Where to Find Facebook Privacy Settings
Facebook privacy settings live in one place: the Settings and Privacy menu in the top right corner of your screen. Click the downward arrow or three horizontal lines (the menu icon), then select Settings and Privacy, then Settings. On mobile, tap the three horizontal lines at the bottom right, scroll down, and tap Settings and Privacy, then Settings.
Once you are in Settings, look for Privacy in the left sidebar. This is where you control who sees your posts, who can contact you, and what information appears on your profile. Every privacy control Facebook offers is in this one section — there is no hidden menu or secondary location.
The settings you change here take effect when ready. You do not need to restart Facebook or log out and back in. If you change who can see your posts, that change applies to all future posts and can be adjusted for past posts as well.
Key Takeaways
- Your privacy settings are in Settings and Privacy > Settings > Privacy, accessible from the menu icon in the top right corner on desktop or bottom right on mobile.
- 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 determines whether anyone can message you or only your friends.
- You can change the audience for individual past posts by clicking the audience selector on that post, without changing your default setting.
- Your profile visibility, search visibility, and who can see your friend list are separate controls in the same Privacy section.
Controlling Who Sees Your Posts
The most common privacy change is deciding who can see the posts you share. In the Privacy section, find Who can see your posts. Click it and choose from three main options: Friends, Public, or Custom.
Friends means only people you have added as friends can see the post. Public means anyone on Facebook or even people not on Facebook can see it if they search for you. Custom lets you pick specific people or groups — for example, you can allow Friends except one person, or allow only a specific list you create.
This setting applies to all new posts you make from that point forward. If you want to change the audience for a post you already made, go to that post, click the three dots in the corner, select Edit post, and change the audience selector at the top of the post. You can make each post visible to a different audience without changing your default.
Managing Who Can Message You
In the Privacy section, find Who can contact you. This controls whether strangers can send you messages or only your friends. Choose Friends to limit messages to people on your friend list, or Everyone to allow anyone to message you.
If you choose Everyone, messages from non-friends go to a separate folder called Message Requests rather than your main inbox. You can read them without responding, and you can ignore or delete them. This setting does not affect whether people can comment on your posts — that is controlled separately.
You can also filter messages by keywords. In the same Privacy section, look for Filter messages and add words or phrases. Any message containing those words will automatically go to your spam folder.
Controlling Your Profile Visibility
Your profile itself — your name, profile picture, and basic information — has separate visibility settings from your posts. In the Privacy section, find Who can see your profile. You can set this to Friends Only or Public.
Even if your profile is set to Friends Only, people who are not your friends can still see your name and profile picture in search results and in comments you make on public pages. The Who can see your profile setting controls whether they can click through to see your full profile, including your friend list and past posts.
You can also control whether your profile appears in search results at all. Look for Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile and toggle it off if you do not want Google or other search engines to show your Facebook profile in their results.
Limiting Who Can See Your Friend List
Your friend list is visible by default to anyone who can see your profile. To change this, go to your profile, click the Friends section, and look for the audience selector (usually a small icon showing who can see it). Click it and choose Friends Only, Public, or Custom.
If you set your friend list to Friends Only, only your friends can see who you are connected to. Public means anyone can see your full friend list. This setting does not hide the fact that you are friends with someone — it only hides the list from people who are not your friends.
Controlling Tag and Search Visibility
When someone tags you in a post or photo, that tag appears on your profile and in your timeline. In the Privacy section, find Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on your timeline and toggle it on. This means when someone tags you, the tag does not show on your profile until you approve it.
You can also control whether people can look you up using your email address or phone number. In the Privacy section, find Who can look you up using the email address you provided and Who can look you up using the phone number you provided. Set both to Friends if you want to limit who can find you this way.
These settings prevent strangers from finding your profile by searching for your phone number or email, but they do not prevent people from finding you if they search your name directly.
Adjusting App and Website Permissions
Facebook also tracks what apps and websites you have connected to your account. In Settings, find Apps and Websites in the left sidebar. Here you can see every app that has permission to access your Facebook data, and you can remove that permission.
Click any app to see what information it can access — for example, whether it can see your email, your friend list, or your location. If you no longer use an app, click Remove to disconnect it. This does not delete your account on that app, but it stops that app from accessing your Facebook information.
You can also control whether apps can see your email address and friend list by default. In the same section, look for Apps and Websites settings and adjust what information new apps can access when you connect them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make some posts public and others friends-only without changing my default setting?
Yes. Set your default to whichever you use most, then click the audience selector on individual posts to change them. Each post remembers the audience you chose for it, so you can mix public and private posts without changing your default setting each time.
If I block someone, can they still see my old posts?
No. When you block someone, they cannot see any of your posts, profile, or information — past or present. They also cannot search for you or find you in friend suggestions. If you unblock them later, they still cannot see posts you made while they were blocked.
What happens to my privacy settings if I deactivate my account?
When you deactivate your account, your profile and posts become invisible to other users, but your account and all your data remain on Facebook's servers. If you reactivate, your privacy settings return to exactly what they were. If you want to permanently delete your account instead, that takes 30 days to process.
Can I see what information Facebook has collected about me?
Yes. In Settings, find Your Facebook Information in the left sidebar. Click read Your Information to see a copy of everything Facebook has stored about you, including posts, messages, photos, and data from websites that use Facebook tracking. You can read this as a file.
Do privacy settings on Facebook also explore to Instagram and WhatsApp?
No. Instagram and WhatsApp have their own separate privacy settings. Changing your Facebook privacy does not change who can see your Instagram posts or contact you on WhatsApp. You need to adjust privacy settings in each app individually.