There are a few different ways to turn off the share option for your Facebook posts. The share option allows other users to share your post to their own timeline or in a Facebook group. If you want to disable sharing completely, or limit who can share your posts, here are your options:
Disable Public Sharing
The easiest way to turn off public sharing of your posts is to change your default sharing settings. Here’s how:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click on the down arrow in the top right corner.
- Select “Settings & Privacy” then click on “Settings”.
- On the left side menu, click on “Privacy”.
- Under the “How people can find and contact you” section, click on “Who can see your future posts?”.
- Change the setting from “Public” to “Friends” or a more restrictive group like “Only Me”.
This will make all your future posts visible only to the audience you selected. Anyone not in that group will not be able to see or share your posts.
Limit Old Post Sharing
The steps above only affect new posts going forward. To limit sharing of old posts:
- Go to your profile page and click on “Posts” in the left menu.
- For each post you want to limit sharing for, click on the 3 dots in the upper right corner and select “Edit privacy.”
- Change the audience setting from “Public” to “Friends” or your preferred limited group.
This will remove the share option for those posts for anyone not in the selected audience. You’ll need to update each post individually.
Disable Sharing on Individual Posts
You can also turn off sharing on a per-post basis:
- When creating a new post, click on the audience selector below the text box.
- Choose “Friends” or a more limited group rather than “Public”.
- Click on the 3 dots next to the audience selector.
- Toggle off the “Allow others to share” option.
This will prevent anyone from sharing that specific post. You’ll need to repeat these steps for each post you don’t want shared publicly.
Remove the Share Button
If you want to completely remove the Share button from your posts:
- Go to your Facebook settings and click on “Embedded posts” in the left menu.
- Uncheck the box next to “Show Share button on your public posts.”
This will remove the share icon from all your posts, both old and new. People will still be able to share posts via other methods, but you’ve removed the one-click share button.
Disable Public Resharing
If you still want people to be able to share your public posts, but don’t want those shares to be public:
- Go to your Facebook settings.
- Click on “Privacy” in the left menu.
- Under “How people can find and contact you”, click on “Who can see posts you’re tagged in on your timeline?”
- Change the setting to “Friends” or a more restrictive group.
This means any public posts of yours that someone else shares will only be visible to their friends rather than publicly. The original post on your timeline will still be public.
Disable Link Previews
Even if someone can’t share your exact post, they can still share a link to your post. To prevent preview images and text from appearing:
- Go to your Facebook settings.
- Click on “Embedded posts” in the left menu.
- Uncheck the box next to “Allow others to see preview photos and title from links pasted in comments or messages.”
This will show just the plain link text if someone tries to share a link to your post.
Be Selective with Tags
Anyone who is tagged in your post can share it to their own timeline. Be selective about who you tag to prevent broader sharing of your posts.
Use Friends Lists
Create custom friends lists for different levels of privacy. For example, an “acquaintances” group that sees very limited posts versus a “close friends” group that sees everything.
Use Other Privacy Settings
Take advantage of all the privacy settings Facebook provides to limit visibility of your profile, posts, and activity.
Third Party Apps
Apps like Social Privacy can automate or customize privacy settings for your posts and activity.
Manual Review
Periodically review your own profile and posts as visible to the public or different friend lists to ensure you are comfortable with the privacy levels.
Summary
Here are some key takeaways for controlling post sharing on Facebook:
- Change default privacy on posts from Public to Friends or a custom list
- Limit old post visibility and sharing the same way
- Disable sharing on individual posts
- Remove the Share button entirely
- Restrict visibility of reshares
- Disable link preview images and text
- Be selective with tagging people
- Use custom friends lists
- Leverage broader privacy settings
- Use third party privacy apps
- Review regularly
Examples
Here are some examples of how you can customize share access for different scenarios:
| Scenario | Settings |
|---|---|
| Completely disable sharing |
|
| Disable some public sharing |
|
| Keep public but limit viral spread |
|
Troubleshooting
Here are some common problems and solutions for managing post sharing:
- Old posts aren’t updating – Make sure to change visibility of posts individually
- Links are still sharing preview info – Double check that setting is disabled
- Posts are visible to broader audience than expected – Review audience selector settings
- People outside your audience can still share – Disable post sharing as needed
- Change isn’t taking effect immediately – Give Facebook time to update
- Settings seem to revert – Verify changes are saved properly
- Can’t find certain options – Facebook frequently moves settings, check help center
Conclusion
Facebook sharing can be disabled or restricted in many ways through your privacy settings. Find the right balance for your needs between limiting sharing and connecting with your audience. Review settings periodically to ensure they still match your preferences as Facebook makes changes over time.
The key options covered here include:
- Default privacy levels for new posts
- Limiting visibility and sharing of old posts
- Per-post sharing disable
- Removing the Share button
- Controlling visibility of reshares
- Disabling link preview images/text
- Being selective with tagging
- Using friends lists and other privacy settings
- Trying third party privacy apps
- Manual profile and post review
With the right settings for your preferences, you can effectively control how people share your Facebook posts while still using the platform to connect with your audience.