SAN FRANCISCO » The heartache of a broken relationship may soon become less painful on Facebook.

The world’s largest social network is trying to help people who have split up with a spouse or lover, offering a new feature that spares them from constantly seeing their former partner’s posts and pictures in their news feed.

Facebook will begin testing the breakup protection on mobile devices in the U.S. before deciding whether to offer it to all of its 1.5 billion accountholders worldwide.

The optional tool is designed for people who don’t want to take the more extreme measure of blocking an ex-lover from their Facebook network.

After changing their relationship status of Facebook, people will also be allowed to remove their names from past posts linking them to a former partner.