Facebook allows users to create collections of posts and highlight them as “featured” on their profile. This is a great way to showcase your best content. However, you may want to make your featured collection private at some point. Unfortunately, Facebook does not have a built-in option to privately share featured collections. But there are a few workarounds you can use.
Why Would You Want to Private a Featured Collection?
Here are some common reasons you may want to private a featured collection on Facebook:
- You want to temporarily remove the collection from public view
- You want to limit viewership to only certain friends or groups
- The collection contains personal content you no longer wish to share publicly
- You are taking a social media break but don’t want to lose the collection entirely
Making your featured collection private allows you to maintain the collection while restricting who can view it. This gives you more control over your content.
Can You Actually Private a Featured Collection?
Unfortunately, Facebook does not have a built-in option to private or hide your featured collection. The “featured” section on your profile remains public. But there are a couple of workarounds you can use to essentially private the collection:
Temporarily Feature Something Else
The easiest option is to temporarily feature some other public content on your profile. Here’s how:
- Create a new public post or set of posts you are comfortable featuring publicly.
- Go to your profile and click “Featured” in the top section.
- Click the pencil icon to edit your featured section.
- Select the new public post(s) you want to feature instead.
- Click “Show Featured” to save your changes.
This will essentially remove your original featured collection from public view. You can always switch it back later. Just remember to keep featuring some type of public content.
Adjust Post Privacy Settings
Another option is to adjust the privacy settings on the individual posts in your collection one by one. Here’s how:
- Go to your featured collection and click the three dots in the top right corner.
- Select “Edit Collection.”
- Click the three dots on each post and choose “Edit Post Privacy.”
- Adjust the privacy setting to “Friends” or a custom audience.
- Click “Close” and repeat for each post in your collection.
This will make the entire collection only visible to the audience you selected. You can then adjust the settings back to public later.
Other Ways to Private Collections
In addition to featured collections, here are a couple other ways to private collections of content on Facebook:
Create a List
Facebook Lists allow you to curate and organize posts on various topics. To private a list:
- Go to the Lists section of your profile and click “Create New List.”
- Give your list a name and description.
- Under privacy, choose “Only Me” or select a custom audience.
- Start adding posts you want to include.
- When finished, click “Create.”
Your list will now only be visible to the audience you selected.
Use a Group
If the collection is related, you can create a new Facebook group and share your posts there instead of publicly on your profile. Steps:
- Go to Groups and click “Create New Group.”
- Name your group, add members, and adjust privacy settings.
- Post your collection content directly to the group feed.
Everything within a closed or secret group is only visible to members. This essentially privatizes your collection.
Should You Delete a Private Collection?
Rather than try to private a featured collection, you may consider deleting it entirely. Here are a few pros and cons to weigh:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Removes collection completely from public view | You lose the collection and will have to rebuild it if you want it again later |
| Can help maintain privacy and protect personal content | Can be time consuming if collection is large |
| Allows you to start fresh with new collections | Some content may have sentimental value even if you don’t want it public anymore |
In general, deleting should only be done if you are comfortable permanently removing the collection from your profile. Private your collection if you think you may want to restore public access later on.
Steps to Delete a Featured Collection
If you decide to delete your featured collection, here is how to remove it:
- Go to your profile and click “Featured” in the top section.
- Click the pencil icon to edit your featured section.
- Hover over the collection thumbnail and click “X” to delete.
- Click “Show Featured” to save your changes.
The collection will immediately be removed from your featured section. However, this does not delete the posts. To permanently delete all traces of the collection:
- Go to your profile and click the three dots in the top right.
- Select “Activity Log.”
- Use the filters and search to find each post from your old collection.
- Click the three dots on each post and select “Delete.”
This will remove the posts entirely from Facebook. Double check that each one is gone by searching your profile and activity log.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, Facebook does not allow users to directly private featured collections. The closest options are to temporarily feature other content, adjust post privacy settings, or delete the collection entirely. Using Facebook Lists or Groups can also allow you to private and organize content related to your collection.
In general, try to keep your featured section filled with content you are comfortable being public. Use other Facebook tools like custom friend lists and groups if you want to share more private content with specific people. This will help balance your public profile and personal privacy.