Yes, you can make your Facebook albums private so that only people you choose can see them. There are a few different privacy settings you can configure for your Facebook albums.
Quick Answers
Here are some quick answers to common questions about making Facebook albums private:
- You can make an entire album private so only people you select can view it.
- You can allow or disable individual people from viewing a private album.
- When you share a private album, you choose who can see it via a list of your Facebook friends.
- Private albums will not show up on your profile or in search results to people who cannot access them.
- You can also make your posts and photos more private in general by adjusting your overall privacy settings.
Setting an Album to Private
Here are the steps to make a Facebook album completely private so only certain people can see it:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click on the “Photos” tab.
- Click on the album you want to make private.
- In the upper right corner, click the 3 dots icon and select “Edit Album.”
- In the pop-up window, find the privacy setting titled “Who can see this album?”
- Click on the drop down menu and select “Only me” to make it fully private.
- If you want certain people to have access, select “Custom” and type in their names to allow them access.
- Click “Save Changes” to confirm the new privacy settings.
Once you make an album private, Facebook will not show it on your profile or in any public areas to people who cannot access it. The album cover photo will also be hidden. You have full control over who can view your private albums.
Adjusting Individual Photo Privacy
In addition to album privacy, you can also configure the privacy settings for individual photos within an album:
- Open the album and click on a photo to view it.
- Click the 3 dots icon in the top right corner and select “Edit Privacy.”
- Choose who can view the photo – friends, family, only me, custom, or public.
- Click “Limit Old Posts” to also limit previous visibility if needed.
- Click “Save” to confirm the new privacy settings for only that photo.
This allows you to set certain photos in an album to be more or less private than the album as a whole. You may want some photos public while others are just for family, for example.
Adding or Removing Album Access
For private albums, you can add or remove people at any time to grant or revoke access. To add access:
- Go to the album privacy settings and choose “Custom.”
- Start typing the name of a friend to let them view the album.
- Click “Save Changes” once you’ve added everyone you want.
To remove someone’s access:
- Go to the album’s privacy again.
- Hover over the name of the person you want to remove.
- Click the “X” icon that appears to the right of their name.
- Confirm by clicking “Save Changes.”
You can add and remove individual people as often as needed. The album will remain fully private from anyone not specially granted access.
General Privacy Settings
In addition to album and photo privacy, you can also configure your overall Facebook privacy settings:
- Go to “Settings” then “Privacy” to view your general account privacy options.
- Set who can see your future posts by default under “Your Activity Privacy.”
- Limit the audience for posts you’ve already shared.
- Customize who can look you up and send you friend requests.
- Restrict access to your friend list, email address, phone number, and more.
Adjusting these privacy settings changes the defaults for your profile and content visibility overall. Specific album privacy still overrides these general settings, however.
Private Albums vs. Restricted Lists
Private albums should not be confused with Facebook’s “Restricted Lists” feature. They are different:
- Private Albums – Only people you select can view the album at all.
- Restricted Lists – You add friends to lists like “Close Friends.” You can then share a post or album with just people on that list.
So private albums are completely hidden from anyone except who you pick. Restricted lists allow you to easily select subsets of friends rather than individuals.
Conclusion
Facebook provides robust privacy settings for controlling exactly who can view your albums and photos. By default, any new albums are visible to all friends or the public. But you can easily make existing and new albums completely private.
The key steps are:
- Edit the album and set privacy to “Only me” or “Custom” to pick individuals.
- Adjust privacy for individual photos as needed.
- Add or remove specific people’s access to private albums.
- Configure general privacy settings for your profile and timeline.
Using these options, you can keep your Facebook albums totally private to control who sees your photos and videos. Just be sure to set the privacy when first creating an album, or go back later and update the settings on existing albums you want to lock down.
| Album Privacy Options | Description |
|---|---|
| Public | Anyone including non-Facebook members can view the album |
| Friends | All your Facebook friends can view the album |
| Only Me | Only you can view the album – fully private |
| Custom | Pick specific people who can view the private album |
Individual Photo Privacy
You can set privacy for each photo within an album separately from the album privacy. Options include:
- Public
- Friends
- Specific friend lists
- Only me
- Custom (select individuals)
General Privacy Settings
Control overall default privacy for your profile, posts, friend list, contacts, and more:
- Your Activity Privacy
- Limit Past Posts
- Profile viewing audience
- Who can find you
- Who can send you friend requests
Adjust these to change privacy defaults, but album and photo privacy will override them when stricter.
FAQs
Can I hide my Facebook albums from certain people?
Yes, when you make an album private, you can selectively exclude certain people from viewing it. Just edit the album, set privacy to “Custom” and do not include the names of people you want to hide it from.
Do private albums also hide the cover photo?
Yes, when an album is marked private, it hides the entire album including the cover photo from anyone who cannot access it.
Can I make only some of my albums private?
Absolutely. You can keep some public albums and other albums set to private on the same Facebook profile. The privacy settings are controlled per album.
What happens if I share a private album on someone else’s Timeline?
The album will remain private. Only people you’ve given access permission will be able to view it, even if you share or post it elsewhere.
Do private albums also get hidden from search engines?
Yes. Private albums will not show up in public search engine results or Facebook searches to users who cannot access the album.
Can I set privacy retroactively for old albums?
You can update the privacy settings for existing albums at any time. Just go to the album options and edit the privacy setting.
Summary
Keeping your Facebook photos and albums private is easy with the available privacy tools:
- Set album privacy to Only Me or pick Custom individuals
- Customize individual photo privacy as needed
- Add or remove access for specific people
- Use general privacy settings for overall defaults
Using these options, you have full control over who can view and access your Facebook albums. You can keep personal photos secure while still sharing public albums openly.