How To Add Friends On Duolingo (And Why You Might Not Be Able To)
Do you know how to add friends on Duolingo?
Duolingo has always had a decent social element, and it’s been growing recently with the introduction of friends quests and other social features.
However, a lot of users encounter difficulties when trying to add friends, and it’s not always clear as to why this is.
In this article, I’ll walk you through how to add friends on Duolingo, before shining a light on some of the common issues that may arise.
Let’s get into it!
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How to add friends
So long as your account is active and open, it’s generally really easy to add friends on Duolingo.
And by add friends, I mean ‘follow’ other users. We’ll get to the difference between friends and followers in a second!
But first…
Mobile
To add friends on mobile, the easiest way is to tap your profile icon…
Then, tap the big ‘add friends’ button…
You then have a few options. You can either:
- Find friends from your device’s contact list
- Connect to Facebook and sync your friends list (you’ll need to login to Facebook and grant the necessary permissions)
- Invite friends to join Duolingo by sending invites out over WhatsApp, text message, or any other messaging app of your choosing…
You can also add friends that Duolingo recommends to you in the friend suggestions list.
Alternatively, if you know the email address, name or username of the person you want to add, you can just type it into the search bar…
Once you find a user you’d like to add, simply tap the blue ‘follow’ button…
This will then change to ‘following’ and they will appear in your Following list…
Desktop
The process is pretty much exactly the same on desktop so I won’t go into too much detail!
First, select your profile from the menu…
Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and select either ‘find friends’ or ‘invite friends’…
You’ll notice the options are pretty much exactly the same. The only difference is it doesn’t sync with your contacts like it does on mobile…
However, if you’ve previously synced your mobile contacts with the Duolingo app, then the suggestions will still appear when you’re logged in on desktop.
Friends, Following and Followers
It’s important to note that there’s a difference between friends, users you’re following, and users that follow you on Duolingo.
They all fall under the ‘friends’ heading, but all three have different meanings.
When you follow a user, that user will appear in your Following list…
When a user follows you, they will appear in your Followers list…
For a user to be your friend, you will both need to be following each other.
The best way to confirm this is to check your lists. If a user appears in both your Following and Followers lists, then that user is a friend.
And, if you’re both using Duolingo on a mobile device, then you will be able to participate in friends quests together!
Why you might not be able to add friends
Over the years, many users have encountered issues when trying to add friends on Duolingo.
In theory, adding friends is really straightforward. But when it doesn’t work, it can be really frustrating, as sometimes it isn’t obvious why it’s happening!
I’ve done some digging and below I’ve put together some of the most common reasons for not being able to add friends.
Classroom
If you’re part of a Duolingo classroom, then you might find that you’re not able to add friends.
This is usually to do with restrictions that the head of the classroom places on the group.
Unless they decide to change these restrictions, you may need to leave the classroom if you want to be able to follow other users.
Age restrictions
Another common reason you might not be able to add friends is your age.
If you’re under the age of 13, and this is the age you’ve used on Duolingo, then you may run into difficulties.
Similarly, you won’t be able to follow a user that is 13 or under.
Privacy settings
If your Duolingo profile is set to private, then you won’t be able to follow other users.
A lot of users do this because they don’t want to participate in the weekly leagues. This is fair enough, but one thing they don’t account for is that they’ll lose their ability to follow other users!
To check your privacy settings, you’ll need to log in to your account on desktop, open your profile, then select ‘privacy’. Make sure there’s a tick next to ‘Make my profile public’…
Inactivity
If you don’t use Duolingo regularly, then Duolingo will mark your account as inactive.
For some reason, when this happens, you’re not able to follow other users.
It’s an easy fix though apparently. All you need to do is complete a lesson, and your profile will be marked as active again.
If this is the reason you weren’t able to add friends, then wait 24 hours before trying again and the issue should be sorted.
Following too many users
Finally, if you’re following too many users already, then you may not be able to follow any more.
Currently, you’re only able to follow up to 1000 other accounts. Once you hit 1000, Duolingo removes your ability to follow any more accounts.
The solution here is pretty obvious: if you want to follow another user, you’ll need to unfollow someone to make space!
For more walkthroughs and explanations, feel free to follow me on Twitter.
You might also be interested in some of these guides:
How to change your Duolingo app icon
I’m always the first to read these new articles. No one else seems to comment on them first.
hey matt,
so for some reason it won’t let me add friends and follow, even though my account’s age is 15, my profile is public, i’m not inactive, and i’m not in any duolingo classrooms.
i’ve found out that duolingo has NO methods to contact a person for support, so i’ve come to you for help.
i do have a super duolingo subscription which might be a reason, but i still want your help.
-aaron
Same for me. – Martin
Same here. I tried all the methods but still can’t follow any users.
Catch 22 with the restrictions of accounts for -13 year olds. As a parent, I cannot add my kid to my own e-mail adress. My kid is too young to have his own e-mail adress.
Secondly: due to restrictions I cannot add my own kid as my friend, how can I add him to the Family Plan than?!
Third: due to restrictions my second e-mail adress can not “verify” the account. It just notifies the account is created under this e-mail adress.
My kid only uses Duolingo on the computer since he is too young to have his own mobile phone.
What can I do to fix this?!
Hello. Did you find out how to fix it? I’m having the same issue…
I was wondering why I couldn’t follow other people it turns out you can’t get the duolingo
app on the Amazon Appstore
I also can’t add friends or accept a family plan offer. None of the above apply to me. In over 13, but don’t remember adding my birthdate, so don’t know how to check this.