Regrouping involves moving cows from one pen to another and is associated with decreased feeding time and increased competition toward the regrouped cow. Pen changes occur frequently around calving, a time when cows are most vulnerable to health problems. Regrouping cows along with a familiar conspecific may make social integration easier; however, this hypothesis has yet to be tested among postpartum cattle. The objective of this study was to describe acute changes in behavior in the first hour following regrouping among cows moved with a partner vs. individually. Holstein and Jersey cows were divided into 2 treatments: 1) Individual Regrouping 3 d after calving; n = 16, and 2) Paired Regrouping 3 d after calving; n = 16. After calving, cows were held in a postpartum pen, adjacent to the maternity pen, for 3 d. On the afternoon of d 3, cows in the individual treatment were regrouped into the main lactation pen alone while the focal cow in the paired treatment was moved with a familiar partner (i.e., both spent 3 d in postpartum pen together). Time spent feeding, standing/lying in stalls, and at various locations in the pen were quantified over 1 h using 30 s time sampling. Data collection began immediately following the focal cow’s entrance into the lactation pen. Grooming time and frequency of competitive displacements (from feed or lying stall) were quantified using continuous live-observation. Differences in behavior between the individual and paired treatments were analyzed using a mixed model in SAS. In the first hour after regrouping there were no treatment differences in grooming behavior, or time spent in the outdoor yard, lying stalls, back alley, feed alley, and water alleys of the pen (P ≥ 0.16). Cows regrouped individually were displaced from the feed bunk more often (1.3 ± 0.3 vs 0.4 ± 0.3 times/60 min, respectively; P = 0.04) than cows regrouped as a pair. Regrouping cows with a familiar partner may help mitigate changes in behavior associated with this stressful relocation.