Where to find Facebook's privacy settings
Facebook's privacy controls live in one place: the Settings & Privacy menu in the top right of your screen. Click the downward arrow next to your profile picture, then select "Settings & Privacy," then "Settings." On the left side, you'll see a menu — click "Privacy" to reach the main controls.
From this Privacy page, you control who sees your posts, who can contact you, who can look up your profile, and what information appears on your timeline. Every setting here is a toggle or dropdown you can change right now without waiting for anything to process.
Key Takeaways
- Your main privacy controls are in Settings > Privacy, where you set who sees your posts and who can contact you.
- The "Who can see your posts?" setting controls whether new posts go to friends only, friends of friends, or the public.
- You can change who can look up your profile by name, who can send you friend requests, and who can message you without being friends.
- Past posts are not automatically hidden when you change your privacy level — you can use the "Limit Past Posts" tool to change older posts all at once.
- Each individual post can have its own privacy level, overriding your default setting.
Setting who sees your new posts
The first and most important setting is "Who can see your posts?" This controls the default privacy level for everything you share going forward. Click the dropdown next to this setting and choose from three options: Friends, Friends of Friends, or Public.
"Friends" means only people you've accepted friend requests from can see the post. "Friends of Friends" means your friends and anyone connected to them can see it. "Public" means anyone on Facebook or the internet can find and see it, even without a Facebook account. Most people choose "Friends" as their default.
This setting applies only to new posts. If you've already shared things publicly and want to hide them, scroll down on the same Privacy page and look for "Limit Past Posts" — this tool changes all your old public posts to friends-only in one action.
Controlling who can contact you
Below "Who can see your posts?" you'll find "Who can contact you?" and "Who can send you friend requests?" These are separate controls. The contact setting determines whether strangers can message you directly, while the friend request setting controls whether they can even try to add you.
If you set "Who can contact you?" to "Friends," only people you've already accepted can send you messages. If you set it to "Everyone," anyone on Facebook can message you, though Facebook may filter some of those messages into a separate "Message Requests" folder so they don't clutter your main inbox.
The friend request setting works the same way — "Friends" means only friends of your friends can send requests, while "Everyone" means any Facebook user can try to add you.
Managing who can look up your profile
Further down the Privacy page, you'll see "Who can look you up using the email address you provided?" and a similar setting for phone numbers. These control whether people can find your profile by searching your email or phone number on Facebook.
If you set these to "Friends," only people already connected to you can search for you by email or phone. If you set them to "Everyone," anyone can find you that way. Most people leave these on "Everyone" because it makes it easier for real friends to locate them, but you can restrict them if you want to limit how easily strangers can find your profile.
Changing privacy for individual posts
You don't have to use the same privacy level for every post. When you create a post, look for the privacy icon just before you hit "Post" — it usually shows a small icon like a globe, a group of people, or a lock. Click it to change that single post's privacy level without affecting your default setting.
This is useful if you want to share something sensitive with friends only, or if you want one post to be public while keeping everything else private. The privacy level you choose for an individual post overrides your default setting for that post only.
Limiting what appears on your timeline
Your timeline is what people see when they visit your profile. You can control whether your birthday, relationship status, and other basic information appear there. In Settings > Privacy, look for "Timeline and Tagging" — this section lets you decide who can see posts you're tagged in, who can add things to your timeline, and whether your profile appears in search results.
You can also review posts before they appear on your timeline. If you turn on "Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your timeline," you'll get a notification whenever someone tags you, and you can approve or reject it before your friends see it.
Blocking and restricting specific people
Privacy settings control groups of people, but sometimes you need to control one person. Facebook offers two tools: blocking and restricting. To block someone, go to their profile, click the three dots in the top right, and select "Block." A blocked person cannot see your profile, message you, or find you in search.
Restricting is gentler — a restricted person can still see your public posts and your profile, but they won't see posts you've shared with friends only. You can restrict someone by going to their profile, clicking the three dots, and selecting "Restrict." This is useful if you want to stay connected but don't want someone seeing everything you share.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do my old posts automatically become private when I change my privacy settings?
No. Your privacy settings only affect new posts. Old posts keep their original privacy level unless you change them. Use the "Limit Past Posts" tool in Settings > Privacy to change all your past public posts to friends-only at once, but this doesn't change posts you've already shared with specific groups.
Can I see what privacy level a post has after I've shared it?
Yes. Go to the post and look for the privacy icon (globe, people, or lock) just below your name and the timestamp. Click it to see and change the privacy level for that specific post.
What does "Friends of Friends" mean for privacy?
It means your friends can see the post, and anyone who is friends with your friends can also see it. This is broader than "Friends" but narrower than "Public." Use it when you want to reach beyond your when ready circle but don't want complete strangers seeing your content.
If I block someone, can they still see my public posts?
No. Blocking prevents someone from seeing anything on your profile, including public posts. If you want someone to see your public posts but not your private ones, use the restrict feature instead of blocking.
Where do message requests go if I set my contact setting to "Everyone"?
Messages from people who aren't your friends go to a separate folder called "Message Requests" or "Other" in your Messenger inbox. You can read them without accepting them, and you can delete them or mark them as spam without the sender knowing.