Where to find the relationship status setting

Your relationship status lives in the "About" section of your profile, not in your main settings. Go to your profile by clicking your name or profile picture in the top left corner. On your profile page, look for the "About" tab — it sits between "Friends" and "Photos" on desktop, or in a menu below your cover photo on mobile.

Once you click "About", you'll see several categories listed on the left side: Work and Education, Places You've Lived, Contact and Basic Info, Family and Relationships, and others. Click "Family and Relationships" to see your current relationship status and the option to change it.

Key Takeaways

  • Your relationship status is in the "About" section of your profile under "Family and Relationships", not in your main settings menu.
  • You can set your relationship status to Single, In a Relationship, Engaged, Married, It's Complicated, In an Open Relationship, Widowed, or In a Domestic Partnership.
  • You control who sees your relationship status by choosing a privacy level — only you, friends, or everyone — when you save the change.
  • If you list a partner, Facebook sends them a notification and they can confirm the relationship or ignore it.
  • You can change your relationship status as many times as you want, and old changes do not stay visible on your timeline unless you choose to announce them.

The steps to update your status

Click "Edit" next to your current relationship status (or click "Add" if you haven't set one yet). A small window will pop up with a dropdown menu showing all available statuses: Single, In a Relationship, Engaged, Married, It's Complicated, In an Open Relationship, Widowed, or In a Domestic Partnership.

Select the status that matches your situation. If you choose "In a Relationship", "Engaged", "Married", or "In a Domestic Partnership", Facebook will ask you to name the person you're in the relationship with. Type their name and select them from the list of your Facebook friends. If they're not yet your friend on Facebook, you'll need to add them first before you can link them to your status.

After you select a status and (if applicable) a partner, you'll see a privacy dropdown. This controls who can see your relationship status on your profile. Your options are "Public" (everyone can see it), "Friends" (only your friends can see it), or "Only Me" (only you can see it). Choose the level of privacy you want, then click "Save".

What happens when you name a partner

When you add someone's name to your relationship status, Facebook notifies them and shows them that you've listed them as your partner. They then have the choice to confirm the relationship (which makes it official on both profiles) or to ignore the notification and leave their own status unchanged.

If they confirm it, your relationship status will appear on both of your profiles, and the change may show up on your friends' news feeds depending on your privacy settings. If they ignore it, your profile will show the relationship status with their name, but their profile won't reflect it until they confirm it themselves or change their own status to match.

You can remove a partner's name from your status at any time by editing it again and clearing the name field. This does not notify them, but the change will take effect when ready on your profile.

Privacy and visibility of your relationship status

The privacy setting you choose when you save your relationship status controls who sees it on your profile. If you set it to "Only Me", no one but you will see it when they visit your profile. If you set it to "Friends", only people you're friends with can see it. If you set it to "Public", anyone on Facebook (and people not on Facebook, depending on your other privacy settings) can see it.

Changing your relationship status may also trigger a story in your friends' news feeds, but only if your privacy settings allow it. If you want to change your status without announcing it to your friends, set the privacy level to "Only Me" when you save the change. You can always adjust it later if you want people to see it.

Removing or hiding your relationship status

If you want to remove your relationship status entirely, go back to "Family and Relationships" in your About section and click "Edit" next to your current status. Instead of selecting a new status, click the X or "Remove" button to delete it. Your relationship status will no longer appear on your profile.

If you want to keep the status but hide it from others, edit it and change the privacy setting to "Only Me". This keeps the information on your profile (so you can see it and change it later) but makes it invisible to everyone else.

Relationship status and timeline announcements

When you change your relationship status, Facebook does not automatically post it to your timeline. The change appears in your About section, and it may show up in your friends' news feeds as a story, but it does not create a permanent post on your wall that people can comment on or react to.

If you want to make a bigger announcement, you can post about it yourself on your timeline. Some people write a post saying they've changed their status, while others share a photo or a message. This is entirely optional — many people change their status and never mention it in a post.

Old relationship status changes do not clutter your timeline. Once you change your status, the previous one disappears from view unless someone was specifically looking at your activity history.

Troubleshooting common issues

If you can't find the "Family and Relationships" section in your About tab, check that you're looking at your own profile, not someone else's. You can only edit your own information. If you're on someone else's profile, you'll see their information but no edit buttons.

If you're trying to add a partner but their name doesn't appear in the dropdown, they may not be your Facebook friend yet. Send them a friend request first, wait for them to confirm it, and then try adding them to your relationship status again. If they've changed their privacy settings to hide from search or friend requests, you may need to ask them to add you as a friend instead.

If you've changed your status but it's not showing up on your profile, check the privacy setting you selected. If you set it to "Only Me", only you will see it. Change the privacy level to "Friends" or "Public" if you want others to see it. If it still doesn't appear after a few minutes, try refreshing your browser or logging out and back in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change my relationship status without notifying my partner?

Yes. You can change your status to anything you want at any time, and your partner won't be notified unless you specifically add their name to the status. If you change from "In a Relationship" with their name to "Single", they will see that the relationship is no longer listed on your profile, but Facebook won't send them a notification about it.

What if my partner confirms the relationship but I want to remove it?

You can remove their name from your status at any time by editing it and clearing the name field. This removes the relationship from your profile when ready. Their profile will still show the relationship until they edit their own status. You can both manage your own relationship status independently.

Does changing my relationship status show up in my friends' news feed?

It may, depending on your privacy settings and Facebook's algorithm. If you set the privacy to "Public" or "Friends", the change has a chance of appearing as a story in your friends' feeds. If you set it to "Only Me", it will not appear in anyone's feed. You can also change your status and then adjust the privacy setting afterward if you want to hide it retroactively.

Can I set a relationship status without naming a specific person?

Yes. You can set your status to "In a Relationship", "Engaged", "Married", or "In a Domestic Partnership" without adding a partner's name. Just select the status and leave the name field blank, then save. This tells people your relationship status without publicly naming anyone.

What relationship status options does Facebook offer?

Facebook offers eight options: Single, In a Relationship, Engaged, Married, It's Complicated, In an Open Relationship, Widowed, and In a Domestic Partnership. You can choose whichever one best describes your situation, and you can change it whenever you want.