Where to find Facebook privacy controls

Facebook privacy settings live in one place: the Settings & Privacy menu in the top right of your screen. Click the downward arrow next to your profile picture, then select "Settings & Privacy," then "Settings." From there, click "Privacy" in the left sidebar. This is where you control who sees your posts, who can contact you, and what information appears on your profile.

The privacy controls are split into sections. The most important ones are "Who can see your posts," "Who can contact you," and "Who can look you up." Each setting has its own row with a dropdown menu showing your current choice. You change any of them by clicking the dropdown and selecting a new option.

Facebook also hides privacy controls in other places — your profile itself, individual posts, and app settings. But the Settings & Privacy menu is where the main controls live, and it's the fastest way to change what applies to your whole account at once.

Key Takeaways

  • Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Privacy to find the main controls that affect your entire account.
  • The three most important settings are "Who can see your posts," "Who can contact you," and "Who can look you up," each with a dropdown menu.
  • You can set posts to "Public" (anyone), "Friends" (only people you've added), or "Only Me" (just you).
  • Changing a setting applies to new posts going forward, but does not automatically change old posts you've already shared.
  • You can also control privacy for individual posts by clicking the audience icon on each post before you share it.

Controlling who sees your posts

The "Who can see your posts" setting determines the default audience for everything you share. Open Settings & Privacy, go to Privacy, and look for the row labeled "Who can see your posts?" Click the dropdown next to it. You'll see three main options: "Public," "Friends," and "Only Me."

"Public" means anyone on the internet can see your post, whether they have a Facebook account or not. "Friends" means only people you've added as friends can see it. "Only Me" means nobody else can see it — it's private to your account alone. Choose the option that matches what you want, then click outside the dropdown to save it.

This setting only applies to new posts you create after you change it. Posts you've already shared keep their old audience setting. If you want to change the audience on an old post, click the audience icon (it looks like a person or people) on that specific post and select a new audience.

Controlling who can contact you and find your profile

Two separate settings control how people reach you. The first is "Who can contact you," which determines who can send you messages. The second is "Who can look you up," which controls whether people can find your profile through Facebook's search or through search engines like Google.

For messages, your options are usually "Everyone," "Friends," or "Friends of Friends." If you set it to "Everyone," anyone with a Facebook account can message you, and those messages go to your "Message Requests" folder rather than your main inbox. If you set it to "Friends," only people you've added can message you directly. "Friends of Friends" is a middle ground — people who know your friends can message you.

For profile lookup, you can choose whether people can find you through Facebook search, through search engines, or both. If you uncheck "Allow other search engines to link to your profile," your profile won't show up in Google results, but people can still find you through Facebook's own search. If you want to be harder to find entirely, you can limit who can look you up to "Friends only."

Limiting what information shows on your profile

Your profile displays information like your phone number, email address, birthday, work history, and education. You can control who sees each piece of this information separately. Go to your profile by clicking your name or profile picture, then click the pencil icon next to any section (About, Work and Education, Contact Information) to edit it.

When you edit a section, you'll see a small audience icon next to each piece of information — usually a globe, a person, or a lock. Click that icon to change who can see that specific detail. You can set your phone number to "Friends only" while leaving your email public, for example. This gives you fine-grained control over what different people know about you.

Birthday is a common one to restrict. Many people set it to "Friends only" or "Only Me" because birthday information can be used to verify your identity for account recovery or password resets. The same goes for email and phone number — limiting these to friends or yourself makes it harder for strangers to use that information against you.

Controlling app and website access to your information

Apps and websites you've logged into using your Facebook account can access some of your information. Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then "Apps and Websites" in the left sidebar. You'll see a list of apps and websites that have permission to access your account.

Click on any app to see what information it can access — usually your name, email, profile picture, and sometimes your friends list or birthday. If you no longer use an app or don't want it to have access, click "Remove" to disconnect it. You can also click "Edit" to change which specific pieces of information that app can see.

This is worth checking once or twice a year, because apps you used years ago might still have access to your account. Removing old apps you don't use anymore reduces the number of places where your Facebook information is stored.

Changing who can tag you in photos and posts

Other people can tag you in photos and posts, which means your name gets linked to that content and it shows up on your profile. You can control whether tags appear on your profile automatically or whether you have to approve them first. Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then "Privacy," and look for "Review tags people add to your posts."

If you turn this on, any time someone tags you in a post, you'll get a notification and can approve or reject the tag before it shows on your profile. This prevents embarrassing or unwanted photos from appearing on your profile without your knowledge. You can also control who can tag you in photos by adjusting the "Who can tag you in photos and videos?" setting on the same page.

Even if you approve a tag, you can remove it later by clicking on the post, finding your name, and selecting "Remove Tag." The post stays up, but your name is no longer linked to it.

Adjusting privacy for past posts in bulk

If you've been sharing posts publicly for years and want to change them all at once, Facebook has a tool for that. Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then "Privacy," and look for "Limit past posts." Click this option and confirm. It will change all your old posts to "Friends only" — anyone who isn't your friend won't be able to see them anymore.

This is a one-time action that applies to posts you've already shared. It doesn't change your default setting for new posts, so you'll still need to adjust "Who can see your posts?" if you want new posts to be private by default. After you limit past posts, any new posts you create will still be public unless you change that separate setting.

Keep in mind that this tool changes the audience on all your old posts at once. There's no way to selectively limit only certain posts in bulk — if you want to keep some posts public and make others private, you'll need to adjust them individually by clicking the audience icon on each post.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I change my privacy settings, does it affect posts I've already shared?

No. Changing your default privacy setting only affects new posts you create after the change. Old posts keep whatever audience setting they had when you posted them. To change old posts, use the "Limit past posts" tool to make them all "Friends only," or click the audience icon on individual posts to change them one at a time.

What's the difference between "Friends" and "Friends of Friends"?

"Friends" means only people you've added as friends can see the content. "Friends of Friends" means your friends can see it, and anyone who is friends with your friends can also see it. "Friends of Friends" is wider but still more private than "Public." Most people use either "Friends" or "Public" and skip "Friends of Friends."

Can I hide my profile from search engines like Google?

Yes. Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Privacy, and look for "Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?" Uncheck this box and your profile won't appear in Google search results. People can still find you through Facebook's own search, but you'll be invisible to outside search engines.

What happens if I set a post to "Only Me"?

Only you can see it. Nobody else — not even your friends — can view it on your profile or in their feed. You can still see it when you log in. This is useful for posts you want to keep for yourself but don't want to share with anyone.

If someone screenshots my private post, can Facebook stop them?

No. Once you share something on Facebook, even if it's set to "Friends only" or "Only Me," anyone who can see it can take a screenshot. Privacy settings control who Facebook shows your content to, but they don't prevent people from copying or sharing what they see. Only share things you'd be comfortable with anyone seeing.