Facebook allows users to share photos and organize them into albums. When creating a photo album, users can choose between different privacy settings like public, friends, specific groups or only me. The default setting when first creating an album is public. This means anyone on Facebook can view your album and photos. If you later decide you want to change the privacy of a Facebook photo album, you have the ability to edit the settings. Here is more detail on how to update the privacy settings for a Facebook photo album.
View Current Photo Album Privacy Settings
To start, you’ll want to check your current privacy settings for the Facebook photo album you want to update. Here’s how:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click “Photos” in the left menu
- Click on the album you want to view settings for. This opens the album.
- In the upper right, click the 3 dots icon to access the menu.
- Select “Edit Album.”
This will open the album settings. Under the Privacy section, you’ll see who can currently view the album. If it’s set to Public, anyone on Facebook can see it.
Change Photo Album Privacy
Once you know the current setting, you can update the privacy settings for the album:
- Follow the same steps above to open the Album Settings and go to Privacy.
- Click on the dropdown menu to view available options: Public, Friends, Specific Groups, Only Me.
- Select the privacy level you want for the album.
- Click “Save Changes” at the bottom to update.
The privacy level will be updated right away. Now only the selected audience you chose can view or access that photo album on your profile.
Public vs. Friends Photo Album Privacy
The two most common settings for photo albums are Public and Friends. Here’s an overview of how they work:
Public
A public photo album on Facebook can be seen by anyone on Facebook. You don’t have to be friends with someone for them to view or see the album on your profile. Some key things to know about public albums:
- Indexable by search engines like Google
- Anyone can share or save photos from the album
- Useful for sharing public events, trips, hobbies, interests
- Not appropriate for private/personal photos
Friends
Setting a photo album to Friends privacy means that only your friends on Facebook can view or access the album. Things to note:
- Only visible to your accepted friends list
- Friends can share and save photos
- Good for sharing personal photos from events or trips
- Not indexable by search engines
So in summary, Friends privacy is more limited and private, while Public is open to everyone on Facebook.
Change Default Photo Album Privacy
When you create new photo albums, they default to the privacy setting you have selected in your Facebook settings. To update the default privacy level for new albums:
- Click on the arrow in the top right and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Go to Settings and choose “Privacy”
- Select “Photos and Videos”
- Under the “Album Privacy” section, use the dropdown to choose the privacy level you want for new albums.
Now when you create a new photo album, your selected privacy level will automatically be applied instead of Public.
Can Photos in Albums Be Private or Public?
The privacy setting applies to the entire album. However, you can choose a specific privacy level for individual photos:
- Open the photo album and select a photo
- Use the privacy dropdown above the photo to choose who can see it
- Click Save after selecting the preferred privacy
This will override the album privacy for just that individual photo. All other photos will still follow the album privacy.
Album Privacy vs. Individual Photo Privacy
| Album Privacy | Individual Photo Privacy |
|---|---|
| Sets privacy level for entire album | Overrides album privacy for specific photo |
| Options: Public, Friends, Groups, Only Me | Options: Public, Friends, Groups, Only Me |
| Default is Public | Matches album privacy by default |
| Change anytime | Can change anytime |
So in summary, the album privacy sets the overall default, while individual photo privacy can override the album default as needed on a per photo basis.
Can You Hide Albums on Facebook?
Instead of changing the privacy level of an album, you also have the option to completely hide it:
- Open the album’s Edit settings
- Toggle the switch for “Show Album on Profile” to off
- Save Changes
This will hide the album from your profile and other people will no longer be able to see or access it.
However, there are a few important things to note about hiding an album:
- You will still be able to access the album from your photos
- Anybody you share a direct link to the album with will still be able to see it
- The album may still show up in searches if privacy is Public
So hiding an album doesn’t fully make it private or restrict access. But it does remove it from public view on your profile.
How to Permanently Delete a Facebook Photo Album
If you really want to remove an album and the photos from Facebook, you can delete it:
- Go to your Facebook Photos
- Click the album to open it
- Click the 3-dot menu icon in the upper right corner
- Select Delete Album
- Confirm that you want to permanently delete the album from Facebook
Once deleted, the album and all the photos in it will be permanently removed. Neither you nor anyone else will be able to access or recover it.
Important: Download Album Before Deleting
It’s highly recommended that you download a copy of the album to your computer or device before permanently deleting it. This ensures you have a backup of the photos. Here’s how to download an album from Facebook:
- Go to the album and click the 3-dot menu > Download Album
- Select to download the small, medium or original size photos
- Choose HTML or JSON file format
- Click Download Album
The album will be saved as a zip file containing the photos in the sizes and format you selected.
Summary
A few key points to summarize how to change privacy settings for Facebook albums:
- View current album privacy under Edit Album > Privacy
- Update the privacy setting using the dropdown menu
- Individual photos can have custom privacy levels
- Hide an album from your profile by toggling Show Album off
- Permanently delete an album to remove it fully from Facebook
- Always download a copy of the album before deleting
Changing the privacy settings gives you full control over who can view and access your Facebook photo albums. Be sure to periodically review albums to ensure your privacy preferences are up to date.