With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become one of the largest and most widely used social media platforms. While Facebook can help you stay connected with friends and family, share photos, and find out what’s happening around the world, many users want more control over their privacy on the platform.
If you want to limit who can find and view your Facebook profile, there are several steps you can take to make yourself essentially unsearchable on Facebook. Here are some tips on how to make your Facebook profile harder to find.
Adjust Privacy Settings
The first step is adjusting your general Facebook privacy settings. Facebook has settings that control who can see your posts, your friends list, whether you show up in search engines, and more. To edit your privacy settings:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Go to “Settings” and click on “Privacy”
- Under “Privacy Settings and Tools,” click on “Privacy Checkup” to review all your settings
- Go through each section (Who can see your posts, Who can contact you, etc.) and adjust the settings. For maximum privacy, change the settings to “Friends” instead of “Public.”
This will make all your information visible only to your friends by default. You can tweak the settings as needed, but setting everything to “Friends” greatly limits who can find and access your profile and posts.
Limit Past Posts Visibility
Anything you’ve shared on Facebook in the past is still visible even if you update your privacy settings. To limit visibility of old posts and photos:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click on “More” below your cover photo
- Select “View As…” to see what your profile looks like to the public or non-friends
- Go through any old posts or photos you want to limit access to and click on the audience selector (the globe icon).
- Change the audience to “Friends” or use the “Limit Old Posts” function to change visibility of everything at once.
This ensures your past Facebook activity is visible only to people you’re connected with if they search for your profile.
Remove Yourself from Search Engines
To prevent people from finding your Facebook profile via search engines like Google:
- Go to “Settings” and click on “Privacy”
- Select “How people can find and contact you”
- Under “Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?”, select “No One”
- Under “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?”, select “No”
This will remove your profile from appearing in search engine results. However, it’s important to note this only prevents search engines from indexing your profile. Your profile could still show up in other Facebook search results like friends lists or group member lists for example.
Use a Pseudonym
Using a fake name or pseudonym on your Facebook profile makes you much harder to find. To add a pseudonym:
- Go to your profile and click “Update Info”
- Enter your preferred pseudonym into the name fields
- Facebook requires you to confirm your identity with a piece of ID, so you’ll have to submit something to prove the name
- Once approved, your profile name will be changed (but your personal URL and username will remain)
This essentially hides your real identity. Just be aware that using a fake name violates Facebook’s policies. There’s a chance your account could be suspended if caught, especially if multiple people report you.
Remove Your Profile and Start Fresh
If you want to wipe the slate completely clean, you can delete your existing Facebook profile and start fresh with much tighter privacy settings right from the start.
To delete your profile:
- Click on the arrow in the top right and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Go to “Settings” and click on “Your Facebook Information” in the left menu
- Select “Deactivation and Deletion”
- Choose “Permanently Delete Account”
Once your account is deleted, all your information, posts, photos, etc will be removed. You can then create a new account with privacy in mind from the start.
How to Create a Private, Unsearchable Facebook Profile
If you’re creating a new Facebook profile you want to be unsearchable, here are some tips:
- Sign up with an email just for Facebook so it can’t be traced back to you
- Do not fill out any profile information beyond the minimum required
- Do not add a profile picture of yourself
- Use your pseudonym for the name
- Choose the most private privacy settings: set everything to “Friends only,” remove yourself from search engine indexing, etc.
- Only friend people you know very closely and trust
- Consider not adding work information or your real city/town
- Be very selective about posting any personal information or photos of yourself
Using these steps when setting up your profile will help minimize your digital footprint on Facebook and make you much harder to find or identify.
Use Tools to Check Your Privacy Settings
Facebook privacy settings can get complex. Here are some tools that can help confirm what information is actually visible based on your current privacy configuration:
View As
Facebook’s “View As” tool allows you to see what your profile looks like to the public or non-friends. This is a quick way to check if your posts, photos, information, etc. are visible to people who aren’t your friends.
Profile Privacy Checker
Third party tools like Privacy Bee scan your profile and give you a full report on what information is visible based on your privacy settings. This can help identify any vulnerabilities you may have missed.
Google Yourself
Search for yourself on Google to see what information comes up connected to your name. Try searches like “[Your Name] Facebook” to see if your profile appears. You can also search your phone number or email address.
Use the “Incognito” or “Private” mode in your browser so your search history doesn’t affect the results.
Other Privacy Tips
Here are some other tips to improve your privacy on Facebook beyond just being unsearchable:
- Look through your list of Facebook friends and prune people you don’t know well or trust.
- Go through your list of Facebook groups and leave any you don’t need to be a member of.
- Turn off Facebook face recognition in your settings.
- Don’t use your personal email or phone number for your Facebook account.
- Put limits on third-party app access to your profile.
- Turn off location services and location history.
- Browse Facebook in an incognito/private window.
Every little bit helps limit your digital footprint and protect your privacy!
Risks of Making Yourself Unsearchable
While minimizing your presence on Facebook can improve privacy, there are some downsides to be aware of:
- Using fake information violates Facebook’s terms and could get your account disabled.
- Friends may have a hard time finding you if they don’t have your contact information.
- Removing yourself from search results means it’s harder to find accounts impersonating you.
- You’ll miss out on people from your past trying to connect on Facebook.
- Strict privacy settings can isolate you and reduce your access to news/information.
It’s a tradeoff, so be thoughtful about what information you feel comfortable giving up access to versus keeping private.
Conclusion
Making yourself completely unsearchable on Facebook takes effort, but is possible if you’re vigilant about adjusting your privacy settings, removing yourself from search indexes, using a pseudonym, deleting old posts, and limiting personal information tied to your account.
Total privacy online is difficult to achieve, and you may have to sacrifice some functionality and connectivity. But with careful tweaking of your settings, reviewing your information, and using available privacy tools, you can minimize your exposure and remain essentially invisible to the average Facebook search.