Having control over who sees what you post on Facebook is important for many users. The platform offers various privacy settings and options that enable users to restrict certain content to only people they are comfortable sharing with.
One common question that comes up is whether restricted friends on Facebook can see your stories. Stories on Facebook refer to the ephemeral photo and video posts that disappear after 24 hours. They can be viewed by tapping on a user’s profile photo.
Can Restricted Friends See My Facebook Stories?
The short answer is no – restricted friends on Facebook cannot see your stories. When you add someone to your Restricted list on Facebook, they will no longer be able to see any of your stories.
Here are some key points on restricted friends and Facebook stories:
- Restricted friends can only see your public posts and information on your profile.
- They will not have access to any posts you share with friends, close friends, or only me.
- This includes text posts, photos, videos, check-ins, and of course – stories.
- So if you have restricted someone, they will not be able to view any story you share.
- They will also not receive notifications about your stories.
- You can post stories freely without worrying about restricted people seeing them.
Do keep in mind that restricting someone only prevents them from seeing your posts in their News Feed. It does not block communication.
How Do I Restrict Someone on Facebook?
Restricting a friend on Facebook is easy to do through the desktop site or mobile app with just a few steps:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click “Friends” on desktop, or “Friends” tab on mobile.
- Click on the friend you want to restrict. Select “Edit Friendship” on desktop or “Edit Friends” on mobile.
- Choose “Restrict” option to add this friend to your Restricted list.
- Confirm by clicking “Confirm” or “Restrict Friend”.
Once you restrict someone, they will no longer see your stories or other posts set to friends/close friends. You can reverse this any time by removing them from your Restricted list.
What Happens When You Restrict Someone on Facebook?
Here are some key effects of restricting a friend on Facebook:
- They will no longer see your stories or posts shared with friends/close friends.
- You will remain friends on Facebook and can still message each other.
- They will not get notifications about your activities and posts.
- Your public content, profile info and cover photo will still be visible to them.
- You will stop seeing their posts in your News Feed.
- Any future posts you share will automatically exclude restricted friends.
Essentially, restricting cuts off their access to your private content without removing the friendship connection. Use this if you want to limit what someone sees without blocking them entirely.
Why Would You Restrict Someone on Facebook?
There are a few common reasons you may want to restrict someone on Facebook:
- Limit an acquaintance, coworker or distant family member from seeing certain posts.
- Prevent an ex-partner or friend from viewing your activities and stories.
- Stop seeing content from a friend without unfriending them.
- Protect your privacy but still stay Facebook friends.
Restricting can help you customize and limit what specific people can access. It gives you more control over your privacy.
Can Restricted Friends Post on Your Timeline?
No, restricted friends cannot post any content on your Facebook timeline. When you restrict someone, here is what happens with regards to your timeline:
- They cannot post or comment on your public timeline.
- Any existing posts or comments from them will remain on your timeline.
- But they cannot add anything new to your timeline.
- Their tags/mentions will not appear on your timeline either.
So you don’t have to worry about a restricted person posting anything new directly on your profile. But their existing posts/comments will stay unless you delete them.
Can You See Posts of Restricted Friends?
When you restrict someone, their posts and stories will no longer show up in your News Feed so you don’t see their updates. Here are the key points on viewing posts of restricted friends:
- You cannot see their posts in your News Feed and recent activity.
- Their name won’t appear in your list of friends either.
- But you can still manually visit their profile and view posts.
- Their public posts will be visible this way if you go to their page.
- Stories and friends-only posts will still not show up.
So while restricting someone removes their posts from your feed, you can still view their public content by directly checking their profile. But their private stories and posts shared with friends will remain hidden from you.
Can You Message a Restricted Friend?
Yes, you can still message and chat with restricted friends on Facebook. Here is what you need to know:
- You stay Facebook friends so you can send messages.
- You can message them directly or start a group chat.
- They can also message you first if they want.
- Your existing message history and threads will stay intact.
- You will just not see their posts in your main News Feed.
Restricting is designed to limit post visibility – not block communication. So you and the restricted friend can exchange messages normally as with any other Facebook friend.
Can You Tag a Restricted Friend?
Tagging someone links their account to your post or picture. When you restrict a friend, here is what happens with tagging abilities:
- You cannot tag them in a friends-only post that they cannot view.
- But you can tag them in a public post visible to them.
- They can tag you in posts you share publicly.
- Your approval is required for tags in posts not visible to them.
- Tag notifications and mentions will be blocked between you.
So tagging is limited based on the privacy of the post. Public tags are allowed, while tags in non-visible posts will fail or require your approval before showing.
Can Mutual Friends See Your Restricted Posts?
Having mutual/common friends with a restricted person does not affect their access to your non-public posts. Here are the key points:
- Friends you have in common will still see your restricted posts.
- They can see it regardless of being friends with the restricted person.
- Your stories, posts, pics and videos will show normally in their feeds.
- Mutual friends have independent access not affected by restrictions.
Restrictions are person-specific. Your connections with mutual friends will not be impacted or altered at all. You don’t have to worry about your privacy with them.
Can You Limit Old Posts Visibility?
Restricting new posts is easy, but what about existing and old content? Can you limit a restricted friend from seeing old posts and pics? Here are the options:
- Go to each old post and edit visibility to exclude restricted person.
- Or, delete/hide old posts so they can’t access them.
- Change past featured/profile photos that you don’t want them seeing.
- View your profile as restricted friend to check their view.
While restricting will prevent them seeing new stuff you post, existing content has to be changed post-by-post. This allows you to take full control over past posts a restricted person can see.
Can Restricted Friends See Your Posts After Removing Them?
If you later remove someone from your Restricted list, here is what happens:
- They can now see newly added stories, posts, pics and videos.
- Your new content will again show up in their News Feed.
- But they still have limited access to your past restricted posts.
- Only public posts and content shared with them is visible.
- Stuff posted as friends-only while restricted will remain hidden.
So removing restrictions lets them see your latest stuff but not those shared while restricted. You still have control over content not intended for them even if you unrestrict them.
Conclusion
Restricting someone on Facebook provides more options than just unfriending or blocking them fully. It limits their access to your private content and stories only intended for close friends and family. Restricted friends cannot view your stories, timeline posts shared with friends, recent activity, tags or get notifications. But public content and messaging abilities stay open.
Restrictions give you precision control over privacy. Old and new posts can be independently managed to protect your comfort. Overall, it lets you determine exactly what parts a problematic or distant Facebook friend can or cannot see on your profile.
| Restricted Friends Can | Restricted Friends Cannot |
|---|---|
| See your public posts | See your stories |
| See your info and cover photo | See posts shared with friends |
| Message and chat with you | See your recent activity |
| Tag you in public posts | Post on your timeline |
| Send you friend requests | Get your notifications and updates |
Key Takeaways
- Restricted friends on Facebook cannot view your stories.
- They also cannot see posts shared only with friends or close friends.
- Restricting removes their access to your News Feed and updates.
- But public content, chat and messaging still work normally.
- It does not affect your common friends who can still see restricted posts.
Using Facebook’s restrict feature is an effective way to limit someone’s access to your private content. It gives you granular control over what they can and cannot see.
You can go to any friend’s profile and choose “Restrict” to add them to your restricted list. Do this to stop them from viewing your stories, timeline posts and activities meant for closer friends. This prevents them interacting with your non-public Facebook content without blocking them entirely.
Restricting also removes their posts from your own News Feed which cuts down the presence of unwanted content. But communication channels remain open so you can still interact or chat as needed.
Overall, restricting provides a balanced approach between completely unfriending or blocking someone and keeping a fully public friendship. It enables you to customize precisely what parts of your Facebook profile you are comfortable with them accessing. So restricting friends allows you to focus on other meaningful connections without completely losing touch.
Using Facebook’s privacy settings gives you command over your information. Restricting is one way to limit specific people. You can also set all posts to friends/close friends only by default. Or, go directly to your story settings to restrict it to close friends or favorite people for even more control. This ensures you put out content and updates only for those you truly want seeing it.
Facebook’s audience selectors and restrict tool together help protect your privacy. Use them to choose exactly who gets access to your personal stories and timeline activities.