10 Key Signs a Man Likes You (Does He Have Feelings for You?)

In an ideal world, all men would brim with confidence and happily declare their attraction for a woman that draws their favor (directly, and at just the right moment, of course).

Many men already do this, but many more do not. While the confident guy lets you know his feelings straight up, the less confident one will wait until he’s sure that you like him, too. And the man who lacks confidence entirely? Well, it’s unlikely that he’ll ever get the courage to tell you that he likes you. I know, sad, isn’t it?

In this article, you’re going to learn the exact signals a man reveals when he has feelings for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re already perceptive around men or generally oblivious at reading their romantic cues – this article will help you to better understand men.

Apply what you learn here and you’ll no longer miss the signals that a great guy is giving you, nor will you interpret simple friendliness as flirting. And your life will be a whole lot easier because of it.

Now roll up your sleeves, let’s get into it!

1. His eyes have been locking in on you

Eyes tell all. You already know that eyes are the window to the soul – and fittingly, they’re the first place to glimpse a man’s longing for you.

Eye contact is one of the most consistent signs of attraction that scientists have found. If he likes you, his eyes will naturally linger on you. When your eyes meet, a confident man that’s into you will react by maintaining prolonged eye-contact with you, while a shy man will abruptly averting his gaze. The key here is in the intensity of his reaction, whatever that reaction might be.

He’ll probably also sneak multiple glances at you when you’re not looking. When men have an interest beyond friendship they tend to look at a lot more. You can probably catch him in this – both men and women sneak glances at attractive potential mates – but women are much more subtle about it. If you do catch him looking at you on more than one occasion, be sure to meet his eyes and see what his reaction is.

If you’re doing an activity with him and he keeps glancing at you to see if you’re enjoying yourself, this also means he’s invested in your experience and likely has feelings for you. If you pay close attention, you might notice that he’s incredibly aware of your movements – like touching your hair or changing your sitting posture. A man who’s this tuned into you is displaying high interest.

Another tip – If you’re in a group together and a joke is made or something funny happens, notice if you’re one of the first people he looks at to share a reaction with. This is another clear sign of interest.

2. He regularly initiates conversations with you

When a man likes you he’ll constantly be finding ways to talk to you. He’ll start a variety of conversations and continually look for more discussion topics to ensure the conversation between you conversation flowing.

He’ll talk or text about various things and ask your opinions on a wide range of topics. He might even text you at times without a clear purpose at all. He might ask you questions that subtly reveal whether you’re available. This could be a question about your family, if you live alone, your relationship history, or what your social life is like.

If he’s continually taking initiative to sustain small talk on the phone, it’s absolutely a sign that he has strong feelings for you.

3. He compliments you frequently

A man with feelings for you will go out of his way to compliment you. He’ll be compelled to express how good you look to him and how impressive your personality and skills are.

He might tell you how great you look, how well an item of clothing suits you, how funny he thinks you are, or how good of a time he’s having with/because of you.

Now, any man can doll out excessive compliments to a girl. It’s common practice for a man to do this in an effort to bed a woman for a quick fling. But here’s the big difference – a man who’s truly smitten with you will give you compliments that are well thought out, sincere, and, most importantly, go beyond your physical looks.

One thing to pay attention to is to see how complimentary he is to the other people in his social circle. Look to see if he gives equal amounts of compliments to others. If not, that’s a clear indication that he holds feelings for you.

4. His body language and facial expressions signal heightened interest

How do you know when his body language is sending attraction signals? Here’s what to look for:

• He smiles at you often. Not a forced smile either – a wide, genuine, full-toothed smile. He’ll smile at you more than other people, sometimes for no apparent reason.
• He angles and points his body towards you. It’s natural to adjust so that our bodies face what interests us. A man who likes you may face his torso, legs, feet, etc in your direction. So watch if he turns his head to speak to you: are any other parts of him – like his legs – turning towards you as well?
• He mirrors and mimics you. A man who’s attracted to you will be more receptive to your body language and may mimic small movements that you make. He’ll likely match your pace when walking together
• Self-grooming gestures. In your presence, he might do things like adjust his tie, shirt, or hair. This is an effort to look his best for you.

It’s helpful to compare how he acts around you to how he acts around others. So while in groups with him pay close attention to his other interactions.

Tip: If you have a strong hunch he likes you, one potent way to gauge his response to you is to mention that you’re interested in or planning to meet up with another guy. If a moment of despair washes over him, then he’s definitely into you.

5. He’s respectful and shows genuine interest in you as a person

A man who likes you will be intrigued by all aspects of your life and your personality. Men like to fully understand the object of their interest, whatever that may be.

If you’re the object of his interest, here are some ways he will show it:

• He uses your name a lot. In youth, we love to write down and say our crushes’ names. Using your name frequently shows that he likes the way it sounds and enjoys the feeling of saying it over and over again.
• He asks a lot of questions about you. If he’s into you he’ll ask a ton of questions about you. Meaningful questions that seem important to him. Basically, he’ll want to cover everything you’re about. This is him investigating whether he thinks you’re worth knowing and investing his energy into. It’s a great sign of interest.
• He remembers details about you. A man who’s into you will remember both major life items you’ve shared and the small details you say or reveal in passing. The more details about you that he remembers, the better. It means he’s making an effort to understand you, and that shows interest. This could range from the childhood dreams you shared with him to your exact order at Starbucks. He may even wish you a happy birthday without you telling them it’s your birthday. He’ll also pick up small changes in your appearance, likely complimenting you or playfully teasing you about it.
• He stays off his phone when he’s with you. A man that likes you will avoid looking at his phone and instead be attentive to you. If he goes an hour or more without unlocking his phone when with you, that’s absolutely a sign that he’s invested in you.
• He gives you his undivided attention. Not only is his phone put away, but his eyes and mind are entirely set on you. His undivided attention will continue when you speak in a group setting.
• He takes interest in the things that you like. If he likes you he will investigate things that interest you even if they’ve been intrigued him before. This could be a sport you play, a music group you like, a show or a movie you love, etc.
• He confides in you. A man who likes you will not be afraid to be emotionally vulnerable with you and share difficult aspects of his life.

Basically, a man who truly likes you will treat you with interest and respect like you matter to him and to the world. This separates him from the men who show you interest just for sex. Those guys won’t bother to investigate the details of your life.

6. He creates opportunities to spend time with you

A man who likes you will want to reach out and spend a lot of time with you.

Here are some examples of ways he will try to spend more time with you:

• He initiates texting or phone conversations. When he likes you he’ll initiate contact. If he’s making the effort to call or text you it shows that you’re on his mind and he wants to bridge the gap between you. Most men won’t reach out consistently like this if they don’t like you.
• He offers to help you with something. If he likes you he’ll signal interest by showing you how useful he can be. He’ll offer a helping hand with just about anything that you could use help with. He might offer to help with homework, give you a ride somewhere, help with groceries/food prep, help you downsize, etc.
• He includes you in his day to day plans. When he’s into you he’ll invite you to partake in a wide variety of activities. He’ll invite you to gatherings, hikes, adventures, etc. He’ll ask what you like do to and try to plan something together that matches your tastes. An important signal of strong interest is when he invites you to do mundane, daily activities, like grocery shopping with him. This differentiates him from the men who just want to meet up on Friday nights for sex.
• His friends make an effort to get the two of you alone. You might be with a group of his friends and they suddenly, in coordination, get up and leave the two of you alone together. If he’s seemingly coordinating with his friends to get you alone with him, that means that he’s discussing you with them, which is a big clue that he’s into you.

7. He’s been getting closer and closer to you physically

When a man likes you you’ll find that the proximity between you two starts getting narrower and narrower, to the point that he’s regularly entering your personal bubble of space.

• He might find innocent reasons to move closer to you, like squeezing in next to you in a group setting. He might even sit right next to you when space would allow him to sit further.
• When standing together he might move closer and closer as you talk or even lean towards you. You test this by saying something quietly, does he lean in close to try to hear what you say? If he does, does he remain there?
• If you’re both standing side by side and looking at something together, he might inch his way so closer so that your bodies are pressing against each other.

8. He goes out of his way to touch you

Touch is a potent indicator of attraction and an effective way to progress a connection towards romance. Men know this and will touch you when they are attracted to you. A light touch on your hand or shoulder can make the difference between friendly and flirty. Casual or “Accidental” touching is almost always a significant sign that he’s shifting towards deeper feelings for you.

Here are some ways that a man with feelings for you might initiate skin contact:

• He sits or stands close enough to brush against your shoulder or lightly presses his body into yours. Does he sit right next to you? Does he look for excuses to brush against your shoulder or leg? Does his contact linger?
• He gently rests his hands on you. He might rest his hand on your shoulder or place his hand on the small of your back. He might comment that you have something in your hair or that it’s out of sorts, and gently brush it back, leaving his hand on your head for a moment.
• He finds an excuse to touch your hands. He finds an excuse to or “accidentally” touches, feels, or holds your hand. He might do this when he laughs, or briefly when you’re walking next to each other. He’s likely testing the waters to see if you’ll reciprocate.
• He offers to give you a massage. He might comment that you’re tense or ask if you’ve had a massage lately and offer to provide one to you. It could be a shoulder massage, hand massage, foot massage, etc.
• He play fights with you. That arm wrestling contest he coerced you into? Yeah, that’s a way for him to initiate touching you. He might also playfully punch your arm, wrap you up in his arms, or poke and prod at you. This is an open invitation to fight playfully back. So go for it.
• He hugs you whenever the opportunity arises. If he likes you he won’t let you leave a meeting without hugging you. He might even hug you randomly in passing.

Any physical contact with you like what’s listed above is a good sign of his interest in you. Men won’t touch a woman who they dislike, and he won’t want to give the wrong impression if he’s not interested.

You can test this further by touching him. Try brushing up against him or placing your hand on him. How does he react? Does he move closer and touch you more? Does he flinch and act a little nervous? The stronger the reaction, the more of an effect you’re having on him.

9. He jumps on opportunities to see you in vulnerable emotional states.

Men who are interested in a woman will attempt to assess her compatibility with him in various ways. One way for him to do this will be to create or get involved in situations with her that reveal how she behaves in stressful or emotional states.

An example: he might involve himself with you if something bad happened to one of your friends or family. He might offer to drive or accompany you to the hospital. Yes, it’s an opportunity for him to behelpful, but more importantly it’s a way for him to get a (valuable) opportunity for him to see how you behave in situations that trigger your natural maternal, supportive, and caring state.

Another way he could do this is to spend time with you around his family or yours. If he does this he’s certainly assessing you as a partner and is getting valuable information about how you emotionally respond to familial dynamics.

10. He treats you differently than other women

This is the biggest indicator that you can use to verify his level of attraction. Usually, a man that likes you will act totally different around you than the other people in his life, especially with other women.

Here are some signs that he likes you and is treating you differently:

• He goes out of his way to do things for you, but doesn’t offer the same to other women.
• He pays more attention to you than your other friends, especially the female ones.
• He says random/awkward things to you and trips over his words, but doesn’t around other women.
• He laughs at your jokes whether they’re funny or not, but doesn’t laugh so easily at other women’s humor.
• He responds strongly when you smile or gaze at him but hardly reacts when other women smile at him.
• He teases you and his tonality is more playful and jokey with you than with other women.
• He’s clearly showing off around you/your group and looks at you when he does (or at least seems to be energetically focused getting a response from you).
• He tries to involve you in little linguistic games or playful charades but doesn’t ask to involve other women.
• He plays a video game or sport with you that he’s good at and lets you win, but doesn’t allow others to beat him at the game.

Some bonus attraction signals

Here are some more male signs of his interest that didn’t make the main list on their own:

• He gets protective of you. If he starts acting “protective” towards you, like shifting himself closer to you in any seating arrangement, or putting his arm around the back of your chair, it’s a sign that he’s interested.
• He flirts with other women in front of you. This might seem counterintuitive, but for many men, it’s a sign of interest in you. He’s doing it to see your reaction so he can tell whether you like him. This becomes obvious if he’s sneaking a lot of glances at you as he flirts with them.
• He acts nervously around you. Many of the signals talked about in this article will be displayed by confident (or relatively confident) men. But there are shy guys out there who will mostly display nervous or insecure signals of attraction for you. If he’s an already shy personality, he’ll be especially shy around you if he likes you. Think nervous laughter, fidgety movements, fast-talking, stuttering, sweaty palms, shallow breathing, darting glances, difficulties with eye contact, being lost for words, etc. Even if he ignores due to his shyness, he’ll seem aware of your presence. Remember that what might come off as self-centered — like him doing all the talking, or not asking you questions — could just be due to his nerves, so think twice before writing him off as not interested.