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The Complete Guide to Facebook Privacy Settings

by Suzanne Kantra on February 27, 2024

Updated on 2/27/2024. Removed privacy options for features no longer available, added new screenshots, and updated instructions on setting currently available privacy options.

Privacy issues and privacy controls on Facebook are ever-changing and confusing. I've read through hundreds of comments and emails from readers just like you who are frustrated and unsure about how to keep their information safe.

For example, when you post a picture of your kids at a family gathering, how can you control who has permission to share it? What private information are those Facebook game apps collecting, and who are these "third parties" they sell it to? How do you make sure that your live video stream is seen only by the people you choose?

Every action you take on Facebook has privacy and sharing implications you should understand before uploading that next selfie. Unfortunately, checking all of your Facebook settings takes a lot of time, and even then, the best choices for protecting your privacy aren't always obvious.

I just went through a complete review of every Facebook privacy setting currently available to determine what options we have for managing our privacy and what the best settings are for most people (and I'll continue to update this article as Facebook inevitably makes more changes). If you have a specific privacy concern, you can address it directly through your Facebook settings. Though for a broad check of all of your privacy settings, I recommend starting with Facebook's Privacy Checkup, which you can do through your computer browser or the Facebook app (go to Menu > Settings > Privacy Checkup).

Either way, I'll walk you through each setting below so you can confidently decide the right changes for you. For each section, I share my recommendations for each topic and what to consider when making your choices. I also have direct links to "hidden" Facebook settings that aren't part of the standard Privacy Checkup but have important privacy implications.

Who can see your profile information

Who can see your profile information

Here you can see the privacy settings – who can view your information – for your phone number, email addresses, birthday, hometown, relationship status, and other personal details about your life.

See how other people view your Facebook profile page

Before you start adjusting your privacy settings, take a look at what your Facebook profile looks like to other people. You can go to your profile page and click on menu button (the triple dots under the "Edit Profile" button) and select "View As."

The phone numbers associated with your Facebook account

Strong recommendation: Only Me

Under phone number, you'll see the phone number(s) associated with your account and who can view it. Your number is very important because it can be used to reset your Facebook password. By revealing your phone number, you are making it more vulnerable to SIM swapping, where a hacker contacts your carrier (in-store or on the phone) and convinces them to get a new SIM card with your number or port your phone number to another phone. Once the hacker has control of your number, they can receive codes to break into accounts protected by two-factor authentication

To delete or add a phone number, go to your profile page > About > Contact and basic info.

The email addresses associated with your Facebook account

My recommendation: Only Me

Under emails, it will show all email addresses associated with your account and who can view them. Email addresses are important because you can use any of them to log into your account with your Facebook password. Be careful to remove any old email addresses or ones where you're not using secure passwords, because if that email address is hacked, it could compromise your Facebook account, as well.

I recommend limiting your email to "Only Me." The people you know should have your email address and if you accidentally accept an invitation from a friend's spoofed Facebook account, that hacker will have access to your email address.

To add or delete and email address, go to your profile page > About > Contact and basic info.

Your birthday

My recommendation: Friends

For your birthday, you can choose to share your whole birthday or just the month and day. That way, your Friends can wish you a happy birthday on Facebook on your special day without necessarily knowing your exact age. Birthdays are sometimes used as a security verification for various services, so you want to keep it protected.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Contact and basic info.

Your hometown and current city

My recommendation: Only Me

For your hometown and current city, you may want to limit it to "Only Me" so you hackers can't use that personal information for social engineering. Your friends know where you live and can ask you where you grew up if they don't know.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Places lived.

Your relationship status

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you have set a relationship with another Facebook user, it will be shared unless you set it otherwise.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Family and relationships.

Your work history and where you went to school

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can choose to share your work history and where you went to high school, college, and graduate school. This setting may help old friends find you or for networking purposes.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Work and education.

Your friends list on your profile page

Strong recommendation: Friends or Only Me

I highly recommend setting this to Friends only or even "Only Me." Keeping your Friends list public puts your friends at risk for account cloning scams. The scam only works when the person behind it can contact your friends pretending to be you to request money or send phishing messages, such as the classic "Is this you?" video scam.

To change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for How People Find and Contact You.

The people and Pages you follow

My recommendation: Personal choice

Facebook lumps people and Pages you follow together. Consider whether there are any sensitive Pages you follow that you wouldn't want the world or your Friends to know about.

To change this setting, go to your profile page > Friends > menu (the triple dots next to "Find Friends") > Edit privacy.

Choose your audience for Posts and Stories

In this section, you can select who can read your future posts and stories, as well as read your prior posts on Facebook.

Choose your default audience

My recommendation: Friends or Custom

"Default audience" is where you set who will see your regular posts, including text posts, photos, and videos. My advice is to keep it to Friends unless you are trying to promote yourself to everyone or you have a specific need for a Custom setting (e.g., to exclude a toxic friend or relative).

You can choose who can see your future posts by going directly to the Facebook Settings page for Posts.

You can always override your default setting for a specific post at the time you create it by clicking on the downward caret next to the audience and selecting a new one.

When you are tagged in a post created by someone else, choose who can see the post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Strong recommendation: Only Me

If you are tagged in a post by someone on Facebook, your Facebook friends may see the post in their feeds even if they aren't friends with the original poster. This is a huge privacy and scam risk because someone can tag you in a photo that you do not want to be associated with, whether it's an embarrassing photo from last night's drink fest or a pure spam post (which I have seen tons of in my feed). So I strongly recommend setting this to "Only Me".

You can choose who can see posts you're tagged in by going directly to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Tagging" section.

Choose who can post on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Friends

My advice is to keep it to Friends, unless you enjoy random comments from strangers.

If you want to check or change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Viewing and sharing" section.

Choose who can see what others post on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You may not want everyone to see what other people are posting on your profile page. If you want to check or change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Viewing and sharing" section.

Choose to hide comments with specific words on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you're concerned about crude language appearing on your profile page, you can add up to 1,000 keywords that will cause a post to be hidden. The post will still remain visible to the people who posted and their Facebook Friends.

If you want to check or change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Viewing and sharing" section. Though you're probably better off just limiting who can post to your profile to Friends (unless your friends are the problem!)

Choose to review posts you're tagged in before they appear on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Turn this on

If you are tagged in a post, the post defaults to automatically showing up on your Timeline. I recommend you choose the setting to review the posts before they appear to avoid embarrassing or spam posts appearing in your timeline. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the Reviewing section.

Choose to review tags people add to your posts before they appear on Facebook (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Turn this on

Posting an old photo from a school or work outing? Once you share it, your Facebook Friends may want to tag more people in the photo. By default, your Facebook Friends can add tags. However, you can choose to review these tags before they appear on your post. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the Reviewing section.

Choose who can comment on your public posts (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

When you create a public post, everyone on Facebook can see it. However, you can limit who gets to comment on your public posts. You can choose this setting based on your posting objectives.

If you want to check or change this setting, the Facebook Settings page for Followers and public content.

Choose who can comment on your public profile pictures and other public profile information (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Friends

When you post a new profile picture or change other Public profile information, the default setting is that only Friends (and Frends of anyone tagged) can like or comment. I recommend leaving this setting as is.

To change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Followers and public content.

Find and remove old posts from your Timeline that you were tagged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Ever been tagged in an embarrassing photo from two decades ago uploaded by that old college classmate? You can remove these tagged items by going to your profile page (you can access it by clicking on your profile photo in the side menu bar) and click on Manage Posts.

In the box that pops up, click on "Filters." In the Post Filters box, you can select "only show posts I'm tagged in." You can choose to hide the posts or remove the posts. First, go through and select the posts where you want to remove yourself (untag yourself), click "Next," and select "Remove Tags." Then go through and select the posts that you want to be able to view but don't want others to see in your Timeline, click Next, and then select "Hide Posts."

Choose who can view old posts

My recommendation: Turn on Limit Past Posts

When you limit your past posts here, it will apply to ALL of your posts, including Public posts those share with "Friends of Friends," to only Friends. Unless you're a celebrity or running a page that is used to generate interest in a business that you run, you will likely want to keep your activity restricted to those you have Friended. Keep in mind that anyone who is tagged in your posts and their Facebook friends may still be able to view these posts.

You can choose who can view old posts by going directly the Facebook Settings page for Posts and clicking on "Limit Past Posts" in the "Your Activity" section.

Choosing an audience for a single old post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you want to change the audience for specific posts, you'll have to go into each post individually to change it. You can change the sharing settings of any individual Facebook update by clicking on the triple dots, then selecting "Edit audience."

Choose who can view your Stories

My recommendation: Personal choice

For "Stories," which are visible for 24 hours, you can limit your audience to your Facebook Friends or create a custom list of people with whom you want to share your stories. You can only set your default story audience within the Privacy Checkup.

For individual stories, click on the cog next to "Your Story" when you create a story, and you'll find the option to change your story audience for that story.

Choose whether you will allow others to share your Stories if you mention them (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you tag someone in a Story, that person can share it to their Story, along with your full name and a link to your post.

You can disable this feature by going to Facebook Setting page for Stories.

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Stories to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation Personal choice

If your Story is public, you can allow others to share your Story to their own Story, along with your full name and a link to your original Story. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Stories to make your choice.

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Reels to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation Personal choice

If your Story is public, you can allow others to share your Story to their own Story, along with your full name and a link to your original Story. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Reels to make your choice.

Choose whether other people will see the total number of reactions to posts you share (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you don't want other people to see the number of reactions to your posts, you can turn off showing post reactions.

Go to the Facebook Settings page for Reaction preferences and toggle off "On your posts."

How to block people from seeing your content and interacting with you

Block a person from interacting with you on Facebook

Blocking a person means that you are invisible to that person on Facebook. So if a mutual Friend tags you in a post, that person won't see the post. If you comment on a mutual Friend's post, that person won't see the comment. There are a few exceptions. If you both use a Facebook app or game or if you've both joined a group, the blocked person could see you. And, the person you block won't disappear entirely from your view. If a mutual Friend posts a photo and tags the blocked person, you may still see it on your Friend's timeline.

To block someone, go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the Edit button next to "Block users." If you just want to prevent a person from seeing posts that you share with Friends, you can add them to your Restricted list (also on the Blocking page). Click on the "Edit" button next to "Restricted list" to add them.

Block just messages and video calls (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you just want to stop a person from sending you messages or attempting to connect via a video call in Messenger, you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block messages" to add their name.

Block just app invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you just want to stop a person from sending invitations to try an app (occurs when one of your friends is trying to get free stuff in a game), you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block app invites."

Block just event invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you just want to stop a person from sending event invitations, you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block event invites."

Block apps (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you want an app to stop contacting you and prevent the app from obtaining non-public information about you through Facebook, you can go the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block apps" to add the name of the app.

Block Pages (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you want a Page to stop interacting with your posts or be able to like or reply to your comments, you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block Pages" to add the name of the Page. You will be unable to post to the Page's Timeline or message the Page. And, if you currently like the Page, blocking the Page will automatically unlike and unfollow the Page.

How people can find you on Facebook.

This section walks you through the ways that you can limit how people can find you through search engines (like Google), or with your phone number, email or name on through Facebook.

Choose who can send you a Friend request

My recommendation: Personal choice

You have two options for limiting who can send you a Friend request: Everyone or Friends of friends. Unless you're being inundated with requests or don't want to be found, I recommend leaving the setting on Everyone so legitimate people who want to connect can.

You can access this directly by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Choose whether people can use your phone number or email to find you

My recommendation: Personal choice

People can look you up on Facebook with your phone number or email address, even if you have them hidden on your profile. This method makes it easy for people you know to find you, especially if you have a common name on Facebook, like Jane Smith. Have the settings option set to "Everyone" or "Friends of Friends" if you want people to find you using your email address or phone number. Or, you can also choose to fully hide your email addresses or phone numbers by selecting "Only me" as the audience. The settings you choose apply to all of your phone numbers or all of your email addresses.

You can access this directly by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Choose whether your Facebook profile appears on search engines

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can find your public Facebook profile page on search engines like Google. If you don't want your Facebook profile coming up in search, you can toggle this setting off in the privacy checkup or you can access it directly by going to You can access this directly by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Choose how message requests are delivered (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

When your Facebook Friends message you, you'll see them appear in the Messenger Chats window. However, other people may try to contact you via Messenger as well: "people with your phone number," "Friends of friends," and "others on Facebook." If you don't want strangers contacting you, send messages requests to "Don't receive requests." If you want to see the request before approving them to chat with you, select "Message requests."

You can set your preferences by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Your data settings on Facebook

Facebook makes it easy to log into other websites and apps with your Facebook account. If these conveniences are too invasive for you, here's where to turn them off.

Using Facebook to log into apps and websites

My recommendation: Remove connections

Instead of creating a new username and password for an app or website, you may have used your Facebook account. If you no longer use the app or website, it's a good idea to remove the connection. However, some apps and websites may hold valuable information about your account. Note that when you remove the connection to your Facebook account, you will lose access to your third-party account.

Remove login with Facebook for specific apps and websites

My recommendation: Personal choice

In the Facebook Privacy Checkup, you'll see a list of all websites and apps that you've connected to your Facebook account. To remove connection, click the 'Remove" button next to the app or site. In the pop-up window, you'll be given the option to "delete all of the posts, photos, and videos that the site or app has posted on your Timeline" and/or "Allow Facebook to notify [app name] the login was removed." This second option may enable you to recover data in the account you created with your Facebook login.

Turn off login with Facebook for apps, websites, and games (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can turn off the ability to use Facebook to log into apps, websites, and games.

Go to the Facebook Setting page for Apps and Websites and click on the "Turn off" button next to "Apps, websites and games."

Turn off game and app notifications (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can turn off annoying notifications for game requests from friends, game status updates, and app notifications.

Go to the Facebook Setting page for Apps and Websites and click on the "Turn off" button next to "Game and app notifications."

Your ad preferences on Facebook

Meta will show you ads on Facebook – that's how they make their money. It's just a question of whether those ads will be targeted to your demographics and interests or non-targeted (and, perhaps, less relevant to you).

Choose the profile information to share with marketers

My recommendation: Personal choice

Here, you can choose whether to share your marital status, employer, job title, and level of education with advertisers. This doesn't remove the information from your Facebook profile; it just impacts the ads you see.

You can also go directly to Meta Settings page for Ad Preferences and clicking on "Manage info" and then "Profile information." There you can toggle off any data you don't want to share.

Choose which interests to share with marketers (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

In addition to basic profile information, Facebook uses other information you've shared with it to serve you ads. You can remove interest categories, by going to Meta Settings page for Ad Preferences and clicking on "Manage info" and then "Profile information." In the "Categories associated with you" section, click on "View and manage." If you have other demographic or behavioral categories in your Ad Preferences, you can click on the "Remove" button next to any categories you don't want used to target ads to you.

See fewer ads about specific topics (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

While you can't choose to see fewer ads overall, you can choose to see fewer ads in specific categories. Go to the Meta Settings page for Ad topics. There you can choose to "See less" of any topic listed.

Turn off personalized ads based on information advertisers share about you (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can choose to prevent Facebook from using data from its partners to show personalized ads. Go Meta Settings page for Ad topics and in the "information other advertisers share about you" section you can select "Activity information from ad partners" to make your selection.

Choose which advertisers can use their own audience list to target you with ads (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

Some companies have lists of people that they want to reach with their ads. Facebook allows companies to target ads based on these lists, or even exclude you from seeing ads (for example, the DNC may want to exclude their ads from people on the RNC list). You can choose not to be shown ads using a list, as well as not be excluded from seeing ads. Go to the Meta Settings page for Audience-based advertising. There, you will see a list of all of the companies that have you on their audience list. Click on a company, and you can find out why you were included in the advertiser's audience. Click on the arrow next to the reason, and you can choose whether the company's list can be used to either include or exclude you from seeing ads.

Choose whether you are shown ads off Facebook based on your interests (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

Facebook serves a lot of advertising on websites and through apps off of Facebook. You can turn off personalized ads for those sites and apps, by going to the Meta Settings page for Ad preferences and selecting the "Manage info" tab. Click on "Ads shown outside of Meta." There, you can choose "Allowed" or "Not Allowed."

Hide ads from specific brands (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you're tired of being inundated with a specific company's ads, you can choose to hide them. Go to the Meta Settings page for Ad preferences and select the "Customize ads" tab. The click on "See all" next to "Advertisers you saw ads from." There you will find a list of the advertisers you have seen most recently, and you can click on the "Hide Ads" button next to any offenders.

Choose whether your social interactions with a company show up in ads

My recommendation: Only Me

Have you ever liked or followed a company, made a comment, shared a company's Page, checked into an event held by a company, made a recommendation, or joined a Facebook event held by a company? Facebook can broadcast your action as an advertisement to all your friends.

If you don't like this type of inadvertent endorsement, you can limit who can see these social interactions alongside ads to "Only me."

You can also go directly to the Meta Settings page for Ad preferences and click on "Social interactions." In the popup, you can select "Only me" or "Friends."

How to keep your account secure

In this section, you can change your password, turn on two-factor authentication, and get alerts when there is an unrecognized login to your account. If you already have two-factor authentication turned on and alerts are set for unrecognized logins, you'll receive the message that "You're all set. No security actions are recommended at this time."

Use a strong password

Strong recommendation

Do you have a strong password for your Facebook account – one that is unique to Facebook and at least 16 characters, including upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters? If the answer is no, you should strongly consider changing your password.

To ensure you remember your new strong password and to make it easier to use strong passwords going forward, I highly recommend using a password manager. We are fans (and users) of Dashlane and 1Password.

To change your password, you can go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security.

Turn on two-factor authentication

Strong recommendation

A strong password is essential, but that's not enough if it's compromised in a data breach or you are tricked into giving it away in a Facebook credentials phishing attack. That's where two-factor authentication comes in. When two-factor authentication is turned on, anyone trying to log into your account from a new device or browser would need to provide a one-time-use code delivered via an app, text message, or email. I highly recommend turning on two-factor authentication.

You can also go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Two-Factor Authentication" to set it up.

You should also check the list of devices and browsers that don't require a code when you log in to ensure there aren't any of your old devices on the list. To check this, go to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Two-Factor Authentication." Once you've logged in, you'll see a box, with a section entitles "Authorized Logins." Click the "Recognized devices" button to view the list of devices that don't require a login code.

Receive alerts when there is an unrecognized login to your Facebook account

Strong recommendation

You can choose to receive Login alerts that will be sent every time you log into your account from a device or browser that you don't usually use. You can choose to have alerts sent via Facebook, email, or both. Note that a new web browser looks like a new computer to Facebook.

You can go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Login alerts" to turn them on and select your delivery method.

Check where you're logged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Strong recommendation

In addition to receiving alerts when there is an unrecognized login, you can check to see which devices have logged into your Facebook account. You can see where you're logged into Facebook – the device and physical location – by going to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Where you're logged in." If you see a suspicious login, you can click on it and then select "Log Out." Worst case scenario is that you'll have to log in again on a device you own, so err on the side of logging out.

Final thoughts

That covers the extensive privacy setting options on Facebook. If you want to dig even further into how Facebook is using your personal data and activities, read Facebook's latest privacy policy.

Still confused by a specific issue or question with your account? Ask below in the comments, and we'll do our best to help you out.

[Image credit: screenshots of the Facebook site via Techlicious, computer mockup via Canva]

For the past 20+ years, Techlicious founder Suzanne Kantra has been exploring and writing about the world’s most exciting and important science and technology issues. Prior to Techlicious, Suzanne was the Technology Editor for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and the Senior Technology Editor for Popular Science. Suzanne has been featured on CNN, CBS, NBC and dozens of other TV and radio networks.

Topics

Facebook, Computers and Software, Computer Safety & Support, Tips & How-Tos, Privacy, Tech 101, Social Networking

Discussion

From Sharon on June 07, 2015 :: 11:38 am

Thank you for this information. Do you really answer questions, please?

From Josh Kirschner on June 08, 2015 :: 9:19 am

Yes, we do.

From David Coleman on August 24, 2015 :: 7:10 pm

I posted something to someones business page, but others don’t seem to be able to share it. How do I change that?

From Cindy paine on June 08, 2017 :: 8:37 am

I tried to post on friends timeline who asked me to and I got blocked on that and others. What settings should I have to post on friends and they can share it?

From Derek on March 06, 2019 :: 10:43 am

Then answer them!!!!!!!!

From Courtney on June 15, 2015 :: 1:46 am

Do you know how I can stop my friends from seeing my posts to business pages in their own news feeds?

From Josh Kirschner on June 18, 2015 :: 10:06 am

Since you don’t control the privacy settings on business pages you don’t control, you can’t limit whether Facebook chooses to show those posts to your friends. However, if your friends use the dropdown in the news feed posts to “Hide all from [name of business page]”, that should stop them from seeing it in the future.

From Debra perry on November 22, 2017 :: 8:04 am

Hi Josh
Sorry to bother you. I’m new to Facebook. On my activity log where a friend has waved to me ...underneath in light grey print it has the setting sign and says hidden from timeline, I have never hidden this friend and am happy to let him see my stuff. Does it mean I’m hidden from his timeline

Thankyou

From Josh Kirschner on November 25, 2017 :: 12:17 pm

Hi Debra,

In your Timeline and Tagging Settings on Facebook, there is an option to review posts you’re tagged in before they appear in your Timeline. If you have that on (and you probably should to control what appears), you’ll need to review and manually approve before it shows up.

Best,
Josh

From s. on June 17, 2015 :: 10:59 pm

Recently someone saw a status I posted, even though I did not include them in the list of people I wanted to be able to see the post. He saw it because he is friends with one of the approved people who commented on my post, and it showed up as “[name] commented on a post” in the unapproved person’s feed. Is there a way to ensure that other people’s comments on my posts are treated with MY privacy settings, and not the commenters’ settings? Thanks!

From Josh Kirschner on June 18, 2015 :: 10:09 am

WHat privacy setting did you use for the post? Are you sure it wasn’t set for “Friends of friends” or “Public”?

Also, if you tagged someone in a post, they will be able to see it, even if they are not included in the privacy settings.

From Jeani on December 29, 2016 :: 2:45 pm

My friends can see when I respond to someone else’s post, even when they are not friends with each other. Like “[name] commented on a post” from previous post. I have noticed that some of my friends can even comment on another (not mutual) friend’s post after I have commented. Can I stop that?

From Josh Kirschner on December 29, 2016 :: 3:56 pm

If the person who made the post set the privacy to Public or Friends of Friends, then your friends may get a notification when you comment on it. And no, you can’t stop that from happening.

From up on January 12, 2019 :: 8:11 am

I posted some pics of my child and tagged the people who were with us when the pics were taken (this was a year ago). Just yesterday I see a person I don’t know “Liking” all my kid’s photos. This freaked me out. I went to the post & noticed I had indeed used a custom setting “Friends” and had unchecked the box allowing friends of those tagged from viewing before posting. What went wrong here? I’m really freaking out, some of my friends & family use the same FB page for business & pleasure meaning they, themselves don’t know who is viewing their posts or posts they are tagged in. HELP.

From John Bother on June 18, 2015 :: 6:17 am

I have tried many of the site for this information but after lots of searching i was still not able to collect the comprehensive help on this problem. Your page did it very amazingly and the information here was stunning. Thanks a lot for sharing.

From Ben on July 06, 2015 :: 7:42 pm

When posting pictures, if I without the privacy to a select group of friends, yet select it as viewable to friends of those tagged, and some of those on my restricted list are friends of those tagged, will those people be able to see the pictures?

Thanks!

From Josh Kirschner on July 10, 2015 :: 12:39 pm

If I understand correctly what you’re asking, you want to post a photo that is set to only be seen by a specific group of friends. But, if you tag your friends, will their friends be able to see the photo, too?

The answer is “yes”. If you tag someone in a photo then their friends will be able to see that photo.

According to Facebook, if you don’t want your photo, post or other content to be visible to the friends of the person tagged, you can turn this setting off for each post when you post it. To do this, click the audience selector next to the story, select Custom, and uncheck the Friends of those tagged box.

From Ben on July 10, 2015 :: 3:32 pm

Thanks for your response—I understand that, but let’s say some of the friends of those you tag in your picture are on your limited profile view. Will those people still be able to view the picture even if you restrict them, because you set the photo visible to friends of those tagged and they are a friend of a tag?

Thanks!

From Ray on July 09, 2015 :: 9:22 pm

I know Facebook is using my contacts email addresses and phone numbers to suggest friends despite having set every privacy setting possible. I’ve explicitly removed contacts and set it not to import them. The proof came today when I added a coworkers cell and personal email and then called and emailed them. Then lo and behold, they appeared as a suggested friend.

Any suggestions?

From Josh Kirschner on July 10, 2015 :: 12:34 pm

In the Facebook app on your phone, there is a setting called “Continuous Contacts Uploads”. See if that is set to Off. Otherwise Facebook will continuously upload your address book and suggest them as Facebook friends.

From George on April 02, 2016 :: 5:09 pm

hi
my continue contact upload is off but again i see unwanted contacts in suggest friends in my fb account. plz help me thanx

From faith mcleod on January 29, 2017 :: 10:24 am

I want to turn off the time ive been away from facebook/messanger I dont want anyone knowing that im actually on facebook/messanger how do I do this?

From Ivy on July 27, 2015 :: 12:17 pm

Your guide has been tremendously helpful, thank you for putting it together and making it public.

My question relates to the one from Ray. Is there a privacy setting I can select to prevent me from appearing as a ‘suggested friend’ in non-friend’s feed? This is particularly frustrating as I try to keep my FB account siloed and personal from my professional contacts.

Thanks!

From Josh Kirschner on July 30, 2015 :: 9:12 am

Facebook doesn’t give you the ability to stop your name from appearing in “suggested friends” lists. The best you can do is limit who can send you friend requests to “friends of friends” in your privacy settings (far from ideal, I know).

That said, as long as you keep your privacy settings as “friends” for all your posts, no one will be able to see anything on your timeline unless you have friended them.

From mark on July 30, 2015 :: 2:33 am

I have a friend who is adopted.

He knows his birth siblings and birth mother and is friends with them on facebook. His adoptive parents want to join facebook but are relying upon my friend (and I) to get them on as they aren’t very tech savvy. The problem is that the adoptive parents know the names of the members of the birth family.

We’re trying to figure out how to shield the birth family from the adoptive family because if the adoptive family finds out they will be crushed and their relationship with my friend will be destroyed.

I’ve gone through everything and just can’t find out how to do the above. My friend keeps saying, “There’s got to be a way,” and I keep responding, “I don’t think so.”

What do you say?

From Josh Kirschner on July 30, 2015 :: 9:21 am

There are so many ways that someone can stumble on a connection through Facebook - from viewing friends list, to seeing suggested friends, to seeing items other have posted in your timeline, or photos where you’ve been tagged - that trying to maintain two separate groups of friends who never cross will be nearly impossible.

That said, I’m surprised that this is as big an issue an issue as your friend thinks it is. It’s perfectly natural for someone who is adopted to want to know more about their birth families. He’s obviously been friends with his birth family for some time and that hasn’t impacted his relationship with his adoptive parents. They raised him and, presumably, he loves them as though they were his natural parents. I didn’t love my first child less, when I had my second and third kids.

This sounds like a situation where the solution may lie in open communication, not technology.

From Mark on September 08, 2015 :: 12:32 am

Thanks for getting back, Josh! I actually agree with you - alas technology can’t solve everything.

From Stuart B on August 03, 2015 :: 4:04 am

Recently, but only on my mobile devices, I’ve been bombarded by “suggested apps/pages/posts” I see nearly as many of these as I do friends posts. My family and friends aren’t having this problem - just me! I’ve tried reporting as spam/harassment etc to FB but they still keeps showing.

I’ve followed your steps and deleted all of my “liked” pages, time will tell if this works.

Any help or ideas would be most welcome.

Regards

Stuart

From Josh Kirschner on August 03, 2015 :: 11:40 am

Yep, lots of suggested whatever ads on mobile (but not nearly as many online, oddly). You’re already taking the right steps to delete your liked pages and interests, because that’s what many advertisers use to target their messages, but there’s no way to eliminate it completely. You could try setting your birth year to the 1800s in your profile, so you won’t be picked up by any advertisers targeting by age (except those promoting products for centenarians).

From Nathan Airchime on August 04, 2015 :: 6:04 am

How do I prevent a friend from removing my tag of him from my post? His girlfriend keeps removing my tags of him. I want to prevent anyone from removing my tags of them from my posts. How do I do this?

From Josh Kirschner on August 04, 2015 :: 7:09 am

You have control over where you are tagged on Facebook to help protect your privacy. Others can’t force you to be tagged if you don’t want to be.

From Porshe on August 04, 2015 :: 12:19 pm

Lately I’ve noticed that things other people have pressed like on has been popping up on my FB. And the things I press like on have been popping up on my friends and families facebook, is there any way to restrict that? I will sometimes thumns up things that I wouldn’t want my friends and family to see, like political views Ect. Please help!

From Josh Kirschner on August 04, 2015 :: 2:33 pm

You actually can edit the privacy settings for your likes, but not through your Privacy Settings (because that would be too obvious).

Instead, go to your Timeline and scroll down to where your likes are (or, using the menu at the top of your Timeline, click More and then Likes). You’ll see a little edit button in the top right corner - click that and select Edit Privacy. From there, you can edit the privacy settings for each category of your Likes, but not for individual likes. And, since you don’t know what category Facebook is assigning to a particular page, you can’t be sure which privacy settings will apply to it.

Therefore, if there are things you would rather others not see, it’s safest just not to Like them.

From Maria on April 02, 2017 :: 7:21 pm

Hi, I wanted to set up a custom setting under “Edit Privacy of Likes”. When I select to set up the Custom setting I see the note “Anyone tagged will be able to see this post”... does that mean when I like a page it will tag those people or ONLY the people that I add to this custom setting will see this on their timeline AS WELL as anyone I chose to tag? Thank you!

From Josh Kirschner on August 04, 2015 :: 2:38 pm

What I described is how to set privacy settings for pages you Like. For posts you Like, that’s a different story. Those privacy settings are determined by the poster, not the Liker. So if you have mutual friends or the post is set to Public, others you know could see your Like, too. There is no way to prevent this other than not Liking.

From Sonia on August 04, 2015 :: 6:22 pm

Hi, iI have set the option to REVIEW when others post on my timeline or tag me in photod, and it generaly works, the problem was that today a friend shared on my wall an old post that Facebook told her was from a year ago that we shared together and I WAS NOT GIVEN THE OPTION TO REVIEW this post… Since it is already on my wall for all my friends to see I cannot simply hide it, or else she might feel hurt.

I would simply like to change THIS particulary Post so that ONLY SHE and I can see it on my wall, but to hide it from everyone else, the same way I can to when I publish my own posts.

Any ideas?

From Josh Kirschner on August 05, 2015 :: 9:07 am

You can’t change the privacy settings for individual posts from others - it’s either on your timeline or not and uses your timeline privacy settings. But if you don’t want others to see it, hide it from your timeline. She didn’t ask you before she posted it, you don’t need to feel bad for removing it.

From Ctrem on August 07, 2015 :: 5:16 pm

If you had previous posts using custom settings, but then removed the customization for your most recent post, can those people (whom you had previously not allowed to see those customized posts) now see your old posts?

From Michael Pelletier on August 12, 2015 :: 11:45 am

HI
Your article touches on limited posting seemingly for the general public but I have used it for specific people in the past and I can not find it now to remove it .

I started recently using the new restricted or public option and one of the people who I have put on this older limited viewing of posts are not seeing my public posts in their feed but only in their notifications , it would be nice if I could reverse that old setting so I could manage with the restricted or public option

From Frank R Gabelman on August 12, 2015 :: 5:03 pm

I can’t seem to find how to hide my family members in the “about” section on Facebook. There seems to be people out there that will contact family members as retaliation for disagreeing in a comment section on the web. Thanks.

From Josh Kirschner on August 12, 2015 :: 6:06 pm

You can’t change your privacy settings for Family & Relationships as a whole, but you can change it for individual relationships. Go to the Family & Relationships section of your profile. Highlight a specific relationship with your mouse, ad you’ll see an edit button appear in the upper right corner. Click on that and you can save the privacy settings for that relationship.

FWIW, I’ve never heard of someone contacting family members in retaliation for comments on the web, but if that’s a concern for you, that’s how you fix it.

From Frank R Gabelman on August 21, 2015 :: 5:27 pm

Thanks, Josh! I really appreciate you getting back with me. Your advice certainly did the trick.

From Wren on August 20, 2015 :: 3:16 pm

I was commenting on a publicly posted news article, and engaged in a dialogue with another user. He was consistently using @myname to created a link back to me in his comments, but I am unable to do this with his name. Facebook recognizes it when I type @hisname, but when I hit post, no link is generated. I’ve poured over facebook settings to find where I can turn “mentions” off for myself (like this stranger apparently has done), but I can’t find anything. I have come across a third-party app called Mention Blocker which is a chrome extension. Is it possible he is using this? or is this just a setting in FB somewhere that I can’t find?

PS - I had a friend on a different computer in another state try the same thing on the same thread, and he also couldn’t successfully make a mention of this person in a comment.

From soha on August 21, 2015 :: 3:51 am

I want to stop receiving messages other than my friends so I want to completely remove the “message” button from my profile. I tried downgrading my fb but the privacy settings still the same :(

From Annette on August 26, 2015 :: 11:34 am

Hi, lately the amount of comments and likes of other people on posts that are none of my business start to outnumber the actual posts of friends. There used to be a time when you could uncheck ‘comments and like’ in the settings of friends, but I can’t find this anymore… Do you have any clues on how to deal with this? Thanks!

From Regina Black on August 28, 2015 :: 3:42 am

How do I stop the “privacy checkup” notification from popping up? I’ve tried changing all my privacy settings and it JUUUUUUSSSST keeps telling me “Hi Regina! We care about your privacy and want to make sure you’re sharing with the right people.” It comes back every time I refresh my page. It comes back every time I go into a group. It comes back every time I go into my messages. It’s driving me crazy and I just want it to stop.

From Josh Kirschner on August 28, 2015 :: 1:09 pm

Have you gone through the privacy checkup walkthrough to the point where it says “finished”? Until you have, it’s going to keep popping up.

From Jonathan Dolan on October 01, 2015 :: 11:20 am

I am an admin on many business pages. I recently began having an issue when I try to send a message to someone and pay the $1 for it to go to their inbox. I have been getting an error message saying that my $1 has been refunded and the message has been sent to their “other” folder.

Is there a new message privacy setting that is causing this? Is Facebook possibly testing and changing their message privacy setting relating to businesses sending messages?

Thanks in advance

From Stefan Baer on August 29, 2015 :: 2:03 am

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions.

Is there a privacy setting that I can modify that will stop Facebook from showing comments that I make to various groups and discussions to everyone on my Facebook? Right now, when I comment on specific things, it will show up to others in their news feeds . I really dislike this.

From Karen West on February 21, 2017 :: 10:12 am

My friends see all posts I make on other people’s or group’s pages. However, I never see what friends post to their friends or other pages.

How can I stop all my posts on other pages from appearing on their page?

From DAM on June 27, 2017 :: 11:03 am

When you’re friends with someone you’re usually following them too.Unfollow them that way their things won’t appear on your feed

Read More Comments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The Complete Guide to Facebook Privacy Settings

Table of Contents

Who can see your profile information

Managing who can see your basic profile information

Managing who can see your connections

Control your audience for your Posts and Stories

Managing how you are tagged in posts

Managing who can comment on your public information

Managing old posts

Managing stories and reels

How to block people from seeing your content and interacting with you

How people can find you on Facebook

Your data settings on Facebook

Your ad preferences on Facebook

How to keep your account secure

Who can see your profile information

See how other people view your Facebook profile page

The phone numbers associated with your Facebook account

The email addresses associated with your Facebook account

Your birthday

Your hometown and current city

Your relationship status

Your work history and where you went to school

Your friends list on your profile page

The people and Pages you follow

Choose your audience for Posts and Stories

Choose your default audience

When you are tagged in a post created by someone else, choose who can see the post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can post on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can see what others post on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose to hide comments with specific words on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose to review posts you're tagged in before they appear on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose to review tags people add to your posts before they appear on Facebook (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can comment on your public posts (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can comment on your public profile pictures and other public profile information (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Find and remove old posts from your Timeline that you were tagged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can view old posts

Choosing an audience for a single old post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can view your Stories

Choose whether you will allow others to share your Stories if you mention them (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Stories to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Reels to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether other people will see the total number of reactions to posts you share (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

How to block people from seeing your content and interacting with you

Block a person from interacting with you on Facebook

Block just messages and video calls (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block just app invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block just event invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block apps (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block Pages (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

How people can find you on Facebook.

Choose who can send you a Friend request

Choose whether people can use your phone number or email to find you

Choose whether your Facebook profile appears on search engines

Choose how message requests are delivered (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Your data settings on Facebook

Using Facebook to log into apps and websites

Remove login with Facebook for specific apps and websites

Turn off login with Facebook for apps, websites, and games (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Turn off game and app notifications (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Your ad preferences on Facebook

Choose the profile information to share with marketers

Choose which interests to share with marketers (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

See fewer ads about specific topics (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Turn off personalized ads based on information advertisers share about you (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose which advertisers can use their own audience list to target you with ads (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether you are shown ads off Facebook based on your interests (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Hide ads from specific brands (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether your social interactions with a company show up in ads

How to keep your account secure

Use a strong password

Turn on two-factor authentication

Receive alerts when there is an unrecognized login to your Facebook account

Check where you're logged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Final thoughts

Discussion

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