With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. While Facebook can be great for connecting with friends and family, many users have concerns about their privacy on the platform.
Fortunately, Facebook provides robust privacy settings that allow you to control who sees what you post. Here are some tips to make sure your Facebook profile and all your content is as private as possible.
Adjust Post Audience and Visibility Settings
Whenever you make a post on Facebook, you can choose who is able to see it. By default, posts are public, meaning anyone on or off Facebook can see them. Here’s how to adjust your default post audience:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner
- Select “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Privacy”
- Under “How people can find and contact you,” click on “Who can see your future posts?”
- Select your desired default audience, such as “Friends” or “Only Me”
This will make all your future posts private by default to your selected audience. You can always manually change the audience when making individual posts as needed.
You can also limit the visibility of past posts. Just go through your previous posts and use the audience selector to adjust the visibility of each one.
Disable Public Search Listing
Even if your posts are set to friends-only, people can still find and view your profile in public search results on Facebook. To disable this:
- Go to your profile settings
- Click on “Privacy”
- Under “How people can find and contact you,” click on “Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?”
- Select “No One”
This will remove your profile from public search results on Facebook. The only way people can view your profile is if they are connected to you as a friend.
Limit Old Posts and Activity
Over time, you may have posted content on Facebook you no longer want public. Here are some ways to limit visibility of your old posts and activity:
Limit the Audience of Old Posts
As mentioned above, you can manually go through all your previous posts and limit their visibility. This can be tedious if you have years of Facebook history, but is the most thorough way to curate your old content.
Archive Old Posts
Archiving posts keeps them on Facebook, but hides them from your profile and prevents them from showing up in search results. To archive a post:
- Click the three dots in the top right corner of the post
- Select “Archive”
You can also archive posts in bulk:
- From your profile, click on “More” then select “Archive”
- Click on the gear icon and select “Archive Old Posts”
- Choose a date range of posts to archive
Delete Old Posts
Deleting a post permanently removes it from Facebook. Just click the three dots at the top of a post and select “Delete.” You can also delete posts in bulk by selecting “Manage Posts” from your profile and deleting a date range.
Unlike Pages and Interests
The pages and interests you’ve liked on Facebook can reveal sensitive information about you. Unlike them to remove them from your profile:
- Go to your profile and click “Likes” under your bio
- Hover over each like and click the X icon to unlike it
Limit Old Photos and Videos
Just like old posts, you may have photos and videos on Facebook you no longer want public. Here are some ways to manage them:
Delete Old Albums
To delete an entire album of photos or videos:
- Go to your photos
- Click “Albums”
- Hover over the album you want to delete
- Click the three dots then select “Delete”
Archive Old Photos
Archiving photos hides them from your profile without deleting them. To archive a single photo:
- Click the three dots in the top right corner of the photo
- Select “Archive”
To archive photos in bulk:
- From your photos, click “More Options” then “Manage Storage”
- Select “Archive Photos”
- Choose a date range of photos to archive
Limit Photo Audience and Visibility
When uploading new photos, set the audience to “Only Me” or “Custom” and limit it to only certain friends or lists. You can also go through your old albums and limit the visibility of each photo as needed.
Adjust News Feed and Profile Privacy
In addition to posts, photos and videos, you can also control what information is visible on your profile and news feed. Here are some key settings to adjust:
Restrict News Feed Access
By default, anyone can view your news feed posts if they visit your profile. To restrict this:
- Go to your profile settings
- Click on “Privacy”
- Under “Who can see what others post on your profile?” select “Only Me”
This will prevent your news feed posts from being seen by anyone else.
Limit Profile Information Visibility
You can control who can view each section of your public profile such as bio, featured photos and friends list. For each section you want to limit, go to your profile settings, click on the specific section, and restrict the audience. For the strictest privacy, set all sections to “Only Me.”
Remove Follower List
By default, anyone can see who follows your profile. To remove this:
- Go to your profile settings
- Click on “Followers”
- Toggle off “Show list of followers on my profile”
This will prevent people from browsing your followers.
Limit Ad Targeting and Data Collection
Facebook collects data about you to target ads and make recommendations. Here are some ways to limit this data collection:
Opt Out of Targeted Ads
You can instruct Facebook not to use your profile information to show you targeted ads:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Ads”
- Toggle off “Ads based on data from partners”
- Toggle off “Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere”
This will make your ads more generic instead of targeted.
Disable Facial Recognition
Facebook uses facial recognition to identify people in photos. To turn this off:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Face Recognition”
- Toggle off “Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos?”
Delete Facial Recognition Template
Even with facial recognition off, Facebook stores a template of your facial features. To delete this template:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Face Recognition”
- Click on “Delete Face Recognition Template”
Restrict App Access to Your Data
Many apps and websites connect with Facebook to access your profile information. Here are some tips to limit app access:
Remove Unused Apps
Delete any apps you no longer use that are connected to Facebook:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Apps and Websites”
- Click “Logged in with Facebook”
- Click the “X” icon next to each app to remove it
Tighten App Permissions
Review the permissions of your active apps and revoke any unnecessary access. For example, most apps should not need access to your religious or political views.
Disable Platform API Access
Many websites and apps use Facebook Platform to access your data. You can disable this API access completely:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Apps and Websites”
- Toggle off “Apps, Websites and Games”
This will prevent any app or website from accessing your Facebook information using the Graph API.
Bolster Login and Account Security
Here are some tips to keep your Facebook account secure from unauthorized access:
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your account by requiring a code from your phone whenever you log in. To enable it:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Security and Login”
- Click “Use two-factor authentication” and follow the prompts
Use Strong and Unique Passwords
Always use randomly generated, lengthy passwords for Facebook that are unique from your other accounts. Password manager apps can help you generate and store secure passwords.
Review Login Notifications
Facebook sends you notifications whenever your account is accessed from a new device. Review these periodically and look out for any unauthorized logins.
Check Active Sessions
You can see all the browsers and devices currently logged into your account and log them out if needed:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Security and Login”
- Under “Where you’re logged in,” review and log out any suspicious sessions
Conclusion
Facebook provides many granular settings to keep your information private – but the platform defaults to sharing as much data as possible publicly. Take the time to carefully adjust your privacy settings, review your old content, and limit app access to stay in control of your information.
Some key privacy best practices on Facebook include:
- Limiting the default audience of new posts
- Archiving or deleting old content
- Restricting access to your news feed, profile info and followers list
- Opting out of targeted ads and facial recognition
- Enabling two-factor authentication
- Using strong passwords and reviewing login notifications
While Facebook will likely continue exposing public data for business purposes, you can take back control of your privacy with the right settings. Empower yourself to shape your presence on the platform.