There are a few possible reasons why the share option may not be showing in your Facebook group:
The group settings don’t allow sharing
The most likely reason that the Share option is not appearing is that the group settings have sharing disabled. As the admin of a group, you can control whether members can share the group and individual posts.
To check if this is the cause:
- Go to your group
- Click Settings at the top
- Go to the Share section
- Make sure “Allow members to share this group” is ON
- Also check that “Allow members to share individual posts” is ON
Enabling both of these settings will allow the Share link to appear on your group and posts.
The post privacy settings don’t allow sharing
If sharing is enabled for the overall group, you also need to make sure sharing is allowed for each individual post.
When writing a new post in your group, there is a Privacy dropdown. This controls who can see the post and whether it can be shared.
To enable sharing for a post:
- Choose “Public” or “Friends” in the privacy dropdown while writing the post
- Do not choose “Group members only” as this will prevent the post from being shared
Setting post privacy to Public or Friends will allow the Share link to appear.
Technical issues
In some cases, the Share link may fail to show up due to a technical glitch or bug in Facebook.
Some things to try in this case:
- Force refresh the page
- Try sharing from a different device
- Log out and log back into Facebook
Restarting the app or trying another browser can also help fix any temporary technical issues.
The viewer is not a member of the group
Keep in mind that the Share option will only appear for members who are joined to the group.
If someone is viewing the group as a non-member, they will not see the Share link on posts.
So if you are trying to share content from your group with non-members, the share link will not be visible to them.
Conclusion
To recap, the main reasons the Facebook group share option may not appear are:
- Group sharing is disabled in the settings
- Post privacy is limited to “Group members only”
- Technical issues or bugs
- The viewer is not a joined member of the group
Double checking the group and post sharing permissions is usually the key to getting the Share link to appear.
Enabling sharing access for both the overall group and for individual posts should allow the share functionality to work correctly in most cases.
Further troubleshooting tips
Here are some additional things you can try if the share link still isn’t appearing for your Facebook group:
- Try sharing from the Facebook mobile app and Facebook website to see if one platform works over the other
- Clear your browser cookies and cache in case of a caching issue
- Temporarily switch your group type from private to public and back again
- Remove any custom group CSS that could be hiding interface elements
- Make sure you’re on the latest version of Facebook and your browser is up-to-date
- Reload and restart your browser and the Facebook app multiple times
If you still can’t get the share button to appear after troubleshooting, report the issue directly to Facebook support for further help.
Why is sharing important for Facebook groups?
Allowing members to share your Facebook group and posts has several benefits:
- Increased exposure – Sharing helps new users discover your group and join it more easily.
- Viral growth – When members share your content to their own feeds, it can go viral and attract new members.
- Better engagement – Easy sharing drives more reactions, comments and discussion of your posts.
- Higher reach – Posts shared outside your group can reach non-members too.
- More sign-ups – New users can see what they’re missing out on and join your group.
Overall, enabling sharing makes it easier for content to spread from your group, resulting in faster growth and better engagement. Leveraging Facebook’s native sharing tools is key to successfully promoting any group.
Facebook group sharing etiquette
When members share content from your Facebook group, encourage them to follow some basic etiquette:
- Add value for others by only sharing useful, relevant posts.
- Credit the original poster, and link back to the source.
- Seek permission before sharing private or sensitive discussions.
- Comment on the shared post to keep context.
- Align sharing with the group rules and privacy settings.
Proper sharing etiquette keeps your group conversations in the intended context. As admin, you may want to proactively advise members on what and how to share outside the group.
Alternative ways to share Facebook group content
If the native Facebook sharing isn’t available for your group, here are some alternative sharing methods:
Share as Admin
Admins and moderators can share posts even if sharing is disabled for members. So you can manually share content to your own feed as the admin.
Share via Permalink
Any Facebook post has a permalink that can be copied and shared directly, though this won’t always work if the post privacy is restricted.
Share via Third-Party Apps
Browser extensions like Repost for Facebook make it easy to repost group content elsewhere.
Download and Re-Upload
You can download images/videos from your group and upload them natively to share. This gets around restrictions.
Screenshots
Take screenshots of discussions or images, crop them, and share the screenshots instead.
While not as seamless as native sharing, these methods allow you to manually share content when the built-in tools are unavailable.
In closing…
Sharing is a key growth lever for any Facebook group. Make sure both overall group sharing and individual post sharing are enabled in your settings.
This allows members to easily share content to their own feeds and profiles. Native Facebook sharing tools give your best content wings to reach a wider audience.
When sharing is unavailable due to settings or technical issues, alternative manual sharing methods exist. But ideally, the native options should be enabled to unlock the viral potential of your Facebook group.