If you’ve created a private Facebook event and now want to change it to public, you may have found that the option to do so is grayed out or unavailable. There are a few reasons why you can’t change a Facebook event from private to public after it’s been created.
Facebook’s Privacy Settings
The main reason you can’t change a Facebook event from private to public is due to Facebook’s privacy settings. When you create a private event, you are limiting who can see and find the event to only those people you invite or who are members of the host group. This means the event has been created with a specific privacy level in mind.
Facebook does not allow users to change this privacy setting after the fact as a security measure. Imagine you created a private event intended only for close friends or family. If any event creator could later change the privacy to public, your event guests may not have consented to sharing details of that event so broadly.
So once an event is made private, Facebook locks that privacy level. This ensures your guests only signed up for the intended level of privacy.
It Prevents Unwanted Attention
Preventing private events from being made public also serves to prevent unwanted attention. If you could freely change a private event to be public, information that was never meant to be so openly shared could end up spread far beyond the intended audience.
For example, say you created a private birthday event and invited your 50 closest friends. If later made public, thousands of strangers could see event details never meant for such a wide audience. This could bring in RSVPs from random people and clearly wasn’t your intent as the event creator.
It Limits Security Risks
The inability to change a private event to a public one also limits security risks. Hackers or those gaining unauthorized access to an account could not easily share private event info broadly. Facebook’s policy acts as a safeguard against external risks beyond the event creator’s control.
Workarounds to Change Privacy
While you cannot outright change a private Facebook event to public, there are some workarounds to modify privacy settings or levels of exposure.
Create a New Public Event
The simplest workaround is to create an entirely new public event. You can copy details, like date, time, and description, from the original private event. This will allow you to essentially recreate the event with wider privacy settings.
Be sure to message the original guest list to notify them of the new public event, so anyone who should have access can find it. You may wish to delete the old private event once the new public one is set up.
Adjust Individual Privacy
Instead of making the whole event public, you can also adjust privacy on an individual basis. Use the guest list tool to go through invitees. Switch any you want to have broader access from “private” to “public” or “friends of friends.”
This will still keep the event overall private. But it lets you select key individuals who can help spread the word more widely.
Share to Event Page
If your event has an associated Facebook event page, you have more options to share event info despite its private status. You can post details, updates, or reminders on the page for broader exposure.
Just be selective about what specifics you share publicly. Things like date, time, and general subject can be posted. But you may want to keep private guest lists, locations, or other specifics restricted to your private event.
Consider Setting Up Public Events
To avoid this issue in the future, consider setting up events as public from the start. Public events allow anyone to see info, invite friends, and RSVP.
Public events can gain much wider exposure. They show up in Facebook’s event directory and search. And their info can be shared openly by any interested users.
If you want only certain people to attend, you can always restrict RSVPs and individually approve each guest. But leaving the visibility public allows you to maximize publicity of the event details.
Pros of Public Events
- Increased exposure from Facebook searches and algorithms
- Event info can be freely shared to spread the word
- Greater ability to build buzz and hype around the event
- More control over changing privacy settings later if desired
Cons of Public Events
- Event details visible to all of Facebook
- RSVPs can be sent by anyone, requiring more moderation
- Less control over how widely info spreads
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook does not allow private events to be changed to public as a security precaution. Your options are to recreate the event with wider visibility, adjust privacy for individual guests, or share details from a related event page.
Weigh the pros and cons of creating either private or public events upfront based on your goals. This can help avoid the issue of trying to increase exposure for an event after sending private invites.