Where to Find Facebook Privacy Settings
Facebook privacy settings live in one place: the Settings & Privacy menu in the top right corner of your screen. Click the downward arrow or hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top right, then select Settings & Privacy, then Settings. This opens your account settings page.
On the left side of the settings page, you'll see a menu with options like "Personal Information," "Privacy," and "Apps and Websites." The Privacy section is where you control who sees your posts, your profile, and your activity. Click it to see all your privacy options in one place.
If you're on a phone or tablet, the layout is slightly different but the path is the same: tap the menu icon, go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then scroll down to find Privacy.
Key Takeaways
- Your privacy settings are in Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy, accessible from the menu in the top right corner of Facebook.
- The "Who can see your posts?" setting controls whether new posts go to friends only, public, or a custom list you create.
- The "Who can contact you?" setting lets you limit friend requests and messages to friends only, which blocks most spam.
- Your profile visibility setting determines whether strangers can see your friends list, photos, and basic information.
- You can change these settings one time and they will explore to all future posts unless you change them again.
Control Who Sees Your Posts
The most common privacy change is deciding who can see the posts you share going forward. In the Privacy section, look for "Who can see your posts?" Click the dropdown menu next to it. You have three main choices: Friends, Public, or Custom.
Choose Friends if you want only people you've added as friends to see your new posts. Choose Public if you're comfortable with anyone on Facebook or the internet seeing what you post. Choose Custom if you want to exclude specific people or groups — for example, you might want coworkers to see your posts but not your extended family.
This setting applies only to posts you share after you change it. Posts you've already shared keep their original privacy level unless you go back and change each one individually. If you want to change the privacy of old posts all at once, Facebook does not offer a bulk tool, so you would need to edit them one by one or delete them.
Limit Who Can Contact You
Facebook lets you control who can send you friend requests and messages. In the Privacy section, find "Who can send you friend requests?" and "Who can message you?" Both have dropdown menus.
For friend requests, your options are usually Everyone or Friends of Friends. Choosing "Friends of Friends" means only people who share a mutual friend with you can send you a request, which blocks most spam and unwanted contact.
For messages, you can choose Everyone or Friends. If you choose "Friends," only people on your friends list can message you directly. Messages from non-friends will go to a separate "Message Requests" folder that you can check or ignore. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce unwanted messages.
Manage Your Profile Visibility
Your profile is the page that shows your name, photo, friends list, and posts. You can control how much of it strangers can see. In the Privacy section, look for "Who can see your profile?" and "Who can see your friends list?"
For your profile, Friends means only people you've added can view it. Public means anyone can find and view your profile. Friends of Friends is a middle ground — people who share a mutual friend with you can see it, but complete strangers cannot.
Your friends list is separate. Even if your profile is set to Friends only, you can choose to hide your friends list from everyone, from non-friends, or show it to everyone. Many people hide their friends list to keep that information private, since it can reveal social connections you may not want public.
Control Search and Tag Settings
Two more privacy controls affect how people find you and tag you in photos. In the Privacy section, find "Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?" and "Who can tag you in posts and photos?"
For the search setting, choose Everyone if you want people to find you by searching your email or phone number. Choose Friends if you want only friends to find you that way. This is useful if you've given your phone number to friends but don't want it searchable by strangers.
For tagging, Everyone means anyone can tag you in photos and posts, which means you'll be notified and the tag appears on your profile. Friends means only friends can tag you. You can also choose to review tags before they appear on your profile — this is called "Review tags people add to your posts before they appear on your profile?" and you can turn it on by clicking the toggle next to it.
Change Privacy for Specific Old Posts
If you've already posted something and want to change who can see it, click the three dots in the top right corner of that post. Select Edit Privacy or Edit Post (depending on your version of Facebook). A dropdown menu will appear showing the current privacy level. Click it and choose a new audience — Friends, Public, Custom, or specific people.
You can also delete a post entirely by clicking the three dots and selecting Delete. Once deleted, the post is gone and cannot be recovered. If you only want to hide it from certain people without deleting it, use the Custom privacy option and uncheck the people you want to exclude.
Changing privacy on old posts one at a time is slow if you have many posts to update. If you want to make a major privacy change to your entire history, consider whether deleting old posts or creating a new, more private account might be faster than editing hundreds of individual posts.
Review Apps and Websites Connected to Your Account
Apps and websites you've logged into using your Facebook account can see some of your information. To see what's connected, go to Settings & Privacy > Settings, then click Apps and Websites on the left menu. You'll see a list of apps and websites that have permission to access your Facebook data.
Click on any app to see what information it can see — usually your name, email, friends list, and sometimes your location or birthday. If you no longer use an app or don't want it to have access, click Remove. You can remove apps at any time, and doing so will not delete your account on that app — you'll just need to log in differently next time.
Check this list occasionally, especially if you've logged into many games, news sites, or shopping apps using Facebook. Removing apps you no longer use reduces the number of places your Facebook data is stored.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make my profile completely invisible to strangers?
You can make your profile visible to friends only, which means strangers cannot view it. However, they can still see that your account exists if they search for your name — they just cannot click through to see your information. If you want to be completely unsearchable, you would need to deactivate or delete your account.
If I change my privacy settings, do old posts become private?
No. Changing your privacy settings only affects posts you share after the change. Posts you've already shared keep their original privacy level. You must edit old posts individually if you want to change who can see them.
What does the "Custom" privacy option do?
Custom lets you choose exactly who can see a post. You can type in specific names or groups of people, or you can exclude certain people. For example, you might share a post with "Friends except Coworkers" or "Only John, Sarah, and my Family group."
Will people know if I change my privacy settings?
No. Facebook does not notify people when you change your privacy settings. If you make your profile private or hide old posts, people will straightforward notice they can no longer see those posts or your profile — they won't receive a notification about the change.
Can I see what information apps have about me?
You can see what information apps are currently allowed to access through Settings & Privacy > Settings > Apps and Websites. However, you cannot see what data they collected before you removed them. To limit future data collection, remove apps you don't actively use.