Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2022. With so many people using Facebook to connect and share photos, a common question that arises is whether Facebook sends notifications when someone saves or downloads your photos.
Does Facebook notify you when someone saves your photos?
The short answer is no, Facebook does not send notifications when someone saves or downloads your photos. When you post photos on Facebook, you are sharing them publicly on your profile. This means that anyone who can view your profile can also save or download your photos to their own device.
There are a few reasons why Facebook does not send notifications when your photos are saved:
- It would be an invasion of privacy – People expect to be able to view and save photos shared publicly on social media. Sending notifications when this happens would be considered invasive.
- It would lead to notification overload – With billions of photos shared on Facebook daily, can you imagine how many “Photo Saved” notifications people would get? It would be excessive and overwhelming.
- Photos are shared publicly – When you post a photo publicly on your profile, you are giving implied consent for others to view and share that photo. Sending a notification goes against the public nature of the platform.
So in summary, while Facebook provides notifications for things like tags, comments, and reactions, the platform stops short of notifying when your public photos are saved or downloaded by others.
Does Facebook notify you if someone takes a screenshot?
Similar to saving photos, Facebook also does not send notifications if someone takes a screenshot of your photos or profile. Some key reasons behind this:
- Screenshots are a basic function – Taking screenshots is a standard feature on smartphones and computers. Sending notifications whenever someone captures a screenshot would not be practical.
- Private messaging is different – Facebook does send notifications if someone takes a screenshot during a private message or Messenger chat. But for public photos and profiles, no notifications are sent.
- Difficult to monitor and enforce – With billions of users, it would be extremely difficult for Facebook to monitor and detect every single screenshot happening across the platform.
So on the public parts of Facebook like your profile and news feed, screenshots can be taken of your photos without you being notified. However, to protect privacy, notifications are sent if screenshots occur in private messaging.
When can you get notifications about your Facebook photos?
While Facebook does not notify when your public photos are saved or screenshotted, there are some cases where you can receive notifications related to your photos on Facebook:
- When you are tagged – If someone tags you in a photo on Facebook, you will get a notification alerting you of the tag. You can then decide whether to approve the tag or untag yourself.
- When your photo is shared – If another Facebook user shares your photo to their own timeline or page, you’ll receive a notification about the share.
- When your photo is reported – If your photo is reported for violating Facebook’s Community Standards, they will notify you of the report and may remove the photo.
- When commented on – You will be notified any time someone comments on a photo you have posted on Facebook.
So in summary, the notifications you’ll get from Facebook revolve mainly around engagement on your photos – like tagging, sharing, reporting and commenting. But the simple acts of viewing, saving and screenshotting your public photos do not trigger notifications.
Best practices for sharing photos on Facebook
Since you are not notified when your public Facebook photos are saved or screenshotted, here are some best practices to keep in mind:
- Be selective about the types of photos you share publicly – Post photos you would be comfortable with anyone re-sharing or saving.
- Avoid posting revealing, nude or intimate photos – These kinds of photos being saved by others can be dangerous.
- Use Facebook’s privacy settings – You can limit who sees certain photos using friend lists or by changing the audience.
- Don’t publicly post photos of others without permission – Get consent first especially from minors.
- Remember photos can be downloaded – Assume any public photo on Facebook could be downloaded and saved by someone.
Following these tips will allow you to share photos more safely and intelligently. While Facebook may not send save or screenshot notifications, being proactive about what and how you post can minimize risks.
Notifying when someone saves photos on Instagram
Similar to Facebook, Instagram also does not notify users when someone screenshots or saves their photos:
- Instagram photos are public by default – Any photo you upload can be seen and saved by others unless your account is private.
- No notification for screenshots – You will not be alerted if someone takes a screenshot of your Instagram photos while browsing the app.
- Can’t prevent saving photos – There is no setting on Instagram to prevent other accounts from being able to save your photos.
The one exception is if someone screenshots or records your Instagram Story. In that case, Instagram will show that the person took a screenshot of your story. But for regular Instagram feed posts, no notifications are sent if your photos are saved or screenshotted by others.
Conclusion
To summarize, neither Facebook nor Instagram currently send notifications when a user saves, downloads or takes a screenshot of your public photos. This is because your photos are considered publicly posted content that others have the right to view and share.
The lack of notifications is also due to the difficulty policing billions of users. Adding save and screenshot notifications would likely be invasive, impractical and tedious.
If you have private photos you want to protect, use each platform’s privacy settings to control visibility. Also be selective in what you share publicly, and avoid posting nude, revealing or intimate photos that could violate your privacy if shared.
While it can feel disconcerting to lack notifications, ultimately you must decide what to post knowing that anything public can be seen, saved and shared by others on social media.
| Platform | Notified when photos are saved? | Notified when screenshotted? |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook (public photos) | No | No |
| Facebook (private messages) | N/A | Yes |
| Instagram (feed photos) | No | No |
| Instagram (Stories) | N/A | Yes |
Key Takeaways
- Facebook and Instagram do not notify users when public photos are saved or screenshotted by others.
- Notifications are sent if photos are tagged, shared, reported or commented on.
- Be selective about sharing revealing or private photos publicly.
- Use privacy settings to control who can see certain photos.
- Remember that anything posted publicly can be viewed and shared by others.