There are a few main reasons why someone may not be able to share your Facebook post:
Your privacy settings
The most common reason is that your privacy settings don’t allow it. When you create a Facebook post, you can choose your audience. The options are:
- Public – anyone can see your post
- Friends – only your friends can see your post
- Friends except… – friends except specific people or lists
- Specific friends – only people you choose can see your post
- Only me – only you can see your post
If you don’t choose the Public setting, then people who aren’t in your selected audience won’t be able to see or share your post. Double check your post’s privacy setting to make sure you’ve allowed Public access.
Your connections’ privacy settings
Even if your post is Public, your friends and followers may have privacy settings that prevent sharing. For example, if a friend’s default sharing is set to “Friends” then Public posts you share won’t be shareable by that friend.
When someone shares a post, it inherits the privacy settings of the original poster. So if your post is Public, but your friend has a default sharing set to Friends, they won’t be able to share your Public post. It will default to Friends only for anyone they share with.
Page restrictions
Facebook Pages have additional restrictions around sharing Public posts. Fans of your Page can see Public posts, but may not be able to share them. That’s because Page posts technically live on the Page itself, not on personal Timelines. So there are limits in place for sharing content off of a Page.
Copyrighted material
Facebook will disable the Share button on posts that contain copyrighted material like movie clips, music, or photos owned by someone else. This is to prevent copyright infringement by limiting the reach of the content.
Disabled sharing
In some cases, the Share button can be completely disabled for a specific post. Page owners can turn off sharing for certain posts if they want to limit or prevent virality.
Banned content
Posts promoting banned or dangerous goods and services will have the Share button disabled. This includes things like guns, recreational drugs, and tobacco products.
Expired posts
Facebook will sometimes remove the Share button on posts that are more than a year old. This is likely in an effort to limit the spread of outdated information.
Technical issues
Less common, but sometimes sharing may fail due to a technical glitch or bug. Issues like Facebook API errors can temporarily cause problems with sharing. Trying again later often resolves it.
Account restrictions
In some cases of violating Facebook’s policies, your account can be restricted from sharing posts, either temporarily or permanently. This could be from spreading misinformation, spamming, or other infractions.
Blocked users
If someone blocks you on Facebook, they won’t be able to see or share your posts. And you won’t be notified that you’re blocked. So that may be why some people aren’t sharing your content.
Location settings
Facebook has location-based settings that can prevent sharing content outside of a viewer’s country or region. If your post has restrictions set to only share in certain locations, that could limit sharing.
Troubleshooting tips
If you want others to share your post but they seem unable to, here are some troubleshooting tips:
- Double check that your post privacy is definitely set to Public
- Ask a friend to try sharing your post – this tests if others can share it
- Make sure location settings don’t limit your audience
- Try sharing an old post – if that doesn’t work, your account may be restricted
- Check Facebook’s system status page for any bugs
- Toggle your post audience between Public and Friends and back again
- Delete and repost the content with Public setting
Ways to allow sharing
If you want to enable sharing on your posts, here are some tips:
- Always share posts Publicly unless you have a specific reason not to
- Avoid copyrighted or trademarked material
- Follow Facebook’s policies and avoid banned content
- Turn off post-specific sharing restrictions
- Ask viewers to share your post with their Public audience
- Invite viewers to share your post as a screenshot or link instead
Reasons for limiting sharing
There are valid reasons you may want to limit or disable sharing on your posts. These include:
- Preventing misinformation from spreading
- Maintaining privacy and intimacy with your core audience
- Avoiding unwanted negative feedback or trolling
- Controlling your brand messaging and reputation
- Reducing noise and clutter for your followers
The benefits of increased reach through sharing have to be balanced with your goals for each post. Both limited and wide sharing have their place based on the content.
Conclusion
Trouble sharing posts on Facebook typically comes down to privacy settings, audience targeting, account restrictions, or intentional limits set by posters. Checking that you’ve allowed Public sharing access and asking viewers to share your post is the best way to enable broader sharing. There are valid reasons to limit sharing, but if your goal is reach, then being aware of the factors that affect post sharing is key.
| Common sharing issues | Solutions |
|---|---|
| Post privacy not Public | Change post privacy to Public |
| Viewer privacy limits sharing | Ask viewers to share with Public |
| Copyrighted material | Use only original content |
| Account restrictions | Abide by Facebook policies |
| Post-specific sharing disabled | Remove share restrictions |
| Technical issues | Check for bugs, try again later |
Understanding how privacy settings, audience targeting, copyright rules, account restrictions, and technical issues can affect post sharing on Facebook gives you the knowledge to troubleshoot problems and increase sharing when desired.