125 Touching Birthday Wishes for a Friend

Best friends are like soulmates. They stick by your side no matter what. Whether you’re aiming to bring a smile to their face with funny messages or longing to touch their heart with motivational quotes, we’re sharing birthday wishes for a friend that fit just about every scenario. From childhood friends to recent acquaintances, honoring another year with them is worth celebrating.

100 Wonderful Birthday Wishes for Your Best Friend

Whether in a card or on a cake, these sweet sentiments are the perfect way to celebrate her big day!

It’s your bestie’s big day. You found the perfect present, baked a beautiful cake and even decorated the house for the party. You’re all set to get the celebration started except for one thing: even though you’ve racked your noggin for days, you just can’t seem to come up with the right words to mark her latest trip around the sun. After all, your sister from another mister is one of the most important people in your life—you don’t want to jot down something boring or bland inside her card or on Instagram.

Well, fret not, because we’ve come to the rescue with the 100 most thoughtful birthday wishes for your best friend. Ahead, you’ll find terrific tidings sure to bring either a tear to her eye or a laugh to her lips. Yep, we’ve found super sweet bday sentiments and hilarious ones, too. We’ve also tracked down the cutest emoji messages and even rounded up intriguing birthday quotes from famous folks. With all this heartfelt material to choose from you’re sure to find a birthday wish that will connect with your best bud heart and soul.

Sweet Birthday Wishes

• It’s the best day of the year, because it’s the day we get to celebrate you!
• Wishing you a year of health, happiness, peace and prosperity.
• You’re more than a friend to me, you’re family. Happy Birthday!
• Happy Birthday to the person I want to be when I grow up. You’re an inspiration to us all.
• I don’t know how it’s possible, but every year you just keep getting better. Love you bunches!
• Here’s to another year of getting up to no good together! Happy Birthday to my ride or die!
• May this birthday bring you all the happiness you deserve, which is all the happiness!
• Happy Birthday to the woman who’s the peanut butter to my jelly, the sock to my shoe, the gin to my tonic. I don’t know what I’d do without you!
• Just like you’ve always been there for me through life’s ups and downs, I’ll always be there for you. Happy Birthday!
• Happy Birthday to my utterly and absolutely irreplaceable best friend.
• Here is your yearly reminder that there is no better bestie than you! Happy birthday, my girl!
• My wish for you is that every single one of your birthday wishes comes true this year.
• One of the best parts of life is friendship. Thanks for being my bestie.
• I hope your special day is even better than last year’s and not quite as good as next year’s.
• Happy Birthday to someone who is as lovely inside as she is out.
• The world got a bit better on this day because my bestie was born!
• I’m proud to call you my best friend on this and every day. Happy Birthday!
• May this birthday, and every one after, be as wonderful as you.
• Wishing you nothing but love and happiness on your birthday, my sweet friend.
• Happy Birthday to my partner in crime! I can’t wait to see what we get up to in the next year.
• I’m so proud of the life you’ve built, and so happy to be a part of it. Happy Birthday!
• You shine as bright as the stars in the sky. Happy Birthday, BFF!
• You’re such a blessing to everyone, we should celebrate you with cake and presents every day!
• Everybody always talks about how they have the world’s greatest friend, but for me, it’s really true. Cheers to your big day!
• Happy Birthday to my very favorite human.

Funny Birthday Wishes

• Older? Yes. Wiser? Not so much. Happy Birthday, bestie!
• Don’t let old age get you down. It’s difficult to get back up. Happy Birthday!
• Happy Birthday to a woman who’s old enough to know better and young enough to not care.
• The candles on the cake aren’t the only thing getting lit tonight! Happy Birthday!
• The best part of being older is that you did most your stupid stuff before the internet. Happy birthday!
• Welcome to middle age, when “happy hour” is naptime. Happy Birthday!
• Happy birthday to my lifelong friend! I can’t wait until we’re old enough to terrorize the nurses at the senior home together!
• Happy Birthday to the Thelma to my Louise (only without the whole driving off a cliff ending).
• Don’t forget to smile awkwardly when everyone sings you “Happy Birthday” today!
• You know you’re old when the candles on the cake set off the smoke alarm.
• Happy Birthday! Just tell yourself you’re not aging, you’re just becoming a classic.
• You know what they say about more candles… A bigger wish! Happy Birthday.
• Happy birthday, bestie. I was going to get you the best present ever, but sadly I’m too big to fit in the gift box.
• One minute, you’re young and fun. The next, you have a favorite burner on the stove. I think we both know which you are… Happy birthday!
• Happy birthday, bestie. I hope you’re not waiting for a gift because my presence is my present to you.
• For your birthday, I wanted to give you something that was both funny and charming, but then I remembered you already have me in your life. Happy Birthday!
• Here’s to another year of “she”nanigans with my favorite partner in crime!
• Did you know birthdays are actually good for you? Statistics show that the more you have, the longer you live.
• You’re terrible at aging! Can’t you at least try to look older? Happy Birthday!
• For your special day I made you a cake. TA-DAHHH YOU’RE A CAKE! You’re welcome.
• Forget about the past you can’t change, the future you can’t predict, and the present you’re not getting because I didn’t get you one. Happy birthday!
• Happy Birthday. I forgive you for being younger than me.
• They say you should take every birthday with a grain of salt. I say take it with a whole bunch of salt. on the rim a very large margarita.
• Smart, good-looking, and funny! But enough about me. Happy birthday!
• Don’t worry about lighting the candles on your birthday cake—I’ve already called the fire department.

Emoji Birthday Wishes

• You take the🎂birthday girl!
• Wild 🐎🐎 🐎 couldn’t keep me from celebrating your bday!
• It’s your 🎂🎉 🥳🎁! It’s 🕖 to 🖌 the town red!
• You’re the 🐝 knees, my BFF! HBD!
• Cheers to you on your big day! 🥂🍾
• Happy Bday! The🕯🕯🕯won’t be the only thing🔥tonight!
• Another year older🧓but prob not any wiser. 📚 🤣🤣🤣
• Happy Birthday, my shining 🌟.
• Can’t wait to🥂 you tonight, bestie! 🍾
• Happy Birthday to the angel on my shoulder. 😇
• Happy Birthday to the devil on my shoulder. 👿
• Wishing you luck to last the whole year through. 🍀🍀🍀
• Here’s to a year full of fun and adventure. ✈️🚢🚆
• An absolute queen was born on this day. 👑
• Happy Bday to the coolest 🧊 chick 🐣I know.
• Hope you have a birthday that’s out of this world! 🪐👾💫🌛
• Cheers to another trip around the ☀️!
• Happy birthday to the🍞 to my🧈.
• Thanks for making the 🌎 a better place. Happy Birthday!
• Happy Birthday, 💃👑.

Birthday Quotes for a Best Friend

• “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” —John Lennon
• “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” —William Shakespeare
• “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” —Tennessee Williams
• “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” —Khalil Gibran
• “A good friend knows all your best stories but a best friend has lived them with you.” —Unknown
• “The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” —Elizabeth Foley
• “The greatest gift of life is friendship and I have received it.” —Hubert H. Humphrey
• “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” —Helen Keller
• “Close friends are truly life’s treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves.” —Vincent Van Gogh
• It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters.” —Unknown
• “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover; hard to find and lucky to have.” —Irish Proverb
• “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” —Oprah Winfrey
• “A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.” —Unknown
• “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” —Marcel Proust
• “A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” —Proverbs 27:9
• “But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.” —Thomas Jefferson
• “Friendship is a sheltering tree.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” —Helen Keller
• “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” —Woodrow Wilson
• “Life was meant for good friends and great adventures.” —Unknown
• “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” —Thomas Aquinas
• “Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.” —Aretha Franklin
• “If you live to be a hundred, I hope I live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” —Winnie the Pooh
• “A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” —Doris Roberts
• “Friendship is the wine of life.” —Edward Young
• “True friends are like diamonds—bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.” —Nicole Richie
• “Life is nothing without friendship.” —Cicero
• “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” —Muhammad Ali
• “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” —Aristotle
• “Friendship isn’t a big thing—it’s a million little things.” —Paulo Coelho

Jill Gleeson is a travel journalist and memoirist based in the Appalachian Mountains of western Pennsylvania who has written for websites and publications including Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Country Living, Washingtonian, Gothamist, Canadian Traveller, and EDGE Media Network. Jill is the travel editor for Enchanted Living. Learn more about her journey at gleesonreboots.com.

125 Touching Birthday Wishes for a Friend

Surprise your BFF with one of these touching messages.

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Birthday wishes for a friend can go a long way in letting them know you care. Whether you are writing a heartfelt note on a card or want inspiration for an Instagram post dedicated to your best friend, celebrating a pal is always a great idea. And letting them know you’re thinking of them on their special day might be just what they’re wishing for this year.

Best friends are like soulmates. They stick by your side no matter what. Whether you’re aiming to bring a smile to their face with funny messages or longing to touch their heart with motivational quotes, we’re sharing birthday wishes for a friend that fit just about every scenario. From childhood friends to recent acquaintances, honoring another year with them is worth celebrating.

Daily walks, wine nights, watching one anothers’ kids grow up—each memory shared is priceless. And if you’re in a long-distance friendship, you don’t have to be in the same zip code to enjoy these birthday wishes. Our wide range of long-distance messages will bridge the gap and make their day extra special. We’re sharing birthday wishes for every type of friendship.

Meaningful birthday messages for best friend

1. Happy Birthday, best friend! I hope you enjoy your special day to the fullest.
2. Sending you an abundance of love this birthday, bestie.
3. Wishing you a year of health, happiness, peace, and prosperity.
4. One of the best parts of life is friendship. Thanks for being my bestie.
5. I can’t think of a better gift than your friendship.
6. Birthdays come every year, but friends like you only come around once in a lifetime. Best wishes on your special day!
7. I hope your birthday is just like you–fun, sweet, and full of love!
8. May this birthday, and every one after, be as wonderful as you.
9. We’ve made so many wonderful memories together. Cheers to many more!
10. I’m so proud of the life you’ve built, and so happy to be a part of it. Happy Birthday!
11. You’re someone I know I can always count on, and I hope you feel the same. Happy Birthday to an amazing friend!
12. Today we celebrate you! You’re truly a ray of sunshine in my life.
13. Happy Birthday to the person who’s seen me at my best and my worst, and still loves me anyway. You’re not just a friend, you’re a soulmate.
14. We love a birthday queen, and you do the title justice.
15. Thank you for living your life in a way that makes every day worth celebrating.
16. The world is a better place because you’re in it. I hope you have an amazing birthday!
17. Here’s to a year filled with new adventures, exciting opportunities, and lots of love. Happy Birthday to my amazing friend!
18. I wish that your next 365 days are the best yet.
19. Happy Birthday to my BFF! I can’t imagine life without you.
20. Just like your cake, you bring joy, light, and sweetness to the world. Enjoy your birthday celebration. You deserve it.
21. May your birthday and your life be as wonderful as you are.
22. I hope your laughs, love, and memories are extra special today.
23. Wishing my bestie the absolute best on her best day of the year!
24. ​​ You’re more than a friend to me—you’re family.
25. To my most wonderful friend, Happy Birthday! I hope you have a fabulous celebration.

Funny birthday messages for best friend

1. Older? Yes. Wiser? Not so much. Happy Birthday, bestie!
2. Do you hear that? That’s me screaming Happy Birthday to my best friend!
3. Here’s to another year of wild best friend shenanigans! Have a great birthday.
4. Like a fine wine, you’re only getting better with age!
5. May your special day be sweet and spicy just like you, bestie!
6. Let the awkward looks and awful singing commence! Happy Birthday, friend.
7. You don’t have to be young to have fun! Live it up on your birthday!
8. Friend, take it easy on the dance floor. I wouldn’t want you to break a hip or anything.
9. Welcome to middle age, when happy hour is naptime. Happy Birthday!
10. You’re one in a million, my friend. But let’s be real, you’re also a little bit weird. And that’s why I love you. Happy Birthday!
11. Happy Birthday to my partner in crime! I can’t wait to see what we get up to next year.
12. Happy Birthday. Thank you for always being older than me.
13. Even when we’re 100 years old, we’ll still laugh and gossip like we’re teenagers.
14. Happy Birthday to my best friend. Without our conversations, my therapy bills would be outrageous.
15. Birthday candles won’t be the only thing getting lit this weekend!
16. You know what they say about more candles… A bigger wish!
17. You suck at aging! Can you at least try to look older?
18. I forgot to buy a gift for you so I brought myself as your birthday gift. Count your blessings, not your wrinkles.
19. Happy Birthday to the only person who will be honest with me when my makeup looks weird.
20. Happy Birthday. I forgive you for being younger than me.
21. You’re not getting older, you’re leveling up!
22. Don’t let aging get you down. It’s too hard to get up again!
23. I promise I’ll tell you if you start turning into your mother/father if you do the same for me.
24. Name a better birthday duo. I’ll wait. In the meantime, Happy Birthday!
25. Happy Birthday to the most fabulous woman I know. Oh wait, it’s not my birthday!

Short and sweet birthday wishes for best friend

1. Happy Birthday my friend! I can’t wait to celebrate today!
2. Go bestie, it’s your birthday!
3. Joy, love, and lots of cake on your very Happy Birthday!
4. I hope you know how much you’re loved today, best friend!
5. Let’s make this year’s birthday one for the record books!
6. I can’t imagine life without my best friend. Happy Birthday!
7. Thanks for being someone I can always turn to. HBD!
8. Happy Birthday to a truly beautiful soul.
9. Happy Birthday to my favorite person in the world. You mean everything to me.
10. It’s your birthday! That means you CAN have your cake and eat it too! Enjoy!
11. Keep calm and sparkle on! This is your day bestie!
12. Happy Birthday to my gorgeous, smart, and loyal friend. Live your best life!
13. Wishing a Happy Birthday to someone who’s beautiful inside and out.
14. You know your life is a success when you have a friend as true as you! Enjoy your special day!
15. May happiness bloom in your heart all year long.
16. Happy Birthday to my best friend in the whole wide world!
17. It’s your birthday! Pop the champagne girl, you deserve it.
18. I am grateful that you are a part of my life. All the best on your birthday!
19. Hope your special day brings all that your heart desires!
20. Wishing you a never-ending pattern of peace and joy.
21. May the sun shine brighter for you each day, you deserve it, my friend!
22. You deserve a birthday that is as fabulous as you!
23. Live your life, and forget how old you are! Happy Birthday, friend.
24. May you have a blessed day and year. Happy Birthday.
25. May all your wishes come true. Have a spectacular birthday full of exciting moments.

Touching birthday wishes for best friend

1. Make every single day worth celebrating. May you have a wonderful birthday.
2. I wish you a peaceful and serene birthday filled with endless blessings.
3. Happy Birthday to my friend who’s forever young at heart.
4. Today and every day, wishing only the best for you!
5. I pray that you’re blessed with many more years so that we can always celebrate together.
6. I knew you’d always be part of my life from the day we met. Thank you for being a wonderful friend.
7. You are like a diamond; I will always treasure our friendship.
8. A good friend knows all your best stories, but a best friend has lived them with you.
9. Happy Birthday bestie! Many friends in life come and go. But you’re forever a friend.
10. Friends are the family you get to choose. I’m honored to have someone as special as you in my life
11. As you blow out the candles on your birthday cake, I wish for all your dreams to come true.
12. Life is a lot more colorful with you in it. I wouldn’t change a thing. Happy Birthday, friend!
13. As long as I have a best friend like you by my side, anything feels possible. Thank you for always being my rock. Happy Birthday.
14. Today, you deserve the biggest celebration for all the joy you bring into the world.
15. There are many precious things in life but few are as special as you, my friend! Wishing you lots of love and happiness!
16. On your birthday, I want to thank you for the countless adventures, memories, and laughter we’ve shared together.
17. When I look back at my early years, all my best memories are with you!
18. Life is more fun when we’re together. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday!
19. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my best friend happy.
20. Sending some very special birthday wishes to a very special friend of mine today.
21. When I think about my favorite memories, you’re always a part of them. Let’s make more memories this year!
22. Birthdays are the universe’s way of telling us to eat more cake.
23. Some friends are soulmates. Happy Birthday to the friend who understands me on a deep level. I don’t know where I’d be without you.
24. Happy Birthday to someone who can make me laugh when I want to cry. I love you so much!
25. Cheers to many, many more years of celebrating your birthday together!

Long-distance birthday wishes for your best friend

1. I may not be there in person, but I’m still wishing you the happiest birthday!
2. Have an amazing birthday celebration because you make my life truly amazing, no matter how far apart we may be! Miss you!
3. Distance may limit hugs, but not birthday wishes. Have an awesome day!
4. Even the longest distance can’t dull the sparkle of our friendship. Happy Birthday!
5. Though miles apart, our friendship knows no boundaries. Here’s to a memorable birthday!
6. Happy Birthday to my long-distance best friend! I’m so glad distance doesn’t affect our ability to share terrible jokes and puns with each other.
7. To the best friend I have ever known, here’s wishing you a joy-filled birthday with memories galore even though I can’t be there with you.
8. Cheers to another year of being fabulous, no matter the distance. Happy Birthday!
9. To my wonderful friend far away, may your birthday cake be as sweet as our memories.
10. Even though we can’t celebrate in person, know that you’re always in my thoughts.
11. An amazing friend equals an amazing birthday; keep the candles lit and the fun rolling, even if I’m not there in person!
12. To the best friend in the entire world, I wish you an awesome birthday. May it be filled with joy, love, and warmth!
13. Here’s to wishing you a memorable birthday! No amount of distance can stand between us.
14. I wish to celebrate you on this special day of your life; may you continue to succeed in whatever you undertake. Happy Birthday my friend!
15. Sending you virtual hugs and kisses on your special day. Happy Birthday, my long-distance friend!
16. Miles can never separate true friends like us. Happy Birthday, my dear friend!
17. Happy Birthday! Wishing you a wonderful day today and looking forward to seeing you in [insert month].
18. On your special day, I’m raising a toast to our friendship and the memories we’ve created. Here’s to many more!
19. You may be far away, but you’re still my best friend. Happy Birthday, my dear long- distance friend!
20. Dear friend, wishing you a great birthday filled with laughter and love. Cheers from miles away!
21. I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me and to thank you for your love over the years. As you celebrate your special day, I wish for your good health and happiness.
22. Your birthday is a reminder of how lucky I am to have you in my life. Even though we may be far apart, you’re always close to my heart.
23. Happy Birthday BFF! Enjoy this special day, knowing that despite being so far away, you are very close to my heart. I hope you have an unbelievably happy day!
24. Even across the globe, our friendship shines brightly. Here’s to a birthday that’s as special as you are!
25. Have an amazing day, dear friend. Here’s to a memorable birthday!

Elissa Johnson is an editorial associate intern at Prevention. She is a communication student at Penn State University. When not writing about health and wellness trends for Prevention.com, you can find her searching for the best bubble tea, exploring NYC, or listening to SZA.