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The Complete Guide to Facebook Privacy Settings

by Suzanne Kantra on February 27, 2024

Updated on 2/27/2024. Removed privacy options for features no longer available, added new screenshots, and updated instructions on setting currently available privacy options.

Privacy issues and privacy controls on Facebook are ever-changing and confusing. I've read through hundreds of comments and emails from readers just like you who are frustrated and unsure about how to keep their information safe.

For example, when you post a picture of your kids at a family gathering, how can you control who has permission to share it? What private information are those Facebook game apps collecting, and who are these "third parties" they sell it to? How do you make sure that your live video stream is seen only by the people you choose?

Every action you take on Facebook has privacy and sharing implications you should understand before uploading that next selfie. Unfortunately, checking all of your Facebook settings takes a lot of time, and even then, the best choices for protecting your privacy aren't always obvious.

I just went through a complete review of every Facebook privacy setting currently available to determine what options we have for managing our privacy and what the best settings are for most people (and I'll continue to update this article as Facebook inevitably makes more changes). If you have a specific privacy concern, you can address it directly through your Facebook settings. Though for a broad check of all of your privacy settings, I recommend starting with Facebook's Privacy Checkup, which you can do through your computer browser or the Facebook app (go to Menu > Settings > Privacy Checkup).

Either way, I'll walk you through each setting below so you can confidently decide the right changes for you. For each section, I share my recommendations for each topic and what to consider when making your choices. I also have direct links to "hidden" Facebook settings that aren't part of the standard Privacy Checkup but have important privacy implications.

Who can see your profile information

Who can see your profile information

Here you can see the privacy settings – who can view your information – for your phone number, email addresses, birthday, hometown, relationship status, and other personal details about your life.

See how other people view your Facebook profile page

Before you start adjusting your privacy settings, take a look at what your Facebook profile looks like to other people. You can go to your profile page and click on menu button (the triple dots under the "Edit Profile" button) and select "View As."

The phone numbers associated with your Facebook account

Strong recommendation: Only Me

Under phone number, you'll see the phone number(s) associated with your account and who can view it. Your number is very important because it can be used to reset your Facebook password. By revealing your phone number, you are making it more vulnerable to SIM swapping, where a hacker contacts your carrier (in-store or on the phone) and convinces them to get a new SIM card with your number or port your phone number to another phone. Once the hacker has control of your number, they can receive codes to break into accounts protected by two-factor authentication

To delete or add a phone number, go to your profile page > About > Contact and basic info.

The email addresses associated with your Facebook account

My recommendation: Only Me

Under emails, it will show all email addresses associated with your account and who can view them. Email addresses are important because you can use any of them to log into your account with your Facebook password. Be careful to remove any old email addresses or ones where you're not using secure passwords, because if that email address is hacked, it could compromise your Facebook account, as well.

I recommend limiting your email to "Only Me." The people you know should have your email address and if you accidentally accept an invitation from a friend's spoofed Facebook account, that hacker will have access to your email address.

To add or delete and email address, go to your profile page > About > Contact and basic info.

Your birthday

My recommendation: Friends

For your birthday, you can choose to share your whole birthday or just the month and day. That way, your Friends can wish you a happy birthday on Facebook on your special day without necessarily knowing your exact age. Birthdays are sometimes used as a security verification for various services, so you want to keep it protected.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Contact and basic info.

Your hometown and current city

My recommendation: Only Me

For your hometown and current city, you may want to limit it to "Only Me" so you hackers can't use that personal information for social engineering. Your friends know where you live and can ask you where you grew up if they don't know.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Places lived.

Your relationship status

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you have set a relationship with another Facebook user, it will be shared unless you set it otherwise.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Family and relationships.

Your work history and where you went to school

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can choose to share your work history and where you went to high school, college, and graduate school. This setting may help old friends find you or for networking purposes.

To change this info, go to your profile page > About > Work and education.

Your friends list on your profile page

Strong recommendation: Friends or Only Me

I highly recommend setting this to Friends only or even "Only Me." Keeping your Friends list public puts your friends at risk for account cloning scams. The scam only works when the person behind it can contact your friends pretending to be you to request money or send phishing messages, such as the classic "Is this you?" video scam.

To change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for How People Find and Contact You.

The people and Pages you follow

My recommendation: Personal choice

Facebook lumps people and Pages you follow together. Consider whether there are any sensitive Pages you follow that you wouldn't want the world or your Friends to know about.

To change this setting, go to your profile page > Friends > menu (the triple dots next to "Find Friends") > Edit privacy.

Choose your audience for Posts and Stories

In this section, you can select who can read your future posts and stories, as well as read your prior posts on Facebook.

Choose your default audience

My recommendation: Friends or Custom

"Default audience" is where you set who will see your regular posts, including text posts, photos, and videos. My advice is to keep it to Friends unless you are trying to promote yourself to everyone or you have a specific need for a Custom setting (e.g., to exclude a toxic friend or relative).

You can choose who can see your future posts by going directly to the Facebook Settings page for Posts.

You can always override your default setting for a specific post at the time you create it by clicking on the downward caret next to the audience and selecting a new one.

When you are tagged in a post created by someone else, choose who can see the post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Strong recommendation: Only Me

If you are tagged in a post by someone on Facebook, your Facebook friends may see the post in their feeds even if they aren't friends with the original poster. This is a huge privacy and scam risk because someone can tag you in a photo that you do not want to be associated with, whether it's an embarrassing photo from last night's drink fest or a pure spam post (which I have seen tons of in my feed). So I strongly recommend setting this to "Only Me".

You can choose who can see posts you're tagged in by going directly to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Tagging" section.

Choose who can post on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Friends

My advice is to keep it to Friends, unless you enjoy random comments from strangers.

If you want to check or change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Viewing and sharing" section.

Choose who can see what others post on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You may not want everyone to see what other people are posting on your profile page. If you want to check or change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Viewing and sharing" section.

Choose to hide comments with specific words on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you're concerned about crude language appearing on your profile page, you can add up to 1,000 keywords that will cause a post to be hidden. The post will still remain visible to the people who posted and their Facebook Friends.

If you want to check or change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the "Viewing and sharing" section. Though you're probably better off just limiting who can post to your profile to Friends (unless your friends are the problem!)

Choose to review posts you're tagged in before they appear on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Turn this on

If you are tagged in a post, the post defaults to automatically showing up on your Timeline. I recommend you choose the setting to review the posts before they appear to avoid embarrassing or spam posts appearing in your timeline. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the Reviewing section.

Choose to review tags people add to your posts before they appear on Facebook (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Turn this on

Posting an old photo from a school or work outing? Once you share it, your Facebook Friends may want to tag more people in the photo. By default, your Facebook Friends can add tags. However, you can choose to review these tags before they appear on your post. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Profile and Tagging, and you'll find the option in the Reviewing section.

Choose who can comment on your public posts (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

When you create a public post, everyone on Facebook can see it. However, you can limit who gets to comment on your public posts. You can choose this setting based on your posting objectives.

If you want to check or change this setting, the Facebook Settings page for Followers and public content.

Choose who can comment on your public profile pictures and other public profile information (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Friends

When you post a new profile picture or change other Public profile information, the default setting is that only Friends (and Frends of anyone tagged) can like or comment. I recommend leaving this setting as is.

To change this setting, go to the Facebook Settings page for Followers and public content.

Find and remove old posts from your Timeline that you were tagged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Ever been tagged in an embarrassing photo from two decades ago uploaded by that old college classmate? You can remove these tagged items by going to your profile page (you can access it by clicking on your profile photo in the side menu bar) and click on Manage Posts.

In the box that pops up, click on "Filters." In the Post Filters box, you can select "only show posts I'm tagged in." You can choose to hide the posts or remove the posts. First, go through and select the posts where you want to remove yourself (untag yourself), click "Next," and select "Remove Tags." Then go through and select the posts that you want to be able to view but don't want others to see in your Timeline, click Next, and then select "Hide Posts."

Choose who can view old posts

My recommendation: Turn on Limit Past Posts

When you limit your past posts here, it will apply to ALL of your posts, including Public posts those share with "Friends of Friends," to only Friends. Unless you're a celebrity or running a page that is used to generate interest in a business that you run, you will likely want to keep your activity restricted to those you have Friended. Keep in mind that anyone who is tagged in your posts and their Facebook friends may still be able to view these posts.

You can choose who can view old posts by going directly the Facebook Settings page for Posts and clicking on "Limit Past Posts" in the "Your Activity" section.

Choosing an audience for a single old post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you want to change the audience for specific posts, you'll have to go into each post individually to change it. You can change the sharing settings of any individual Facebook update by clicking on the triple dots, then selecting "Edit audience."

Choose who can view your Stories

My recommendation: Personal choice

For "Stories," which are visible for 24 hours, you can limit your audience to your Facebook Friends or create a custom list of people with whom you want to share your stories. You can only set your default story audience within the Privacy Checkup.

For individual stories, click on the cog next to "Your Story" when you create a story, and you'll find the option to change your story audience for that story.

Choose whether you will allow others to share your Stories if you mention them (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you tag someone in a Story, that person can share it to their Story, along with your full name and a link to your post.

You can disable this feature by going to Facebook Setting page for Stories.

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Stories to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation Personal choice

If your Story is public, you can allow others to share your Story to their own Story, along with your full name and a link to your original Story. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Stories to make your choice.

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Reels to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation Personal choice

If your Story is public, you can allow others to share your Story to their own Story, along with your full name and a link to your original Story. Go to the Facebook Settings page for Reels to make your choice.

Choose whether other people will see the total number of reactions to posts you share (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you don't want other people to see the number of reactions to your posts, you can turn off showing post reactions.

Go to the Facebook Settings page for Reaction preferences and toggle off "On your posts."

How to block people from seeing your content and interacting with you

Block a person from interacting with you on Facebook

Blocking a person means that you are invisible to that person on Facebook. So if a mutual Friend tags you in a post, that person won't see the post. If you comment on a mutual Friend's post, that person won't see the comment. There are a few exceptions. If you both use a Facebook app or game or if you've both joined a group, the blocked person could see you. And, the person you block won't disappear entirely from your view. If a mutual Friend posts a photo and tags the blocked person, you may still see it on your Friend's timeline.

To block someone, go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the Edit button next to "Block users." If you just want to prevent a person from seeing posts that you share with Friends, you can add them to your Restricted list (also on the Blocking page). Click on the "Edit" button next to "Restricted list" to add them.

Block just messages and video calls (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you just want to stop a person from sending you messages or attempting to connect via a video call in Messenger, you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block messages" to add their name.

Block just app invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you just want to stop a person from sending invitations to try an app (occurs when one of your friends is trying to get free stuff in a game), you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block app invites."

Block just event invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you just want to stop a person from sending event invitations, you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block event invites."

Block apps (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you want an app to stop contacting you and prevent the app from obtaining non-public information about you through Facebook, you can go the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block apps" to add the name of the app.

Block Pages (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

If you want a Page to stop interacting with your posts or be able to like or reply to your comments, you can go to the Facebook Settings page for Blocking and select the "Edit" button next to "Block Pages" to add the name of the Page. You will be unable to post to the Page's Timeline or message the Page. And, if you currently like the Page, blocking the Page will automatically unlike and unfollow the Page.

How people can find you on Facebook.

This section walks you through the ways that you can limit how people can find you through search engines (like Google), or with your phone number, email or name on through Facebook.

Choose who can send you a Friend request

My recommendation: Personal choice

You have two options for limiting who can send you a Friend request: Everyone or Friends of friends. Unless you're being inundated with requests or don't want to be found, I recommend leaving the setting on Everyone so legitimate people who want to connect can.

You can access this directly by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Choose whether people can use your phone number or email to find you

My recommendation: Personal choice

People can look you up on Facebook with your phone number or email address, even if you have them hidden on your profile. This method makes it easy for people you know to find you, especially if you have a common name on Facebook, like Jane Smith. Have the settings option set to "Everyone" or "Friends of Friends" if you want people to find you using your email address or phone number. Or, you can also choose to fully hide your email addresses or phone numbers by selecting "Only me" as the audience. The settings you choose apply to all of your phone numbers or all of your email addresses.

You can access this directly by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Choose whether your Facebook profile appears on search engines

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can find your public Facebook profile page on search engines like Google. If you don't want your Facebook profile coming up in search, you can toggle this setting off in the privacy checkup or you can access it directly by going to You can access this directly by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Choose how message requests are delivered (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

When your Facebook Friends message you, you'll see them appear in the Messenger Chats window. However, other people may try to contact you via Messenger as well: "people with your phone number," "Friends of friends," and "others on Facebook." If you don't want strangers contacting you, send messages requests to "Don't receive requests." If you want to see the request before approving them to chat with you, select "Message requests."

You can set your preferences by going to the Facebook Settings page for How people find and contact you.

Your data settings on Facebook

Facebook makes it easy to log into other websites and apps with your Facebook account. If these conveniences are too invasive for you, here's where to turn them off.

Using Facebook to log into apps and websites

My recommendation: Remove connections

Instead of creating a new username and password for an app or website, you may have used your Facebook account. If you no longer use the app or website, it's a good idea to remove the connection. However, some apps and websites may hold valuable information about your account. Note that when you remove the connection to your Facebook account, you will lose access to your third-party account.

Remove login with Facebook for specific apps and websites

My recommendation: Personal choice

In the Facebook Privacy Checkup, you'll see a list of all websites and apps that you've connected to your Facebook account. To remove connection, click the 'Remove" button next to the app or site. In the pop-up window, you'll be given the option to "delete all of the posts, photos, and videos that the site or app has posted on your Timeline" and/or "Allow Facebook to notify [app name] the login was removed." This second option may enable you to recover data in the account you created with your Facebook login.

Turn off login with Facebook for apps, websites, and games (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can turn off the ability to use Facebook to log into apps, websites, and games.

Go to the Facebook Setting page for Apps and Websites and click on the "Turn off" button next to "Apps, websites and games."

Turn off game and app notifications (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can turn off annoying notifications for game requests from friends, game status updates, and app notifications.

Go to the Facebook Setting page for Apps and Websites and click on the "Turn off" button next to "Game and app notifications."

Your ad preferences on Facebook

Meta will show you ads on Facebook – that's how they make their money. It's just a question of whether those ads will be targeted to your demographics and interests or non-targeted (and, perhaps, less relevant to you).

Choose the profile information to share with marketers

My recommendation: Personal choice

Here, you can choose whether to share your marital status, employer, job title, and level of education with advertisers. This doesn't remove the information from your Facebook profile; it just impacts the ads you see.

You can also go directly to Meta Settings page for Ad Preferences and clicking on "Manage info" and then "Profile information." There you can toggle off any data you don't want to share.

Choose which interests to share with marketers (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

In addition to basic profile information, Facebook uses other information you've shared with it to serve you ads. You can remove interest categories, by going to Meta Settings page for Ad Preferences and clicking on "Manage info" and then "Profile information." In the "Categories associated with you" section, click on "View and manage." If you have other demographic or behavioral categories in your Ad Preferences, you can click on the "Remove" button next to any categories you don't want used to target ads to you.

See fewer ads about specific topics (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

While you can't choose to see fewer ads overall, you can choose to see fewer ads in specific categories. Go to the Meta Settings page for Ad topics. There you can choose to "See less" of any topic listed.

Turn off personalized ads based on information advertisers share about you (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

You can choose to prevent Facebook from using data from its partners to show personalized ads. Go Meta Settings page for Ad topics and in the "information other advertisers share about you" section you can select "Activity information from ad partners" to make your selection.

Choose which advertisers can use their own audience list to target you with ads (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

Some companies have lists of people that they want to reach with their ads. Facebook allows companies to target ads based on these lists, or even exclude you from seeing ads (for example, the DNC may want to exclude their ads from people on the RNC list). You can choose not to be shown ads using a list, as well as not be excluded from seeing ads. Go to the Meta Settings page for Audience-based advertising. There, you will see a list of all of the companies that have you on their audience list. Click on a company, and you can find out why you were included in the advertiser's audience. Click on the arrow next to the reason, and you can choose whether the company's list can be used to either include or exclude you from seeing ads.

Choose whether you are shown ads off Facebook based on your interests (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

Facebook serves a lot of advertising on websites and through apps off of Facebook. You can turn off personalized ads for those sites and apps, by going to the Meta Settings page for Ad preferences and selecting the "Manage info" tab. Click on "Ads shown outside of Meta." There, you can choose "Allowed" or "Not Allowed."

Hide ads from specific brands (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

My recommendation: Personal choice

If you're tired of being inundated with a specific company's ads, you can choose to hide them. Go to the Meta Settings page for Ad preferences and select the "Customize ads" tab. The click on "See all" next to "Advertisers you saw ads from." There you will find a list of the advertisers you have seen most recently, and you can click on the "Hide Ads" button next to any offenders.

Choose whether your social interactions with a company show up in ads

My recommendation: Only Me

Have you ever liked or followed a company, made a comment, shared a company's Page, checked into an event held by a company, made a recommendation, or joined a Facebook event held by a company? Facebook can broadcast your action as an advertisement to all your friends.

If you don't like this type of inadvertent endorsement, you can limit who can see these social interactions alongside ads to "Only me."

You can also go directly to the Meta Settings page for Ad preferences and click on "Social interactions." In the popup, you can select "Only me" or "Friends."

How to keep your account secure

In this section, you can change your password, turn on two-factor authentication, and get alerts when there is an unrecognized login to your account. If you already have two-factor authentication turned on and alerts are set for unrecognized logins, you'll receive the message that "You're all set. No security actions are recommended at this time."

Use a strong password

Strong recommendation

Do you have a strong password for your Facebook account – one that is unique to Facebook and at least 16 characters, including upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters? If the answer is no, you should strongly consider changing your password.

To ensure you remember your new strong password and to make it easier to use strong passwords going forward, I highly recommend using a password manager. We are fans (and users) of Dashlane and 1Password.

To change your password, you can go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security.

Turn on two-factor authentication

Strong recommendation

A strong password is essential, but that's not enough if it's compromised in a data breach or you are tricked into giving it away in a Facebook credentials phishing attack. That's where two-factor authentication comes in. When two-factor authentication is turned on, anyone trying to log into your account from a new device or browser would need to provide a one-time-use code delivered via an app, text message, or email. I highly recommend turning on two-factor authentication.

You can also go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Two-Factor Authentication" to set it up.

You should also check the list of devices and browsers that don't require a code when you log in to ensure there aren't any of your old devices on the list. To check this, go to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Two-Factor Authentication." Once you've logged in, you'll see a box, with a section entitles "Authorized Logins." Click the "Recognized devices" button to view the list of devices that don't require a login code.

Receive alerts when there is an unrecognized login to your Facebook account

Strong recommendation

You can choose to receive Login alerts that will be sent every time you log into your account from a device or browser that you don't usually use. You can choose to have alerts sent via Facebook, email, or both. Note that a new web browser looks like a new computer to Facebook.

You can go directly to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Login alerts" to turn them on and select your delivery method.

Check where you're logged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Strong recommendation

In addition to receiving alerts when there is an unrecognized login, you can check to see which devices have logged into your Facebook account. You can see where you're logged into Facebook – the device and physical location – by going to the Facebook Settings page for Password and security and select "Where you're logged in." If you see a suspicious login, you can click on it and then select "Log Out." Worst case scenario is that you'll have to log in again on a device you own, so err on the side of logging out.

Final thoughts

That covers the extensive privacy setting options on Facebook. If you want to dig even further into how Facebook is using your personal data and activities, read Facebook's latest privacy policy.

Still confused by a specific issue or question with your account? Ask below in the comments, and we'll do our best to help you out.

[Image credit: screenshots of the Facebook site via Techlicious, computer mockup via Canva]

For the past 20+ years, Techlicious founder Suzanne Kantra has been exploring and writing about the world’s most exciting and important science and technology issues. Prior to Techlicious, Suzanne was the Technology Editor for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and the Senior Technology Editor for Popular Science. Suzanne has been featured on CNN, CBS, NBC and dozens of other TV and radio networks.

Topics

Facebook, Computers and Software, Computer Safety & Support, Tips & How-Tos, Privacy, Tech 101, Social Networking

Discussion

From Sabeli on May 11, 2020 :: 8:22 am

Hello, I’m trying to change some privacy options in Settings, but the save changes button is missing. How can I save my changes? I’ve seen a lot of people asked the same question to FB help center, but no answers. Thank you.

From Josh Kirschner on May 20, 2020 :: 7:37 pm

Can you tell me exactly which setting you are trying to change so I can research it?

From Lindsay on May 24, 2020 :: 2:28 pm

I have my account set to be fairly private, for friends to see only. Sometimes I want to interact with public pages (ex. a local business or a school page). (1) If I view, like, or comment on a public page, will they be able to see my other posts and activities (I understand they and their viewers will be able to see their post that I like or comment on)? (2) Can I follow or otherwise get those public pages in my feed without adding them as friends (so they don’t see my posts to friends) and if so, how? Thank you!

From Josh Kirschner on May 24, 2020 :: 6:32 pm

Posting or liking a public page isn’t the same as friending someone, and the page owners won’t be able to see any private posts you make elsewhere. In fact, if you share one of the page’s stories privately to your page, they won’t even be able to see that.

From Jeremy E Pikser on June 17, 2020 :: 2:21 pm

i often share news stories because i want to say something about them. but when people share my post, my comments don’t go with the post unless they click “include original.” is there any way to make my posts shareable with the default that what i said about it will go with the shared post?

From Josh Kirschner on June 18, 2020 :: 6:47 pm

What you’re seeing is the normal Facebook sharing process. This isn’t something you can control with settings or defaults on your posts.

From barbara on June 20, 2020 :: 3:52 pm

Hi. Sorry I think I didn’t see here how to restrict private messages only to friends. And also in all the instructions I found on google they talk about a “How You Cannot” section under the privacy settings menu but I can’t find anywhere. Did they take off this option?
Thanx

From Bárbara Viento on June 20, 2020 :: 4:04 pm

Hi.
I know there was the option to restrict private messages only to the friends list but I can’t find it anymore. On goggle everybody says to go on Privacy Settings>Edit Settings>How you Connect> end there in theory there’s should be the “hwo can message me” option but can’t find all of this. Did they take it out or there is another way? I can still see people that I’m not friends with and they don’t have the message botton option on they profile so there must be a way. Help!!

From Josh Kirschner on June 22, 2020 :: 9:01 pm

There no longer appears to be a way to block messages from strangers in Facebook. However, when a stranger tries to message you, it comes through as a friend request. So in your Facebook privacy settings, if you change “Who can send you friend requests?” from “everyone” to “Friends of friends”, that should eliminate the stranger requests. I haven’t tested this, so let me know if that works for you.

From Pamela Stegmaier on June 21, 2020 :: 8:29 am

I can see the share button on posts from other family and friends but I cannot see that for my own twin sister. She says it’s there on her Facebook page, but when I view her page whether on my laptop or on the cell phone, I cannot see a share button to post to my page. Also, she tagged me on her post but my name did not highlight and it did not post on my Facebook page. What setting is preventing this?

Thanks

From Pamela Stegmaier on June 21, 2020 :: 8:37 am

Greetings, I’m having problems seeing the share button on my sister’s facebook page. She says it’s there, but when I view her page I do not see it. Only the ‘like’ and ‘comment’ options show. Is this a problem with my settings? also, she tagged me on her post but my name did not highlight and did not post onto my facebook page. How do I solve this problem? Recently, I changed some of my settings to prevent a friend from posting my photos and can’t remember all the changes I did. Please help.

From Josh Kirschner on June 22, 2020 :: 9:03 pm

You can only share posts that are set to “Public”. So if your sister’s post is set to “Friends” or “Friends of friends, you won’t be able to share it.

From Pamela Stegmaier on June 23, 2020 :: 7:02 am

If my name is not highlighted when tagged, then I’m not really tagged, and the post will not show up on my page, nor will it lead to my Facebook page. By the way, she said her posts are public, but the share button still does not show up for anyone.

Many thanks,
Pamela

From Josh Kirschner on June 23, 2020 :: 4:29 pm

Every post has a little share icon next to the posting date that tells you how it was shared - a globe for public or little people icons for friends, etc. So you can see for yourself whether a post is public, since it’s not uncommon for people to think they’re posting one way on Facebook when they’re really not.

For name highlighting, do you know how she is doing the tag? Is she typing @pamelastegmaier and then selecting you from the suggested list? Is she just typing your name (which won’t tag you)? Or is she selecting your name in the “With” box when posting a photo?

From Bruce Savage on June 27, 2020 :: 10:53 pm

I have my Facebook setting on friends only. Not public. At the bottom of my posts, there is no share option. Mr research tells me to change my setting from friends only, to public, if I want there to be a share button under my posts. But I don’t want the public option. And many have told me they have their setting on friends only, and there is a share button under their posts. I can’t figure out how to make that happen. Help!

From Josh Kirschner on June 30, 2020 :: 11:47 pm

You can only share Facebook posts that are public. However, if you share a public post (e.g., a story from a newspaper) to just your friends, your friends will be able to share the original public post, but not your post. That’s probably what’s happening where they’re seeing a share button under a post they made that is set to friends only.

From ShreyaghoshalTimes Shreyaghoshal on July 09, 2020 :: 3:48 pm

Hi. I don’t know what’s the issue but I’m unable to change category of my page I don’t know whenever I’m going to change category showing some error message Always showing messages An error occurred while saving page information. Please make sure that the information is correct and valid.i want help about this topic I’m upset and distrub with this error message always showing ☹️😣 please let me know why it’s happening with my page please help me! Please fixed this solutions I’m maximum time sending messages to Facebook and also request appeal but nothing response from from facebook side 😭 :( please anyone help me here please help me

From Michelle Keselman on July 18, 2020 :: 2:40 am

Is there a way to prevent certain people from being able to see that Im tagged in a public post?

From Jussa Murphy on July 30, 2020 :: 7:54 am

Can I remove a friend from Facebook games, but still be friends?

From Lisa Potters on August 17, 2020 :: 7:48 am

Hi, I was wondering if you could advise me on how I can protect my iPhone 7, laptop and iPad from any ‘software stalking’ that my ex may be doing? My friends tell me that he may have installed software which can access, follow my emails, Whatsapp conversations, Messenger. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

From Kelly on September 11, 2020 :: 11:50 am

I know the activity log options have changed over time. Can people see your activity logs still, specifically what comments and posts you’ve liked?

From Brandon on September 13, 2020 :: 11:52 am

Hi,

I belong to a few groups and people (not friends) join other similar groups (eg: golf) and then that group shows up in my feed. Can I stop seeing these groups in my feed? I only want to see the ones I subscribe to.

Thanks,
B

From Allsahiba Oyshe on October 13, 2020 :: 3:54 pm

Haw can download my all friends chats

From Wilfried Neumann on October 13, 2020 :: 5:03 pm

Hi,
I just created a FB account today ( I hate FB) for the reason to be able to save a game to FB, so I can transfer it to a new tablet.
The game is “Charm King” and when I try to login from the game, it tells me it can not post to my FB account.
I have set all settings to high privacy (just me).
Which setting would I need to change to allow above game to post to my FB?
I am very sorry for bothering you - but I have spend hours online trying to figure this.
Thanks a lot.
Any answer is very much appreciated!
Wil

From Josh Kirschner on October 13, 2020 :: 8:48 pm

The game shouldn’t need to post to your Facebook account to be able to save progress. You can check what your settings are in your apps and websites for Charm Kings (https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=applications&ref=settings), if you want to see what it may say there.

Does Charm Kings give you another means of saving your progress, e.g., via Google Games?

From Sarah on October 22, 2020 :: 2:33 pm

How do i receive birthday wishes in my inbox instead of my timeline please.

From Maria Beaza on October 29, 2020 :: 8:45 am

Facebook is the huge Plateform for all. we all have to take privacy on facebook. So this guide is very helpful for all Facebook users.

From Nicholas Courtway on November 10, 2020 :: 6:03 pm

I’ve noticed my battery dies I never have a good signal emails dissapeared too many apps installed that I didn’t install and they are disabling the Samsung product and hurting the companies that I am affiliated well with by limiting me and not allowing me to make something out of my life they are actually pinning me to the ground like dirt

From Ina on November 18, 2020 :: 3:29 am

If you tag someone on a photo and after a while you don’t see the name of that friend tagged anymore in your photo, the only option here is that your friend untagged himself from that photo, or it could be also that he kept the tag but changed the privacy for that photo on his timeline?
Thanks!

From Ruby on November 23, 2020 :: 11:04 am

How do I prevent a friend from commenting on my posts?

From Josh Kirschner on November 27, 2020 :: 7:15 pm

If you want to keep them as a friend on Facebook, the only way I can think of is to use a custom audience for each of your posts that excludes them from the audience. But that seems like a lot of extra work, so your best bet may be to delete them as a friend or deal with their comments.

From Brian on November 29, 2020 :: 8:59 am

Problem on my I phone no one can write on my wall as of recently….no tags…nothing. Only I can.
Yet when I go to my mac its all there. How do I get I phone back to normal. Again everything is adjusted correct which is why computer is correct as phone was.
Any help would be great.
Brian

From AMB on December 02, 2020 :: 5:14 pm

If I comment on a post from a public page and my profile picture is set to friends only, will anyone that sees my comment be able to see my profile picture too? I have seen people post with the default Facebook silhouette profile picture that doesn’t show them. I would like to do that.

From Josh Kirschner on December 03, 2020 :: 10:46 am

Certain basic Facebook profile information is always public, including your profile picture. The only way to get around that is to not use a profile picture.

From Donna Hatch on December 11, 2020 :: 11:06 am

could you tell me when i search for a friend or family member that used to have a picture, now has a magnifying glass next to it? Thank you.

From John Ellerby on December 17, 2020 :: 3:39 pm

We have a FB page for our Community Group. On my personal FB site I can message people. We have users on our site who want info (email addresses and the like) that we don’t want to post as public. So we want them to be able to message our Community FB page so that we can respond directly. Is this possible on a Public FB page? John

From Josh Kirschner on December 19, 2020 :: 3:43 pm

In your Page Settings, under General, there is an option called Messages that ads a message button to the top of your page and allows people to message your page privately.

From Elana on December 22, 2020 :: 5:28 pm

I know have mentions where posts to me show up instead of on my wall. My sister doesn’t have a mentions section. Please help!!!!

From Sheilagh Romero on February 01, 2021 :: 2:09 pm

All of a sudden I am seeing posts about my friends wishing happy birthday to somebody else that I don’t know, they are not my friend, they are just their friend. I don’t mind seeing my friends wish happy birthday to friends that are in my friend list but I don’t want to see birthday wishes to anybody that isn’t my friend. I don’t see any way of turning this off unless I turn off everything I see from them or turn off all birthday wishes I don’t want that. Should be away to turn off that kind of post that I have no interest in since they are not my friend.Thank you.

From R Gathright Bridgewaters on February 17, 2021 :: 7:44 pm

Hello,

I would like to know…I’m friends with a person, however the only posts that I see on there page are public and not any friends, posts. How can I change my settings to reflect the same…whereas, the one person, can only view my public posts and not any of my friends posts. Thank you

From Josh Kirschner on February 18, 2021 :: 12:59 pm

There are a couple of ways to do this. The simplest way is to use the little audience dropdown whenever you post and select “Custom”. This will allow to include or exclude specific people or lists. This works if you just want to do this for an occasional post. However, if you want to exclude a person or group of people from ALL your personal posts, it may be better to segment your friends using “lists” to either create a smaller list of “close friends” that you post to or move the more toxic friends to an “acquaintance” list that you exclude from sensitive posts.

See here for more info on creating Facebook friend lists: https://www.facebook.com/help/190416214359937

From Elena Arnautu on February 21, 2021 :: 9:56 pm

the videos on face book have no sound…what should I do? I tried settings and I am missing Media and Contacts

From E on February 23, 2021 :: 10:59 pm

I don’t want my friends seeing what “Lives” I’m on. Is there a setting?

From Josh Kirschner on February 24, 2021 :: 11:57 am

When you view a live video, no one, including the broadcaster, should be able to see who is on the video unless you interact through a comment or like. All the broadcaster will see is a viewer count. Are you noticing something different?

From S.L. Enterprises on March 09, 2021 :: 3:12 pm

I recently listed my parent company in my Business Manager because I was doing some FB advertising and wanted to bill to my parent company’s PayPal.
I don’t know what I did.. but now all of my posts say “Published by S.L.Enterprises”
I have clicked all over the palce trying to fix this and the only thing I have accomplished is that they have now restricted my advertising because they said they noticed “unusual activity” in my account.
The “unusual activity” was obviously me clicking on anything and everything trying to fix the problem.
I could care less about their useless advertising.. however, I would like to get my posts back to the way they were without the “published by”. Any idea what I did and how I can undo it?
Thank You

From Josh Kirschner on March 09, 2021 :: 3:55 pm

If you’re seeing that message on your Facebook Page of your business, it means you are posting as “your business”, rather than via your personal profile. Only you can see the “Published by S.L.Enterprises” message, not visitors to your page, so it may not even matter to you at the end of the day.

However, if you want to post as your personal profile on your business page, there is a dropdown on the right side of the menu bar of your page that lets you select which profile you are using to post and comments on your page. Note that you won’t be able to post as your personal profile unless your business page allows “Visitor Posts” in your Page settings, which you probably won’t want to allow.

From S.L. Enterprises on March 09, 2021 :: 10:57 pm

Thank You so much.
I do not want to post as my personal profile.. I just want the posts to say RenegadeTshirts and not “Published by” underneath.
If this is not visible to anyone else, then I guess I won’t worry about it.
I have been driving myself nuts for nothing 🙄
Thanks Again

From Jannell Fountain on April 05, 2021 :: 8:21 pm

I woke up to my Facebook app sayi g session expired. Now I can’t log in, my email, and phone number can’t be found.
12 years of memories and pictures, and.friends. GONE.

FB SAYS YOU CAN REACTIVATE WITHIN 30 DAYS, I CANT. I EVEN TRIED TO REPORT MYY PAGE BEING HACKED, SAID IT’S BEEN TO LONG, HASN’T BEEN 24 HRS YET.

I GOT AN EMAIL AT 2AM FROM PAYPAL SAYING My account with. messenger was canceled.
I don’t know how to find this..
Plllllleeeaassse help

From Caroline on May 17, 2021 :: 8:01 am

Hello,
When I scroll through my news feed, I frequently see my friends’ comments that they make on public pages (for example, media organizations or politicians’ pages). These are public pages that I have no shared interest in. I want to make certain that my privacy settings do not allow my friends to see what I post on public pages, but I do not see a specific setting to do so.

From Josh Kirschner on May 17, 2021 :: 5:07 pm

Posts you make on public pages are, by definition, public - you can’t control who see those posts, any restrictions to comment visibility are made by the page owner.

Read More Comments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The Complete Guide to Facebook Privacy Settings

Table of Contents

Who can see your profile information

Managing who can see your basic profile information

Managing who can see your connections

Control your audience for your Posts and Stories

Managing how you are tagged in posts

Managing who can comment on your public information

Managing old posts

Managing stories and reels

How to block people from seeing your content and interacting with you

How people can find you on Facebook

Your data settings on Facebook

Your ad preferences on Facebook

How to keep your account secure

Who can see your profile information

See how other people view your Facebook profile page

The phone numbers associated with your Facebook account

The email addresses associated with your Facebook account

Your birthday

Your hometown and current city

Your relationship status

Your work history and where you went to school

Your friends list on your profile page

The people and Pages you follow

Choose your audience for Posts and Stories

Choose your default audience

When you are tagged in a post created by someone else, choose who can see the post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can post on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can see what others post on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose to hide comments with specific words on your profile page (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose to review posts you're tagged in before they appear on your profile (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose to review tags people add to your posts before they appear on Facebook (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can comment on your public posts (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can comment on your public profile pictures and other public profile information (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Find and remove old posts from your Timeline that you were tagged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can view old posts

Choosing an audience for a single old post (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose who can view your Stories

Choose whether you will allow others to share your Stories if you mention them (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Stories to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether you will allow others to share your public Reels to their own Story (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether other people will see the total number of reactions to posts you share (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

How to block people from seeing your content and interacting with you

Block a person from interacting with you on Facebook

Block just messages and video calls (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block just app invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block just event invites (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block apps (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Block Pages (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

How people can find you on Facebook.

Choose who can send you a Friend request

Choose whether people can use your phone number or email to find you

Choose whether your Facebook profile appears on search engines

Choose how message requests are delivered (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Your data settings on Facebook

Using Facebook to log into apps and websites

Remove login with Facebook for specific apps and websites

Turn off login with Facebook for apps, websites, and games (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Turn off game and app notifications (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Your ad preferences on Facebook

Choose the profile information to share with marketers

Choose which interests to share with marketers (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

See fewer ads about specific topics (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Turn off personalized ads based on information advertisers share about you (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose which advertisers can use their own audience list to target you with ads (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether you are shown ads off Facebook based on your interests (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Hide ads from specific brands (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Choose whether your social interactions with a company show up in ads

How to keep your account secure

Use a strong password

Turn on two-factor authentication

Receive alerts when there is an unrecognized login to your Facebook account

Check where you're logged in (Not part of Privacy Checkup)

Final thoughts

Discussion

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