Changing the story settings on Facebook allows you to control who can see the stories you post. Stories are short photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours. By default, Facebook makes your stories visible to all your friends. However, you can change the story settings to limit the audience.
Who can view my Facebook stories by default?
When you first start posting stories on Facebook, they are visible to all of your friends by default. Anyone who is connected to you as a Facebook friend will be able to view your stories in their feed and in the stories bar at the top of the app. Your Facebook friends will also get notified when you post a new story.
How do I change my Facebook story settings?
You can edit the audience for your Facebook stories by following these steps:
- Go to your profile page and tap the More Options button (the three horizontal dots) in the top right corner.
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- Tap Privacy Shortcuts.
- Under the Audience Selector section, choose Stories.
- Select one of the available options:
- Friends: Only your Facebook friends can see your stories.
- Friends Except: Friends except those you exclude can see your stories.
- Specific Friends: You can select individual friends to view your stories.
- Only Me: Only you can view your stories.
Tap Back in the top left corner when you are done to save your changes.
What are the Facebook stories audience options?
Here are the different options you have for controlling who can see your Facebook stories:
| Audience | Description |
|---|---|
| Friends | All of your Facebook friends can view your stories. |
| Friends Except | Friends except those you exclude can see your stories. |
| Specific Friends | You select individual friends who can view your stories. |
| Only Me | Only you can view your own stories. |
The Friends Except and Specific Friends options allow you to customize your audience more granularly. Friends Except lets you block specific friends from viewing your stories, while still allowing all other friends to see them. Specific Friends allows you to pick particular people to view your stories.
Can I hide my stories from some friends?
Yes, you can hide your Facebook stories from specific friends using the Friends Except or Custom settings:
Friends Except
- Go to your story settings.
- Choose Friends Except.
- Type in the names of friends you want to exclude.
- Tap Done after entering all the friends to block.
This will prevent the friends you excluded from seeing your stories. All your other friends will still be able to view them.
Specific Friends
- Go to your story settings.
- Choose Specific Friends.
- Type in the names of friends you want to view your stories.
- Tap Done after entering all the friends to include.
Only the friends you specifically selected will be able to view your stories. All other friends will not see them.
Can I show my stories to a select group of friends?
Yes, you can show your Facebook stories to a select group of friends only using the Specific Friends setting:
- Go to your story settings.
- Choose Specific Friends.
- Enter the names of the friends you want to view your stories.
- Tap Done after selecting all the friends.
With this setting, only the friends you picked will be able to see your stories. No one else will have access to them.
How do I make my stories visible to all friends again?
If you previously changed your story audience to Friends Except or Specific Friends, you can make your stories visible to all friends again easily:
- Go to your story settings.
- Choose Friends for the audience.
- Tap Back to save.
This will reset your story audience back to all friends. Now anyone who is connected to you as a Facebook friend will be able to view your stories again.
Can I show my stories to friends of friends or the public?
Unfortunately, Facebook does not allow you to share your stories with friends of friends or publicly at this time. The audience options are limited to your own friends list.
You have a few choices for broader sharing:
- You can share story posts to your News Feed, which is visible according to your regular post privacy settings.
- You can download your stories and re-share them on other platforms.
- You can use the Close Friends list to share stories with a broader group than just your friends.
But there is no setting to post stories directly to friends of friends or publicly. Facebook limits story visibility to your own friend connections.
Do my new story settings impact previous stories?
When you change your default story audience, it will only apply to stories posted going forward. It does not affect the visibility settings of existing stories.
For example, if you posted some stories visible to all friends, then changed your default to Friends Except, your old stories would still be visible to all friends. Only new stories would follow the Friends Except setting.
To change the audience on a specific story, tap on it, tap the more button > edit audience. But your new default settings will only apply to stories posted after you made the change.
Can I choose an audience every time I share a story?
Yes, you can choose a specific audience every time you share a Facebook story if you don’t want to use the default setting:
- When creating a new story, tap the audience selector in the bottom left corner.
- Choose one of the options – Friends, Friends Except, Specific Friends.
- Select the audience you want for that particular story.
- Post your story as normal.
Using the audience selector every time allows you full control over who sees each story. But keeping your default audience as Friends or Only Me is an easier option if you prefer more privacy.
Conclusion
Controlling the audience settings for your Facebook stories is important if you want to limit who can view them. By default, stories are visible to all friends but this can easily be changed in your settings.
The Friends Except and Specific Friends options give you granular control over exactly who can access your stories. You can also choose a one-time audience when posting any individual story.
While you can’t share stories publicly, adjusting the settings ensures your stories reach only those friends you are comfortable with seeing them. Facebook gives you the tools to take control of your story privacy.