your contact information from another one of your friends and added you.

Users saved in your device's contacts appearing in your friend recommendations when Auto-add friends is turned on:
If this occurs, it means that 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.

Blocking accounts that appear in your friend recommendations:
1. Tab the Home tab > Friends > Friend recommendations.
2. Tap and hold or swipe left on the display name of the user that you want to block.
3. Tap Block.
Note: It may take some time for the changes to be applied.

Blocking an account that appears in your friend recommendations also prevents them from sending you messages.

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The differences between hiding, blocking, and deleting LINE accounts are as follows.
Note: There is no feature to delete your account from someone else's friend list.

Related Help article:
Deleting/hiding/unhiding chats

Hiding accounts
• You can still receive chat messages from them.
• They'll appear in Hidden accounts instead of your friend list.
• You can unhide them.

Useful info

If you don't want to receive messages from an account, you'll need to block or delete them.

Blocking accounts
• You'll no longer be able to receive messages from them.
• They'll appear in Blocked accounts instead of your friend list.
• You can unblock them.

Deleting accounts
• You'll no longer be able to receive messages from them.
• They'll be deleted from your friend list.

Be advised

- After deleting an account, the changes cannot be undone or restored. Please keep this in mind if you are thinking of deleting the account of someone who you don’t have any other way to contact.
- If there is a chance that you will want to restore an account later, hide or block them instead.
- If you want to restore an account you deleted, you'll need to add them again.

Steps

Hiding/unhiding accounts

Hiding accounts

1. From the Home tab, tap Friends under Friend lists.
2. Tap and hold the name of the account that you want to hide.
3. Tap Hide > Hide.

Unhiding accounts

1. Go to the Home tab and tap Settings.
Note: Tap here to open Settings from your smartphone.
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.

Blocking/unblocking accounts

Blocking accounts

1. From the Home tab, tap Friends under Friend lists.
2. Tap and hold the name of the account that you want to block.
3. Tap Block > Block.

Unblocking accounts

1. Tap the Home tab > Settings.
Note: Tap here to open Settings from your smartphone.
2. Tap Friends.
3. Tap Blocked accounts.
4. Tap the account you want to unblock or Edit.
5. Tap Unblock > Unblock.
Note: It may take some time for the changes to be applied.

Deleting accounts

Deleting accounts from your friend list

1. From the Home tab, tap Friends under Friend lists.
2. Tap and hold the friend you want to delete.
3. Tap Delete > Delete.

Deleting accounts from Hidden/Blocked accounts

1. Tap the Home tab > Settings.
Note: Tap here to open Settings from your smartphone.
2. Tap Friends.
3. Tap Hidden accounts or Blocked accounts.
4. Tap the account you want to delete or Edit.
5. Tap Delete.

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There is no feature to re-add friends (e.g. undo deleting a friend, add a friend again) that were deleted after blocking/hiding them.

To re-add a friend, try the following methods.

Add a friend via ID/phone number search or a QR code

For the methods to add friends, refer to the following Help content.

Manually adding friends

Note: Adding friends via phone number only applies to LINE accounts created with LINE versions earlier than 13.11.0.

Add a friend from a chat

1. Open LINE, tap the Chats tab, and then choose the chat with your friend.

2. Tap Add.

If the chat with your friend is hidden, try unhiding the chat and adding your friend again. However, you won't be able to unhide a chat if you deleted it.

Unhide a chat

1. From the Home tab, tap Settings > Chats > Hidden chats.

2. Tap Edit next to the friend you deleted > Unhide chat.

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If you want to prevent others from adding you as a friend in the future, see the information below that matches your situation.
Note: If you want to remove a user who is already your friend on LINE from your friends, see Deleting accounts from your friend list.

Preventing others from adding you by phone number
Note: The contents of this section only apply to LINE accounts created with LINE versions earlier than 13.11.0 if you're not using LINE in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand.

If you don’t want people that know your phone number to automatically add you as a friend:
1. Tap the Home tab > Settings.

Note:Tap here to go to Settings from your smartphone.
2. Tap Friends.
3. Turn OFF Allow others to add me.

Preventing others from adding you by LINE ID

If you want to prevent others from adding you as a friend by searching for your ID:
1. Tap the Home tab > Settings > Profile.

Note:Tap here to go to your profile from your smartphone.
2. Turn Allow others to add me by ID OFF.

Preventing others from adding you by URL or QR code

If you want to prevent someone from adding you as a friend with a URL or QR code you shared with them (even if just once), you need to deactivate (regenerate) the URL/QR code.

1. Tap the Home tab > the Add friends icon > QR code > My QR code.
2. Tap Regenerate.

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You can add (and be added by) up to a maximum of 5,000 friends.

Note:

- This number includes accounts that are in your friends, Hidden accounts, and Blocked accounts lists.

- You may quickly reach this limit if your LINE ID or QR code is shared publicly.

- You can prevent other people from adding your account from Settings by turning off Auto-add friends and Allow others to add me.

Once the maximum limit of 5,000 has been reached, you won't be able to add any one else (or no one else will be able to add you) as a friend. If you want to chat with a large number of users, we recommend using our LINE Official Account or LINE OpenChat services. (Only available in traditional Chinese.)

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If you do not want to receive friend requests through your Timeline or from People Nearby, you can block these requests by turning off the following setting.

1. From the Home tab, tap Settings.

Note: You can also go to the Settings screen by tapping this link from your smartphone.

2. Tap Privacy.

3. Turn OFF Allow friend requests.

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You will not be able to make a friend request in either of the following cases:

- The relevant user has a large number of pending friend requests.

- You have a large number of pending friend requests from those you sent out.

- The user you sent a friend request to is unable to receive your request.

- You have already sent a friend request to the relevant user.

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If you delete a user's friend request, they will not be notified.

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If a user accepts your friend request, you will receive a push notification informing you so, and they will appear in your Friends list under New Friends.

After becoming friends on LINE, try sending them a message!

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People Nearby uses your current location to help you find new friends near you. For this reason, you need to allow the app to access your location information.

If you have Location Services turned off on your device, or if you have not allowed LINE to access your location, refer to the following steps:

For users with Android OS version 6.0 or later

1. From the Home tab, tap See more under Services.

2. Tap People Nearby.

3. Follow the steps below based on the pop-ups that appear:

• From the Allow location access pop-up message, tap Allow.

• From the Enable location services pop-up message, tap Go to Settings and turn ON location services from the settings menu on your device.

For users with a version of Android OS earlier than 6.0

1. From the Home tab, tap See more under Services.

2. Tap People Nearby.

3. From the Enable location services pop-up message, tap Go to Settings.

4. Turn ON location services from the settings menu on your device.

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If you do not want to share your location, tap the settings icon at the top of the People Nearby screen to disable location sharing.

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Note: People Nearby is only available in some regions.

People Nearby is a feature that allows you to search users around your current location and make new friends.

To use People Nearby:

1. From the Home tab, tap See more under Services.

2. Tap People Nearby.

You will be able to see the profile photos and distance of other users who are also using People Nearby from your location as well as send out a friend request to users who interest you. If they accept your friend request, you can start exchanging messages with each other.

For the steps to turn off friend requests, see this Help article.

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There are several ways you can add friends with the LINE app. This article explains how to add friends based on the situation.

Topics covered

- Adding people you're with in person as friends

- Adding people who aren't nearby as friends

- Adding people who aren't or may not be using LINE as friends

Adding people you're with in person as friends:
If the other person is right in front of you, adding them as a friend with a QR code is convenient.

Be advised

Anyone using LINE can add you as a friend if they have your QR code. Be sure not to share it with people you don't know.

Having people add you as a friend by scanning your QR code

1. Tap

on the right side of the search bar > My QR code.
Note: Tap here to go to the My QR code screen from your smartphone.
2. Have your friend scan your QR code with their QR code reader.
3. Tap the Home tab > add friends icon

at the top of the screen > add friend icon

next to their display name under Friend recommendations.
Note: Tap here to go to Friend recommendations from your smartphone.

Useful info

- If you tap Regenerate on the QR code screen, the previous QR code will become invalid and a new one will be generated.
- If you're using the QR code (e.g. on a business card or blog), be careful not to accidentally regenerate it.
By regenerating a QR code you no longer need, you can prevent others from misusing it to have people you don't know add you as a friend on LINE.

Adding people as friends by scanning their QR codes

1. Tap

on the right side of the search bar.
Note: Tap here to go to the QR code scan screen from your smartphone.
2. Scan their QR code.
3. Tap Add.
Note: If your screen doesn't switch to the chat screen, you can send them a chat message by tapping the Home tab > Friends under Friend lists > your friend's display name > Chat.

Useful info

You can scan a QR code sent by someone by tapping the image icon at the bottom right of the QR code reader screen.

Adding people who aren't nearby as friends:
There are multiple ways to add someone as a friend if they aren't nearby. The other person will be notified if they are added as a friend via one of the following methods.

Adding friends by searching for their phone numbers (only for LINE accounts created with LINE versions earlier than 13.11.0 if you're not using LINE in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand)

You can add friends by searching for their phone numbers by following the steps below. Try doing so after reading the following important points.

Important:
- In Japan, you can only use the phone number search feature if you are 18 or older and have verified your age.
- The other person needs to turn on Allow others to add me.

To search for someone by phone number:
1. Tap the Home tab > add friends icon

.
Note: Tap here to go to the Add friends screen from your smartphone.
2. Tap Search.
3. Choose Phone number.
4. Select a country and enter your friend's phone number, then tap search icon

Adding friends using LINE ID search

1. Tap the Home icon > add friends icon

.
Note: Tap here to go to the Add friends screen from your smartphone.
2. Tap Search.
3. Choose ID.
4. Enter your friend's ID and tap search icon

.

If you're unable to search for their ID, see the following Help content.

My friend can't add me using ID search

Adding friends via links

You can add friends by having them access your link or by accessing theirs.

To add someone by sending them a link:
1. Tap the Home icon > 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.

Adding people saved to your smartphone's contacts as friends

The steps to automatically add people saved to your smartphone's contacts as friends or to turn the feature off are as follows.
Important: The contents of this section only apply to LINE accounts created with LINE versions earlier than 13.11.0 if you're not using LINE in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand.

Be advised

If you're using iOS, go to your device's Settings > Privacy & Security > Contacts and turn on LINE.

To turn on Auto-add friends:
1. Tap the Home tab >

> Friends.
Note: Tap here to go to Settings on your smartphone.
2. Turn ON Auto-add friends.
Note: If Auto-add friends is already turned on, tap the refresh icon next to the last auto-add date to manually sync your contacts.

To turn off Auto-add friends:
1. Tap the Home tab >

> Friends.
Note: Tap here to go to Settings on your smartphone.
2. Turn OFF Auto-add friends.

Useful info

To prevent certain people from being automatically added as friends on LINE, add a hashtag (#) before their names saved in your device's contacts (e.g. "#John Doe"). However, adding a hashtag before the name of someone you've already added on LINE will not delete them from your friend list.

If they weren't added as your friend, see the following Help content.

I have Auto-add friends turned on, but my contacts weren't added

If you don't know the LINE ID or contact information of the person you want to add but share a mutual acquaintance, you can add them as a friend with the following methods.

Adding friends in groups

1. Open a group chat.
2. Tap the icon of the member you want to add.
3. Tap Add.

Adding friends via Contact (having other friends introduce you to their friends on LINE)

To add a friend via Contact using their LINE account information, you need to have a separate friend send the contact information for the person you want to add via a chat message.

The following steps involve three people: you, the person you want to add as a friend, and the person who will introduce them to you.

Have the person who will introduce them perform the steps below.

1. Open their chat with you.
2. Tap plus icon

> Contact > LINE friend.
3. Select the person you want to add as a friend and tap Share at the top right of the screen.
4. The display name, profile icon, and status message of the person you want to add will appear in the chat.

Then, on your end:
1. Open your chat with the friend who performed the steps above.
2. Tap the profile icon of the person you want to add that appeared in the chat.
3. Tap Add.

To add someone as a friend who has already added you on their end, you can do so from your Friend recommendations with the method below.

Adding friend recommendations as friends

Tap the Home tab > add friends icon

at the top of the screen > add friend icon

next to their display name under Friend recommendations.
Note: Tap here to go to Friend recommendations from your smartphone.

Adding people who aren't or may not be using LINE as friends:

Useful info

The text of an invitation email will display your name as it is set in LINE.

1. Tap the Home icon > add friends icon

> Invite.
2. Tap Text message or Email.
3. Choose someone and tap Invite.

The invitation will be sent using the text message or email features on your device. If an issue such as the invitee not receiving your text message occurs, contact your mobile service provider.
Note: Text message invitations only apply to users in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

See also:
I can't add friends
Hiding/blocking/deleting LINE accounts
Blocking accounts that appear in your friend recommendations

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LINE

Help center

Search Help articles

Friend/Friend recommendations basics

How friends work on LINE

How friend recommendations work

Topics covered

Hiding/blocking/deleting LINE accounts

Re-adding deleted friends

Preventing others from adding you as a friend

Maximum number of friends

Turning off friend requests

Why did I receive a message saying I cannot make a friend request?

Will users be notified if I delete their friend requests?

How will I know if a user accepted my friend request?

Do I have to allow access to my location information to use People Nearby?

What should I do if I do not want to share my location?

People Nearby

Adding friends on LINE