Who can see my posts on Facebook?

Facebook offers users granular control over who can view their posts and profile information. By adjusting your privacy settings, you can limit your posts to friends only, friends of friends, or make them fully public. Here’s a quick overview of how Facebook’s privacy settings determine who sees your posts.

Friends vs. Public Posts

The most basic privacy setting for posts on Facebook is “Friends” vs. “Public.” Friends means that only people you are connected with on Facebook can see the post. Public means anyone, even people without a Facebook account, can see the post.

To set your default privacy for posts:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right corner of any Facebook page.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
4. Under “Privacy,” click “Edit” next to “Who can see your future posts?”
5. Select either “Friends” or “Public.”

You can also set the privacy for an individual post when creating it by clicking the audience selector below the post text box.

Only Me

In addition to Friends and Public, you have the option to show a post only to yourself by selecting “Only me” as the audience.

Friends Except…

For most posts, you probably want all of your friends to see it. But in some cases, you may want to exclude specific friends from viewing a particular post.

To do this:

1. When creating the post, click on the audience selector.
2. Select “Friends” or “Public.”
3. Click on “Edit” next to “Friend list.”
4. Uncheck the boxes next to any friends you want to exclude.
5. Click “Done” and post.

The post will then be visible to all your friends except those you unchecked.

Lists

Facebook lists allow you to group friends together (for example, “Close Friends” or “Family”). You can then share posts so they are visible only to a particular list.

To create a list:

1. Go to your profile page and click “Friends” in the left menu.
2. Click the “Lists” tab at the top.
3. Click the “+” icon to make a new list.
4. Give the list a name and add friends.
5. Click “Create List” when finished.

To post to a list:

1. When creating a post, click the audience selector.
2. Click “Specific friends” and select the list you want to post to.

Close Friends List

Facebook also has a built-in “Close Friends” list you can post to. This allows your closest friends to see posts you don’t want to share widely.

Friends Except Acquaintances

Another option is to share a post with “Friends Except Acquaintances.” As the name suggests, this allows all your friends to see the post except those Facebook has identified as “acquaintances” based on your interactions.

Individual Friends and Groups

For maximum control, you can also customize the audience for each post down to individual friends. When selecting “Specific friends” as the audience, you can pick individual people to include or exclude.

You can also create your own friend groups (like “Family” or “Coworkers”) to post to specific circles.

Who Can See Your Old Posts

The privacy settings outlined above apply to new posts going forward. But what about posts you’ve already made in the past?

You can review and change the privacy setting of your previous posts as well:

1. Go to your profile and click in the “Posts” section.
2. For any post, click the three dots in the upper right corner.
3. Select “Edit post privacy.”
4. Adjust the privacy setting and click “Done.”

Doing this for all old posts can be time consuming. But it’s the only way to change the audience retroactively.

Limit Old Posts Without Reviewing Them

To avoid going through all old posts individually, you can set an “Limit Past Posts” rule:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
2. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
3. Under “Limit the audience for posts you’ve shared with friends of friends or Public?”, click “Limit Old Posts.”
4. Choose a new, more limited audience like “Friends” or “Friends Except…”

This will automatically apply the rule to all your old Public or Friends of Friends posts.

Profile Privacy

In addition to posts, your Facebook profile has its own privacy settings that determine who can see your bio, profile picture, and other personal info. Adjust these settings by going to “Settings & Privacy” > “Privacy.”

Public Profile Info

Even if you limit viewing of your posts, some profile info remains public by default, like your name, profile photo, cover photo, and username. Others can search and find this info even if not your Facebook friend.

Private Profile Info

Info like your bio, location, birthdate, and family relationships can be made fully private so only friends can see it. Go through each option under “Privacy” to customize.

Who Can Contact You

By default, anyone can send you a friend request or message you. You can restrict these options so only friends of friends or only friends can contact you.

To change who can send friend requests:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
2. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
3. Under “Who can send you friend requests?” select an option.

To change who can message you:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
4. Under “Who can send you messages?” select an option.

Searching on Facebook

Even if your posts and profile are limited, people can still find and see your public info through searching on Facebook.

To manage what you can be found by:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
2. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
3. Under “How people find and contact you,” click “Edit” next to “Who can look you up?”
4. Select an option like “Friends” or “Friends of friends.”

This will limit what people see about you in search results if they try looking you up on Facebook.

How You Appear Outside of Facebook

Even if you tighten privacy within Facebook, your name, profile picture, and cover photo can appear in Google results or other places online.

To manage this:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
2. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
3. Under “How people find and contact you,” click “Edit” next to “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?”
4. Choose “No” to opt out of public indexing.

This prevents Google and other search engines from including your Facebook info in results.

Activity Status and Active Status

By default, your Facebook friends can see when you were last active on Facebook and Messenger (green dot by your name) and when you are currently online.

To manage this:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Privacy” in the left menu.
4. Under “How people find and contact you,” click “Edit” next to “Who can see your active status?”
5. Select an option like “Friends” or “No One.”

Location Tracking

Facebook may track your device’s precise location to target ads and features.

To see if location access is enabled and adjust it:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Location” in the left menu.
4. Toggle location services on or off.

Facial Recognition

Facebook may use facial recognition to identify you in photos and videos. You can turn this off.

To manage facial recognition:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Face Recognition” in the left menu.
4. Toggle facial recognition on or off.

Ads Based on Data from Partners

Facebook shows you relevant ads based on activity partners share about you. You can turn this off.

To disable ads based on partner data:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Ads” in the left menu.
4. Toggle “Ads based on data from partners” off.

Ad Topics

Facebook categorizes your interests to show relevant ads. You can see these topics and remove ones you don’t want used.

To manage ad topics:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Ads” in the left menu.
4. Under “Ad Topics,” click “Your Information” to manage topics.

Your Facebook Information

You can download a copy of your Facebook data including posts, photos, interactions, and more.

To access your Facebook data:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Your Facebook Information” in the left menu.
4. Click “View” next to “Download Your Information.”

Deactivating vs. Deleting Account

If you want a break from Facebook, you can deactivate your account temporarily. To permanently delete it, request account deletion.

Deactivate Account

Deactivating pauses your account and hides profile until you reactivate:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Your Facebook Information” in the left menu.
4. Click “Deactivate Account.”

Delete Account

Deleting removes your account permanently:

1. Click the down arrow in the top right.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
3. Click “Your Facebook Information” in the left menu.
4. Click “Delete Account.”

Conclusion

Facebook offers granular settings to control who sees your profile info, posts, location, and more. Take time to go through each option to tailor your privacy preferences. Consider limiting access to posts, profile info, contact options, and search visibility to friends only or friends of friends for better privacy.