The best way to access privacy shortcuts on Facebook is through the “Settings & Privacy” menu. This menu allows you to control who can see your posts, profile information, and more.
Limit Your Audience
When making a post on Facebook, you can choose who is able to see it by clicking the audience selector below the post box. Here you can limit your post to friends, friends except acquaintances, specific friend lists you’ve created, only you, or customize your audience further.
You can also set a default audience for your posts in your settings so you don’t have to change it every time. Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy and select “Edit” next to “Default Privacy.” Choose your desired default audience here.
Review Tags
When friends tag you in posts or photos, those posts may be visible to audiences you did not intend. To take control of tags, go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Timeline and Tagging and adjust the tagging settings.
You can require you review all tags before they appear on your timeline. You can also limit who is able to tag you and whose posts you are automatically tagged in.
Limit Profile Viewers
By default, anyone can view your public profile on Facebook. To limit who can see your profile:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy
- Click “Edit” next to “Who can see your future posts?”
- Choose “Friends” or customize your audience further
This will prevent search engines from accessing your profile and limit profile views to your selected audience.
Restrict Relationship Status
Your relationship status is public by default. To make it private:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy
- Click “Edit” next to “Who can see your relationship status?”
- Select “Only me” or choose a custom audience
Your relationship status will now only be visible to the audience you selected.
Limit Birthday Visibility
To prevent your birthday from being visible on your profile:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy
- Click “Edit” next to “Who can see your birthday?”
- Select “Only me” or choose a custom audience
With this setting, you can hide your birthday entirely or limit its visibility.
Restrict Old Posts
Over time, you may make posts you no longer want public. You can limit the audience of previous posts in bulk:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy
- Click “Limit The Audience for Old Posts on Your Timeline”
- Choose a new default audience for old posts
This will restrict all posts prior to your selection to the audience you define.
Review App Permissions
The apps you’ve logged into with Facebook may have access to your profile info, posts, friends list, and more. To see which apps can access your data:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Apps and Websites
- Click “Logged in with Facebook” to see your connected apps
- Click “Remove” next to any app you want to revoke access to
Be careful about removing access as it may break app functionality.
Enable Login Notifications
To get notified when your account is accessed from a new device:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Security and Login
- Turn on “Get alerts about unrecognized logins”
This will send you a notification anytime your Facebook account is accessed from an unrecognized device, allowing you to take action if it was unauthorized access.
Use Login Approvals
For extra account security, you can require a special login code be entered when accessing your account from an unrecognized device:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Security and Login
- Click “Use two-factor authentication” and follow the prompts
With this enabled, you’ll enter a login code sent your phone when accessing Facebook from a new device. This prevents unauthorized logins even if someone knows your password.
Check Login History
To view devices and locations your account has been accessed from recently:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Security and Login
- Click “Where You’re Logged In”
This shows you all recent login locations. If you see any you don’t recognize, you can log them out of your account immediately.
Secure Your Account
Using Facebook’s many privacy controls and security options, you can tailor your settings to keep your profile, information, and activity as private as you want. Restrict your audience for posts, limit profile visibility, review app permissions, enable login notifications and approvals, and routinely check your login history to ensure your account stays secure.
Facebook’s settings let you find the right balance of sharing and privacy for your needs. Take advantage of these shortcuts to exercise greater control over who can see and access your Facebook presence.