A cover photo update appearing in your Facebook news feed can be annoying, especially if it’s a photo you don’t want others seeing. Thankfully, Facebook provides a way to remove and hide cover photo updates from your news feed. Here are some quick answers on how to do this:
Use the News Feed Preferences
The easiest way is to use your News Feed Preferences to hide updates from a specific person. Just go to the News Feed Preferences page and find the person whose updates you want to hide. Hover over their name and click “Unfollow.” This will remove all of their updates from your news feed, including any new cover photos.
Hide Specific Updates
You can also hide a specific cover photo update from your news feed. Find the update you want to hide and click the dropdown arrow in the top right corner. Select “Hide post” and confirm. This will remove this specific update from your news feed. The person’s future posts will still show up unless you unfollow them entirely.
Adjust News Feed Settings
In your News Feed Preferences, there are also options to prioritize who you see first or to favor friends over pages. Adjusting these settings can help reduce the number of cover photo updates from pages and people you don’t interact with as frequently.
Create a Restricted List
You can create a Restricted List of people whose updates you want to see less of. Add the person whose cover photo you want to hide to this list. Their updates will then show up lower in your news feed.
Temporarily Snooze Someone
If you just need a break from someone’s updates for a while, use the Snooze feature. Snooze them for 30 days and their posts won’t show up in your news feed during that time. Their cover photos or other updates won’t bother you until the 30 days are up.
Unfollow Entirely
Of course, fully unfollowing or unfriending the person will remove their cover photos and posts from your feed permanently. Use this option sparingly for people you truly don’t need to stay connected to on Facebook.
Why You Might See Unwanted Cover Photos
Here are some common reasons a cover photo update from someone may show up in your news feed when you don’t want it to:
Your Connection Level
The closer connected you are with someone on Facebook, the more likely you’ll see their updates. For example, a close friend’s posts will be higher priority than an acquaintance from high school. Facebook’s algorithm favors showing you updates from closer connections first.
Their Posting and Sharing Habits
Some people frequently post updates, share content, and change cover photos. The more actively someone uses Facebook, the more their updates may appear in your feed.
Your Interactions with Them
If you frequently like, comment on, or otherwise interact with someone’s Facebook posts, their future updates are more likely to show up high in your news feed. Facebook picks up on those habits.
Timing of the Update
A cover photo update is more likely to show up if the person changed it recently, especially within the last 24 hours. The fresher the update, the better chance it has of appearing at the top of your news feed when you log in and scroll.
Relevance to You
Even if it’s someone you rarely interact with, if the cover photo or their post with it mentions you, references something you like or care about, or is location tagged somewhere you go, it’s more likely to show up. Facebook tries to serve relevant updates it thinks you’ll engage with.
Limitations of Controlling News Feed Content
While you have options to hide cover photos or people’s posts, there are some limitations:
You May Still See Some Updates
Even if you unfollow or restrict someone, some of their updates may still show up, especially if posted in a group or page you both interact with. Their comments on mutual friends’ posts may also be visible.
It’s Time Consuming
Manually reviewing all updates from people you want to hide can take a lot of time. It may be easier just to unfollow them completely.
Complaints from Friends
If you unfollow or restrict posts from an actual friend, they may notice you don’t see or interact with their posts anymore and take offense.
Missing Important Updates
By aggressively unfollowing people, you run the risk of missing out on their major life updates, news, or events you may care about or want to know.
Tips for Managing Your News Feed
Here are some best practices to manage a cluttered news feed:
Clean Up Connections
Unfriend or unfollow people you have no interest in staying connected to on Facebook. Don’t just keep accumulating friends.
Review Settings Frequently
Check your news feed settings, restricted list, and snoozed friends every month or two. Tweak as your interests and priorities change.
Sort by Most Recent
Change your default sort to Most Recent instead of Top Stories to avoid missing important updates.
Limit Facebook Time
Set yourself time limits on Facebook, especially if you find yourself constantly bothered by your feed. Only check it a couple times a day.
Reconnect In Person
For actual friends you want to maintain connections with, try meeting up in person or calling them rather than relying only on Facebook interactions.
Conclusion
While you can’t control everything that shows up in your Facebook news feed, you have options to minimize cover photo updates or posts from specific people. Using tools like Restricted Lists, Snooze, Unfollow, and News Feed Preferences can help. But use them judiciously to still maintain awareness of updates from people important to you. With a few adjustments, you can get your news feed looking how you want it.
| Option | How to Do It | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| News Feed Preferences | Go to preferences page and unfollow person | Easy, hides all their updates | Have to repeat for each person you want to unfollow |
| Hide Specific Updates | Click dropdown on post and select “Hide Post” | Lets you pick and choose updates to hide | Time consuming if they post often, new posts will still show up |
| Adjust News Feed Settings | Prioritize who shows up first in your feed | Lets you focus on updates from closer connections | Can’t single out specific individuals to hide this way |
| Restricted List | Add person to your Restricted List | Reduces frequency of their unwanted posts | Doesn’t block them completely |
| Snooze | Snooze person for 30 days | Temporary break from their updates | Updates will reappear after 30 days |
| Unfollow/Unfriend | Unfollow or unfriend person completely | Permanently removes their posts | Very final step, they may take offense |