Does Venmo Automatically Add Friends? How does Venmo Add Friends?
No, Venmo does not automatically add friends. Users must manually add friends or allow the app to access contacts. Even with contact syncing enabled, Venmo only suggests connections; it does not automatically add all contacts to your friend list.
Venmo was arguably ahead of its time when it launched back in 2009. The PayPal-owned company was founded on a vision of a cashless future, where friends and family can transfer money, split bills, or seamlessly send gifts right from their smartphones.
We’re here to answer this question and help you understand what goes under the hood to bring your contacts into Venmo.
Related read: Does Venmo Notify if You Add a Friend?
Read: If You Unfriend Someone on Venmo, Will They Know: Does Venmo Notify?
How to Add Friends on Venmo?
- Open the Venmo App
- Tap the Menu (☰)
- Select “Search People”
- Enter Friend’s Info
- Select the Correct User
- Tap “Add Friend”
Optional: Sync Contacts – Go to Settings – Privacy – Find Friends, then allow Venmo to access your contacts to suggest friends automatically.
Luckily, Venmo allows you to automatically import your friends’ list into the app with just a few clicks.
It doesn’t stop here, though, as Venmo can also add your friends on social media. For example, you can also link your Facebook account to venmo, and voila! Your Facebook friends are now ready to receive and send money with a single tap.
Read: 3 Ways to Get Free Money on Venmo
How to Make My Friend List Private
By default, your friends’ list on Venmo is a public affair that anyone can see. However, things don’t have to stay that way, as you can easily tweak your Venmo account’s privacy settings and control how much information you want to share with others.
Let’s walk you through the steps that you need to follow in order to change your privacy settings on Venmo:
- Open the Venmo app on your iOS or Android device and make sure you’re running the latest version of the app.
- Tap on the hamburger menu icon at the top left-hand side of the screen.
- A list will show up with many options, including “Settings” right at the top. Click on that to be redirected to the settings page.
- Next up, choose “Privacy” to proceed.
- Tap the “Friends List” button to check all your Venmo friends, so the privacy settings you settle on apply to your whole network of contacts.
- On the same page, you’ll find an option to make your friends list private, so make sure you click on that.
- Finally, you can also choose to opt-out from appearing in other users’ friends’ lists.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Should I Do on Receiving Friend Requests from Strangers?
Venmo started leaning into the social aspect surrounding payments when it introduced the “News Feed” feature. This turns online payments into a collective experience that you can share with friends.
For this reason, don’t accept friend requests from strangers, as you don’t want people you don’t know to snoop on the nature of your payments.
You should also be extra careful as those strangers can be scammers who want to trap you into one of their schemes and get your hard-earned cash.
How to Remove Friends from Venmo
Open your Venmo “Friends List,” then select the contact you want to remove. Next, go to the contact’s profile, and press the “Unfriend” button to remove the person from your Venmo network.
