Two experiments aim at describing the impact of friendship during a synchronous collaborative information retrieval (SCIR) with young pupils (recruited in Grade 3). In the first study, 68 pupils were asked to look for 13 answers in one of the three following conditions: on an individual basis (condition "Single"), as part of a designed duo with social friendship (condition "Affinity +"), or as part of a designed duo without social friendship (condition "Affinity -"). In the second experiment, we investigated more precisely the impact of friendship on verbal interactions between partners. Main results obtained in these two experiments are the following: (1) pairs retrieved effectively more answers, more correct answers and were more efficient than singles; (2) pairs composed of pupils without social friendship retrieved more answers, more correct answers and were more efficient than pairs composed by friends; (3) pairs composed of friends produced significantly more irrelevant queries; and (4) pairs composed of friends produced more verbalisations related to conflicts, while pairs composed of pupils without social friendship are engaged in a great deal of consensus seeking. Finally, educational implications are discussed.