Block user Facbook admin

Block User That you Have removed within your admin Facebook Paige

Today a question came up in FB Group Admin Help ( a Facebook group for all group admins to share info on how to help their groups ). This group has been very helpful to me for admin related questions so if you have questions about Facebook Groups and administrating them please check them out .

The question was "How to block problem people from a group they haven't joined yet?". I have seen this question come up a few times before and the answer is typically "you cannot block someone unless they request to join". With my years of experience in programming and web development I did not want to accept this answer so I started to do some digging. With some "Haxs" I found a way and I would like to share with everyone today.

NOTE: These instructions where done using the Google Chrome browser. You can likely do the same thing utilizing other browsers but the screens and functions may differ.
NOTE: You can also use this method to block someone you removed from your group and forgot to block.

Follow these steps to Block User

CAUTION!!!
This is not a method supported by Facebook and they would likely tell you not to follow these instructions. Proceed at your own risk.

Facebook Profile

Block user who have not joined your Facebook yet but proceed at your own risk this is a hack not necessarily supported by Facebook .

Step 1
Navigate to the profile on Facebook that you would like to block from your Facebook group. In this case I want to block Glenda :). Copy the URL at the top.

Step 2
Go to findmyfbid.com and paste the URL that you copied in step 1 into the input box. Click "Find numeric ID". You will receive the profile ID for the person you want to block. Copy this ID.
Find Facebook Profile ID
Facebook Profile ID

Step 3
Now that you have the profile ID of the person you want to block you can head back to your Facebook group. Go to the members list and pick any member (I prefer to use a friend in case I mess something up as I can easily add the friend back). In this case I will use my friend Chris as a means to block Glenda ;). Click on the gear icon next to their name, then RIGHT click on "Remove from Group". From the right click menu select "Inspect". This will open the Chrome developer tools, this is where we will implement the "Hax".
Remove From Group Inspect

Step 4
You should now have the Chrome developer tools open to the elements tab with an HTML node highlighted. You will want to go up a couple nodes to where you see the "<a" tag with an href of "/ajax/groups/members/remove.php". Once you find that right click on it and select "Edit as HTML". This will let you edit the "<a" link node. In the href tag you will want to change the number after "uid" to the profile ID you obtained in step 2. After making the change you can click on another node to to commit the change (just click off somewhere so you are no longer in "edit" mode).
Edit Facebook User ID For Removal

Step 5
Now, you should still have the page open to the members list with the gear icon menu still open. If it has closed than this likely will not work. With the menu still being open you can now LEFT click "Remove from group". A confirmation box will pop up. At this step it is important to verify that the name in the confirmation box is the name of the profile you want to block (not the name of the profile you clicked the gear icon on). So in this case I clicked the icon next to Chris but the confirmation box has Glenda's name; exactly what we wanted to see! If you check the box to "Block Permanently" and select confirm this user will be blocked from your group without ever requesting to join it.
Remove And Block Member
Profile Blocked

 In Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope it helped someone. I know it is a pain when we remove someone from our groups and forget to block a user . This method has saved us the headache of offending members possibly sneaking back in the group. Please feel free to comment with feedback and share to your circle of people :).

Bonus Tip:There is also a Chrome browser extension that will allow you to block members from old comments as well as some other cool admin features; check it out here .