Facebook allows users to share photos with friends, family and the public. However, you may want to limit who can download or save your photos for privacy reasons. Thankfully, Facebook provides settings to control who can download your photos.
Set Photo Privacy Settings
The easiest way to stop people from downloading your Facebook photos is to adjust your privacy settings. You can choose who can see your photos and more granularly who can download and save them.
To change your Facebook photo privacy settings:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings”.
- Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
- Select “Limit Past Posts” under the “Your Activity” section.
- Click on “Photos”.
This will bring you to your photo privacy settings. You’ll see sections for photos you’re tagged in and other photos. For each section, you can choose:
- Public – Anyone including people off Facebook can download your photos
- Friends – Only your friends can download your photos
- Only Me – Only you can download your photos
- Custom – You can specify who can see or download your photos
I recommend setting your photos to “Friends” or “Only Me” if you want to prevent downloads. The “Custom” option allows you to be more selective if needed.
Review Friend Lists
If you choose “Custom” for your photo privacy settings, you’ll be able to select specific people or lists who can view or download your photos.
Double check that any friend lists you select include only people you’re comfortable with downloading your photos. For example, you may have an “Acquaintances” list that includes people you don’t know very well.
To review your friend lists:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- Click “Friends” in the left sidebar
- Click “More” and select “Lists”
This will show you all of the friend lists you’ve created. Click into each list to see who is in it and remove anyone you don’t want accessing your photos.
Change Visibility for Individual Photos
For more granular control, you can also set the privacy for individual photos you post instead of all your photos. When uploading a new photo, use the audience selector below the photo to choose who can see and download that photo.
You can also change the audience settings for existing photos. Click on a photo and use the audience selector in the bottom left corner to adjust the visibility. Remember to click “Save Changes” at the bottom.
Setting custom audiences for each photo takes more effort but allows you to restrict access on a photo-by-photo basis. This gives you the most control over your Facebook photos.
Turn Off Downloads on Your Page
If you have a Facebook Page for a business, brand, organization or as a public figure you can disable photo downloads completely.
To do this:
- Go to your Facebook Page
- Click “Settings” in the bottom left
- Select “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings”
- Scroll down and turn off “Allow photo downloads”
With downloads disabled, no one will be able download or save photos from your Facebook Page regardless of whether they follow or like your page.
Avoid Posting Sensitive Photos
Keep in mind that anything shared on Facebook can potentially be downloaded or copied by others even if you limit access. The only foolproof way to ensure photos stay private is to not post them online in the first place.
Think carefully before posting photos with identifying information, nudity, or other sensitive subjects. While Facebook does have systems to detect inappropriate photos, nothing is 100% foolproof.
Report Downloaded Photos
If you find your photos being shared or used elsewhere without your permission, you can report this to Facebook.
To report inappropriate use of your photos:
- Click the inverted triangle in the top right of the post
- Select “Report post or photo”
- Choose “I want to report something else”
- Select “Intellectual property violation”
- Choose the option for “Copyright infringement or trademark violation”
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your report
Facebook will review your report and may remove the content if it violates their rules. However, prevention is the most effective way to protect your photos.
Use Copyright Claims
If your photos are being used on other websites without your consent, you can file DMCA copyright complaints to potentially get them removed.
To do this, contact the website’s host and provide:
- Your contact information
- Identification of the copyrighted work being used
- The location of the infringing content
- A statement that you believe this use is not authorized by the copyright owner
- A statement that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner
DMCA complaints are a formal legal process with potential penalties for misrepresentation. But it is an option if your photos are being misused outside of Facebook’s control.
Disable Right-Click on Your Website
If you want to prevent photo downloads on your own website, you can disable right-clicking. This makes it harder for visitors to save your images.
To disable right-click on your website images, use JavaScript:
<script>
document.addEventListener("contextmenu", function(e){
e.preventDefault();
}, false);
</script>
Add this code to your pages to block the right-click menu on all images. Note that this doesn’t make saving impossible but adds friction for casual attempts.
Use Low Resolution Images
Another option is to upload lower resolution versions of your photos online. Pixelated, small images don’t look as good when downloaded or printed.
Use image editing software to reduce the file size and resolution of photos before uploading to Facebook or your website. Just make sure the images still look decent for viewing online.
The lower quality will discourage downloads while letting people still see a version of the photo. But this only works if you don’t also have high-res versions publicly accessible.
Watermark Your Photos
Adding a watermark, your name or copyright logo across your images makes them less desirable to download and share. People can still save watermarked photos but may choose not to since they prominently display your ownership.
Watermark discreetly in a corner or vertically along the side to mark the image while minimizing impact on viewing. Make sure your watermark can’t easily be cropped or edited out.
There are free and paid tools online you can use to easily add watermarks before uploading photos to Facebook or your website.
Conclusion
Preventing photo downloads while sharing them online requires a multi-pronged approach:
- Use Facebook’s privacy settings to limit who can access and download photos
- Be selective in what photos you share publicly
- Disable downloads for Facebook Pages
- Report infringing use to Facebook or file DMCA complaints
- Disable right-click saving on your website
- Use lower resolution images
- Watermark your photos
Following these tips can minimize the likelihood of your photos being downloaded without authorization. But nothing is foolproof short of keeping photos fully private.
Think carefully before sharing photos online and take preventative measures to protect your privacy.