Where Facebook Pulls Your Location From
Facebook shows a location next to your name in two places: your profile and your posts. The location it displays comes from one of three sources: your phone's GPS if you have location services turned on, your internet address (IP address), or a location you manually entered yourself. You control which one Facebook uses, and you can change or remove the location information whenever you want.
The location Facebook shows is not the same as your home address. It is the city or neighbourhood where you are right now, or where you last told Facebook you were. Your actual street address stays private unless you put it on your profile yourself, which you should not do.
Key Takeaways
- You can change your current location by editing individual posts after you publish them, or by turning off location services in your phone settings.
- To remove location from your profile permanently, go to your profile settings and delete the city listed under "About".
- Facebook uses your phone's GPS, your internet address, or a location you typed in — you can control which one by adjusting your phone and app settings.
- Removing location from posts does not delete the posts themselves, only the location tag that appears next to them.
How to Change Location on a Single Post
If you posted something and Facebook tagged it with a location you want to change or remove, you can edit that post without deleting it. Open the post, tap or click the three dots in the top right corner, and select "Edit post". Look for the location tag — it usually appears below the text or near the date. Tap or click on it to change it to a different city, or click the X next to it to remove the location entirely. Save your changes when you are done.
This method works on both mobile and desktop. The location tag will update when ready, and anyone who sees the post afterward will see the new location or no location at all. People who already saw the post with the old location will not get a notification that it changed.
How to Stop Facebook From Adding Location to New Posts
To prevent Facebook from automatically tagging your location on future posts, turn off location services for the Facebook app on your phone. On iPhone, go to Settings, scroll to Facebook, and tap "Location" and select "Never". On Android, go to Settings, tap Apps, find Facebook, tap Permissions, tap Location, and select "Don't allow". This stops Facebook from using your GPS to tag posts.
If you want to keep location services on for other reasons but still post without location, you can turn off location for each post as you write it. When you are composing a post, look for the location button (usually a pin icon) and tap it to remove the location before you post. You can also change your location to something generic like your country or state instead of your exact city.
How to Remove Location From Your Profile
Your profile may show a city under your name in the "About" section. To remove it, go to your profile, tap "Edit profile", and scroll to the "About" section. Look for the line that says "Lives in" or "From". Tap or click on it and delete the text, or tap the X next to the city name. Save your changes. This removes the location from your profile page, though it does not affect locations tagged on individual posts.
You can also change this location to a different city if you have moved or want to show a different place. Type in the new city name and save. This location is separate from the location Facebook tags on your posts — changing one does not change the other.
How to Change Your Location on Desktop
On a computer, the steps are similar but the buttons are in slightly different places. Go to your profile, click "Edit profile", and find the "About" section on the left side. Click on "Work and education" or "Places you have lived" to add or change a city. To remove a location from a post, click the three dots on the post itself, select "Edit post", and click the X next to the location tag.
Desktop Facebook also shows a location button when you are writing a post — it looks like a pin on a map. Click it before you post to add, change, or remove the location for that specific post. The process is the same as on mobile, just with a mouse instead of a touch screen.
Why Facebook Might Show the Wrong Location
If Facebook is showing a location that is not where you are, it is usually because your IP address is being read as coming from somewhere else. This happens when you use a VPN, when your internet provider routes traffic through a different city, or when you are on public WiFi. You can fix this by turning off the VPN, connecting to a different network, or manually changing the location on that post.
Another reason is that Facebook cached an old location from the last time you posted with location on. Turning off location services and editing the post to remove the tag will fix this. If you see a location on your profile that you did not put there, someone else may have tagged you in a post from that place — check your posts to find it and remove the tag.
Privacy Considerations When Using Location
Posting your location regularly can let people know where you are and when you are away from home. If you share your posts publicly, anyone on Facebook can see where you are. Consider changing your post privacy settings to "Friends only" if you want to share location with people you know, or remove location entirely if you post publicly.
Location data is also used by Facebook to show you ads and to track your movement over time. Turning off location services in your phone settings reduces the amount of location data Facebook collects, even when the app is closed. You can also go to your Facebook settings and turn off "Location History" to prevent Facebook from storing where you have been.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change my location on Facebook without turning off location services?
Yes. You can manually edit each post to change or remove the location, or you can change the city listed on your profile. Turning off location services stops Facebook from automatically tagging your GPS location, but you can still add a location manually when you post if you want to.
Does removing location from a post delete the post?
No. Removing the location tag only removes the city or neighbourhood that appears next to the post. The post itself stays on your profile with all the text and photos. Only the location information disappears.
What if I use a VPN and Facebook shows the wrong location?
Facebook reads your IP address and shows the location of the server you are connected to, not your actual location. If you use a VPN, turn it off before posting, or manually change the location on the post after you publish it. You can also turn off location services entirely in your phone settings.
Can other people see my location history on Facebook?
Other people cannot see your full location history, but they can see the location tags on posts you have shared with them. If you post publicly with a location, anyone on Facebook can see where you posted from. Check your privacy settings and remove locations from public posts if you do not want strangers to know where you are.