Where to find Facebook's privacy settings

Facebook's privacy controls live in one place: the Settings & Privacy menu in the top right corner of your screen. Click the downward arrow next to your profile picture, then select "Settings & Privacy," then "Settings." On mobile, tap the three horizontal lines (the menu icon) at the bottom right, scroll down, and tap "Settings & Privacy," then "Settings."

Once you're in Settings, look for "Privacy" in the left sidebar. This is where you control who sees your posts, who can contact you, and who can find your profile. The settings here apply to your entire account unless you change them post by post.

Key Takeaways

  • Your main privacy controls are in Settings > Privacy, where you set who can see your posts and who can contact you.
  • The "Who can see your posts?" setting controls your default audience — you can override it for individual posts.
  • You can limit who can look you up by name, see your friends list, or send you messages without being your friend.
  • Facebook's default settings tend to share more than most people expect, so reviewing them once takes 10 minutes and catches surprises.
  • Some settings are buried in other menus — blocking, reporting, and data download are not in the Privacy section.

Controlling who sees your posts

The first setting you'll see is "Who can see your posts?" This is your default audience. Your options are Public (anyone on or off Facebook), Friends (only people you've added), or Friends Except (friends minus specific people you exclude). Most people choose Friends unless they post content they want to reach strangers.

This setting applies only to new posts. Old posts keep whatever audience you set when you posted them. If you want to change the audience on past posts all at once, scroll down in the Privacy section and look for "Limit past posts." This button changes all your old posts to Friends only in one action — useful if you've been posting publicly for years and want to tighten things up.

You can also override the default for any single post. When you create a post, click the audience button (it says "Public," "Friends," or whatever you chose) and pick a different audience just for that one. This is useful if you want most posts to be public but occasionally want to share something only with close friends.

Who can contact you and find your profile

Below "Who can see your posts?" you'll find "Who can contact you?" and "Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?" These are separate from post visibility. Someone might not be able to see your posts but could still message you or find your profile by searching your phone number.

For messages, your choices are Everyone or Friends Only. If you choose Everyone, messages from non-friends land in a "Message Requests" folder instead of your main inbox, so you won't miss messages from people you know. For lookups, you can allow everyone, friends only, or friends of friends. Tightening this means strangers can't find you by searching your email or phone number, though they can still find you by name if your profile is public.

Controlling your friends list and tagged photos

Further down the Privacy section, you can control who sees your friends list and who can see photos or videos you're tagged in. The friends list can be set to Public, Friends, or Only Me. Many people choose Only Me so strangers can't see who they know. Tagged photos default to showing to whoever can see the post the photo is in, but you can change this to Friends Only or Only Me if you want to hide tagged content from your public audience.

There's also a setting for "Who can see comments on your posts?" This defaults to Public if your post is public, but you can restrict it to Friends or Only Me. This is useful if you post publicly but want to avoid arguments with strangers in the comments.

Blocking, reporting, and data requests

Privacy settings also include blocking and reporting tools, though they're organized differently. To block someone, go to Settings > Blocking. You can block specific people, apps, or even entire websites from accessing your account. Blocking someone prevents them from seeing your profile, messaging you, or finding you in search.

If you want to download all the data Facebook has collected about you — your posts, messages, photos, and the information they've gathered from your activity — that's in Settings > Your Information > Download Your Information. This can take a few hours to process. You can also request that Facebook delete your account entirely in Settings > Deactivation & Deletion, though there's a difference: deactivation is temporary, deletion is permanent after 30 days.

What Facebook's default settings share

When you first create a Facebook account, the defaults are more open than most people realize. New posts default to Public, your friends list is visible to everyone, and anyone can message you. If you've never changed these settings, your posts are visible to strangers, and people can find you by phone number or email. Spending 10 minutes reviewing these four settings catches most surprises.

Facebook also collects data from your activity on other websites through the Facebook Pixel and other tracking tools. You can't turn this off entirely, but you can limit how Facebook uses it. Go to Settings > Apps & Websites to see which apps and websites have access to your account, and revoke access to any you don't recognize or no longer use.

Privacy settings that apply to specific posts

Beyond your default settings, you can control privacy for individual posts, photos, and stories. When you create a post, the audience button appears right before you hit Share. Click it to choose Public, Friends, Specific Friends, or Only Me for just that post. For photos, you can set the audience the same way, or you can go back and edit the audience of old photos by clicking the audience button on the photo itself.

Stories work differently — they disappear after 24 hours by default. You can set who sees your story (Public, Friends, or Specific Friends) when you post it, and you can hide your story from specific people without blocking them. This is useful if you want to share something with most friends but not with one or two people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make my profile completely private?

You can make your posts visible only to friends and hide your friends list, but your profile itself will still be findable if someone searches your name. You cannot make your profile completely invisible or unsearchable on Facebook. If you want to be completely hidden, deactivating your account is the only option.

If I block someone, can they still see my old posts?

No. When you block someone, they cannot see any of your posts, photos, or profile information, including things posted before you blocked them. They also cannot message you or find your profile in search. If you unblock them later, they still cannot see posts you made while they were blocked.

Does changing my privacy settings affect posts I've already shared?

No. Changing your default privacy setting only affects new posts. Old posts keep whatever audience you set when you posted them. If you want to change the audience on past posts, use the "Limit past posts" button in the Privacy section, which changes all old posts to Friends only.

What does "Friends Except" do?

Friends Except lets you post to all your friends except specific people you choose. This is useful if you want to share something with most friends but exclude one or two without unfriending them. When you select Friends Except, you'll see a list of your friends and can check the boxes next to the people you want to exclude.

Can I see what data Facebook has collected about me?

Yes. Go to Settings > Your Information > Download Your Information. You can choose what categories of data to download — posts, messages, photos, and more — and Facebook will compile it into a file you can review. This shows you the information Facebook stores about you, though it does not show you the tracking data or inferences Facebook makes about your interests.