What happened to the Recent button on Facebook

Facebook is launching a new feature on Thursday that lets users see posts in reverse chronological order rather than content that's been ranked by an algorithm.

Called "Feeds," the tool is a dedicated tab in the Facebook app that shows all the latest posts from users' friends. The main news feed will now be known as "Home," and will act as more of a "discovery engine" based on people's online habits, the company said.

"One of the most requested features for Facebook is to make sure people don't miss friends' posts. So today we're launching a Feeds tab where you can see posts from your friends, groups, Pages and more separately in chronological order," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Thursday.

Meta is increasingly pushing Zuckerberg as the face of its latest product reveals, with the firm's founder announcing multiple new feature updates on Facebook. The company has lost several top executives lately, from long-time Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer.

Facebook's new Feeds feature shows users the latest posts from their friends first.

Meta

The feature is set to roll out globally over the next week, initially on mobile, a Meta spokesperson said. A desktop version is slated for release in the next several weeks.

It's a nod to a more basic social media experience from the past — pioneered by none other than Facebook itself — where the feed was more focused on activity from friends and family.

By making the main "Home" tab more personalized, Meta is also competing with TikTok. Meta is trying to emulate the Chinese-owned video app's success with younger "Gen Z" internet users, which has largely been driven by its addictive recommendation algorithm.

Home will include Reels, Meta's TikTok clone, as well as Stories and other personalized content.

Facebook, Google and other Big Tech companies are under fierce scrutiny from regulators over the way their platforms have reshaped society. Among the most contentious issues at hand is the use of people's personal data to amplify posts that fuel the most engagement, such as fake news, as well as targeted advertising.

Facebook's Feed recommendations aren't always helpful. The Feed is designed to recommend content you'd most likely want to see, and it's based on your Facebook activity, your connections, and the level of engagement a given post receives. It's also worth noting that Facebook is reportedly planning on changing up Feed's recommendations.

But not every Facebook user cares about seeing the most popular posts or Facebook's attempts to understand what you'd like to see. Sometimes, you just want to keep it simple and see the latest posts that have been shared. If that's you, it's important to know that you're not just stuck with Facebook's Feed algorithm. You can sort your Feed to show its most recent posts — and we can show you how.

Note: While you can sort your Feed to show the most recent posts, Facebook has said that "Feed will eventually return to its default setting." So, it's likely that you'll need to enable it again in the future.

Contents

  • How to view your Facebook Feed chronologically: desktop/web method
  • How to view your Facebook Feed chronologically: mobile app method

How to view your Facebook Feed chronologically: desktop/web method

If you use Facebook on the web via your PC, the process for setting up your Feed to be viewed chronologically (the most recent posts) is simple enough. Here's what to do:.

Step 1: Open up your favorite web browser on your PC and go to Facebook.com. Once you're there, log into your account if you haven't already.

Step 2: Once you're logged in, the first thing you should see is your Feed. To sort your Feed posts to show the most recent ones, navigate to the left-side menu and select the Most recent option.

Now your Feed is sorted to show you the most recent posts first. The top of your Feed should say "Most Recent."

If you want to go back to sorting your Feed posts by Facebook's recommendations (Top Posts), click on the blue Back to top posts link.

What happened to the Recent button on Facebook
screenshot

Step 3: Note: If you don't see the Most recent option near the top of the left-side menu, don't worry. You should still be able to access it by selecting the See more option from that same menu. Then, after the menu expands, the Most recent option should appear. You may need to scroll down the left side menu to see it.

How to view your Facebook Feed chronologically: mobile app method

Facebook recently released a new Feeds tab feature for the mobile app. You can use this feature on Android and iOS to view more content from your loved ones, and those posts will be automatically sorted chronologically. This feature was on a limited release last month and now it's available to everyone.

The following instructions were written about and tested on an Android device, but they should be similarly applicable to iOS devices.

Here's how to chronologically view your Facebook Feed on the mobile app.

Step 1: Open the Facebook app on your mobile device. Your app should default to showing you the home Feed, which will display all the Top Posts but not necessarily the most recent ones.

What happened to the Recent button on Facebook
screenshot

Step 2: To see the most recent posts, tap on the icon at the top of your screen that looks like a rectangle with a clock in front of it. This is the Feeds tab. (According to screenshots provided to us by Meta, the Feeds tab icon should show up at the bottom of the screen for iOS devices.)

The Feeds tab has its own subsections that you can select to further narrow down your newly chronologically-sorted feed: All, Favorites, Friends, Groups, and Pages. Each of the subsections in the Feeds tab should show you their respective posts chronologically, with the most recent posts at the top.

What happened to the Recent button on Facebook
screenshot

Step 3: Here's another way to access the Feeds tab in the Android version of the mobile app: Open the mobile app. Tap on the three horizontal lines Menu icon. Then, under All shortcuts, select Feeds.

What happened to the Recent button on Facebook
screenshot

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Where is the recent button on Facebook 2022?

Tap in the top right of Facebook. Scroll down and tap Most Recent.

How do I get the recent button back on Facebook?

Step 3: Note: If you don't see the Most recent option near the top of the left-side menu, don't worry. You should still be able to access it by selecting the See more option from that same menu. Then, after the menu expands, the Most recent option should appear. You may need to scroll down the left side menu to see it.

Where has most recent gone on Facebook?

Open Facebook app. Tap Menu located at bottom right. Tap See more → Most Recent OR Recent and favourites.

Why is my Facebook not showing recent?

That means you haven't adjusted your preferences. There is an option that lets you choose between “Top Stories“ and “Recent. “ The first is the default, so you need to change it to see the most recent stories. You can define your priorities even further by tapping on “Edit preferences“ below.