Facebook allows you to control the privacy settings for your posts and limit which friends can see them. There are a few different ways to hide your posts from specific friends on Facebook.
Adjust Post Privacy Settings
The easiest way to hide posts from a friend is to adjust the privacy settings each time you make a post. When creating a post, click on the audience selector below the post text box. Here you can choose whether you want the post to be public, seen by all friends, friends except acquaintances, a custom list of friends, or only you.
To hide a post from one or more friends, choose ‘Custom’ and then uncheck the friends you want to hide it from. Those friends will not be able to see that particular post in their feed. You will have to adjust these settings each time you make a post you want to hide.
Pros:
- Lets you easily hide posts from specific friends
- Full control over who sees each individual post
Cons:
- Need to adjust settings every time you post
- Time consuming if hiding posts from the same friends frequently
Restrict Visibility with Lists
A better option if you want to consistently hide posts from the same friends is to create a ‘Restricted’ list. Here’s how:
- Go to your Friends page
- Click ‘Create List’ at the top
- Title it something like ‘Restricted’
- Choose which friends you want to add to this list
- Click ‘Create List’
Now when you go to make a new post, choose ‘Custom’ for the audience and select ‘Restricted’ from the list of friends. This will prevent the friends you added to that list from seeing the post.
Pros:
- Lets you consistently hide posts from the same group of friends
- Saves time compared to adjusting settings for each post
Cons:
- Still need to manually choose the audience each time you post
- All friends on the list will be hidden even if you only want to hide from one
Change Default Post Audience
For the most hands-off approach, you can change your default post audience. This will automatically hide posts from certain friends without you having to do anything.
Go to your Facebook settings and click ‘Privacy’. From here choose ‘Edit’ next to ‘Who can see your future posts?’. Change the default audience to ‘Friends except’ and select the friends you want to hide posts from.
Now anytime you make a post without specifically choosing the audience, those selected friends will not be able to see it.
Pros:
- Automatically hides posts from chosen friends
- Very little effort required after initial setup
Cons:
- All future posts will be hidden, even ones you may want certain friends to see
- Need to remember to choose specific audiences if you want a post to be visible to hidden friends
Unfollow or Unfriend
If you are looking to permanently hide all your posts from a friend, you can either unfollow or unfriend them:
- Unfollow – They will no longer see your posts, but will remain friends and can still message you.
- Unfriend – Completely removes the connection on Facebook and hides all posts, messages, etc.
Go to your friend’s profile page and click ‘Following’ to unfollow them. To unfriend, go to their page and select ‘Unfriend’ next to their name.
Pros:
- Simple and permanent solution
- Hides all current and future posts
Cons:
- Very blunt approach – they won’t see any of your posts at all
- Could damage real-world relationships
Block a Friend
Blocking is the most extreme option – it prevents them from seeing your profile or posts and also stops them from contacting you on Facebook.
To block someone, go to their profile and click on the three dots in the top right. Choose ‘Block’ and confirm.
Pros:
- Totally hides your profile and stops all communication
- Great for blocking abusive/spam accounts
Cons:
- Very severe – should only use it for toxic friends/strangers
- The friend will know they have been blocked
Conclusion
Here are the key takeaways for hiding Facebook friends from seeing your posts:
- Adjust post privacy settings to hide individual posts
- Create a Restricted list to consistently hide posts from the same group
- Change your default privacy settings to always hide from certain friends
- Unfollow or unfriend if you want to permanently hide all posts
- Only block as a last resort for abusive/toxic connections
Choosing the right option will depend on how many friends you want to hide from, how often you need to hide posts, and how severe you want the privacy restrictions to be. Using lists or custom settings gives you more flexibility to hide only certain posts when needed. But for heavy privacy, unfollowing, unfriending or blocking may be the best way to prevent friends from seeing any of your Facebook activity at all.