Where to Find Privacy and Safety Settings on Twitter
Your privacy and safety settings live in one place on Twitter: the Settings and Privacy menu. Open Twitter on your computer or phone, click or tap the three-dot menu icon in the top left corner (or your profile picture if you're on mobile), then select Settings and Privacy. From there, click Privacy and Safety in the left sidebar. This is where every control we'll cover below lives.
The settings page is organized into sections: who can see your posts, who can message you, what data Twitter collects, and safety tools. You don't have to change everything at once—each setting works independently, so you can adjust only what matters to you.
Key Takeaways
- Your Privacy and Safety settings are found by clicking the three-dot menu, then selecting Settings and Privacy, then Privacy and Safety in the sidebar.
- You can make your account private so only approved followers see your posts, or keep it public but control who can reply and message you.
- The Mute and Block features let you silence specific words, accounts, or notifications without those people knowing.
- Safety settings include options to limit who can tag you in photos, see your location data, and find your account through email or phone number.
- Twitter's data settings show what information the platform collects and let you control whether your data is used for personalized ads.
Making Your Account Private or Public
The first major choice is whether your account is public (anyone can see your posts) or private (only people you approve can follow you and see your posts). In the Privacy and Safety menu, look for the section labeled Audience and Tagging. You'll see a toggle for Protect Your Posts. Turn this on to make your account private.
When your account is private, people who want to follow you must send a follow request, and you'll see their request before deciding whether to accept. Your old posts remain visible only to your current followers. If you switch back to public later, all your posts become visible to everyone again. This setting takes effect when ready—there's no waiting period.
Most people leave their accounts public. Private accounts are useful if you want to share only with people you know, or if you're testing out Twitter before deciding how much to share publicly.
Controlling Who Can Reply to Your Posts
You don't have to make your entire account private to limit replies. Twitter lets you control who can reply to each individual post. When you're composing a tweet, click the globe icon (on desktop) or the audience icon (on mobile) before you post. You'll see three options: Everyone (the default), People You Follow, or Only People You Mention.
Choose People You Follow if you want to post something but only hear from accounts you already follow. Choose Only People You Mention if you're starting a conversation with specific people and don't want replies from strangers. This setting applies only to that single post—your next post will default back to Everyone unless you change it again.
You can also change who can reply to old posts. Go to any of your tweets, click the three dots in the corner, and select Change Who Can Reply. This is useful if a post starts getting unwanted attention after you've posted it.
Managing Messages and Follower Requests
In the Privacy and Safety settings, find the section called Direct Messages. Here you can decide who is allowed to send you messages. The default setting is Everyone, which means anyone on Twitter can message you. Change this to People You Follow if you want only accounts you've chosen to follow to reach you directly.
You can also turn on Filter Messages from Accounts You Don't Follow. This doesn't block messages—it just puts them in a separate folder so they don't clutter your main inbox. You can read them later if you want, but they won't interrupt you.
If you've made your account private, you'll also see a setting for Follow Requests. You can choose to be notified when someone requests to follow you, or turn off notifications so you only check requests when you want to.
Using Mute and Block to Control What You See
Muting and blocking are two different tools. Muting hides posts from someone without them knowing—they can still see your posts and follow you, but their tweets won't show up in your feed. Blocking prevents someone from following you, seeing your posts, or messaging you, and they'll know they're blocked.
To mute an account, go to their profile, click the three dots, and select Mute. To block, select Block instead. You can also mute specific words or hashtags so posts containing them don't appear in your feed. In Privacy and Safety, find Mute and Block, then Muted Words. Add any word or phrase you want to hide, and choose whether to mute it everywhere or only in replies and messages.
Muting is useful for accounts that aren't harmful but post things you don't want to see. Blocking is for accounts that are harassing you or posting content that makes you uncomfortable. Both can be undone at any time.
Controlling Photo Tags and Location Data
In the Audience and Tagging section, you'll find a setting called Photo Tagging. By default, anyone can tag you in photos. If you turn this off, only people you follow can tag you. This prevents strangers from tagging you in photos without your permission.
You can also control whether your location is visible. Look for Precise Location in the Privacy and Safety menu. If you turn this off, Twitter won't store your exact location even if you post from a location-enabled device. Your posts won't show where you are.
Another setting controls whether people can find your account using your email address or phone number. In the Discoverability and Contacts section, you can turn off Allow Others to Find You by Email and Allow Others to Find You by Phone Number. This means people would have to search for your username directly to find you.
Managing Data Collection and Personalized Ads
Twitter collects data about your activity to show you personalized ads and recommendations. In the Privacy and Safety menu, find Data and Privacy. Here you'll see options for Personalized Ads and Inferred Identity.
If you turn off Personalized Ads, Twitter will still show you ads, but they won't be based on your activity, interests, or browsing history. You'll see more generic ads instead. Turning this off doesn't make ads disappear—it just makes them less targeted to you.
Inferred Identity controls whether Twitter uses data from other websites and apps to learn more about you. If you turn this off, Twitter relies only on what you do directly on Twitter, not on your activity elsewhere online. This can make ads less relevant to you, but it also means less cross-platform tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone tell if I've muted them?
No. When you mute someone, they have no way of knowing. They can still see your posts, follow you, and message you. Muting is invisible to them. Blocking is different—if you block someone, they'll see a message saying they're blocked when they try to visit your profile.
What happens to my old posts if I make my account private?
Your old posts become visible only to your current followers. People who aren't following you can't see them anymore. If you switch back to public later, all those posts become visible to everyone again. Nothing is deleted—visibility just changes based on your privacy setting.
Can I control privacy settings for individual posts?
Yes, but only for who can reply. When composing a post, you can choose to allow replies from everyone, only people you follow, or only people you mention. You can't make a single post private while keeping your account public—that's not an option. The post will be visible to whoever your account privacy allows.
Do I have to turn off personalized ads?
No. Personalized ads are on by default, and you can leave them on if you don't mind targeted advertising. Turning them off is optional and doesn't affect your ability to use Twitter. You'll still see ads; they just won't be based on your interests.
What's the difference between muting words and blocking accounts?
Muting words hides posts containing specific words or phrases from your feed, but the posts still exist and other people can see them. Blocking an account prevents that person from following you or seeing your posts. Muting words is for controlling your own feed; blocking is for controlling who can interact with you.