Where to find Facebook's privacy controls
Facebook's privacy settings live in one place: the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the bottom right corner of the app, or the downward arrow in the top right on desktop. From there, tap or click Settings and privacy, then Settings. The privacy controls you need are split across three sections: Privacy, Apps and websites, and Who can contact you. You do not need to visit different pages or hunt through buried menus — everything is in this one settings area.
The most important setting to change first is Who can see your posts. By default, Facebook sets this to Friends, but you can change it to Public (anyone on or off Facebook), Friends, Friends except (friends minus specific people), or Only me. This setting controls new posts going forward — it does not change posts you have already published. If you want to change the privacy of old posts all at once, Facebook offers a tool called Limit past posts, which you will find in the same Privacy section. Clicking it changes all your past posts to Friends only in one action.
Key Takeaways
- Your default post privacy is set to Friends, but you can change it to Public, Friends except, or Only me before you publish each post.
- The Limit past posts tool changes all your old posts to Friends only at once, but does not affect posts you publish after that.
- You can control who can message you, see your friend list, and tag you in photos separately from who can see your posts.
- Facebook's default settings allow strangers to message you and see your email or phone number if you have added it to your profile.
- Turning off Allow others to see your friends list and Allow other people to put your photo on the internet requires changing two separate toggles.
Controlling who can message you and see your contact information
By default, anyone on Facebook can send you a message, and if you have added your email or phone number to your profile, strangers can see it. To restrict messages, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Who can contact you. You will see two options: Who can send you friend requests and Who can message you. Change Who can message you from Everyone to Friends if you want only people on your friend list to reach you directly. Messages from non-friends will still arrive, but they will land in a separate Message Requests folder that you can ignore.
To hide your email and phone number from strangers, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Privacy and look for Who can see your email address and Who can see your phone number. Change both from Everyone to Friends or Friends except. This does not remove the information from your profile — it just hides it from people who are not your friends. Your email and phone will still be visible to Facebook itself and to anyone you have messaged or who has messaged you.
Managing who can see your friends list and tag you in photos
Facebook shows your friend list to everyone by default. To hide it, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Privacy and find Who can see your friends list. Change it from Everyone to Friends or Only me. Hiding your friends list does not remove you from other people's friend lists — their friends can still see that you are connected to them.
You can also control whether people can tag you in photos without your permission. In the same Privacy section, find Allow other people to put your photo on the internet and toggle it off. When this is off, people can still tag you in photos, but the tag will not appear on your profile until you approve it. If you want to review tags before they appear anywhere, turn on Review tags people add to your posts in the same section. This catches tags in comments and captions, not just in photos.
Controlling what apps and websites can see about you
Apps and websites that use Facebook to log in can access information about your profile. To see what they can see and remove access, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Apps and websites. You will see three tabs: Active (apps you use now), Expired (apps you no longer use), and Removed (apps you have deleted). Click any app to see what information it can access — usually your name, email, friend list, and profile picture. To stop an app from accessing your information, click it and select Remove.
You can also change what information new apps can access by default. In the same section, look for Apps and websites settings and find Apps, websites and games. Here you can toggle off access to your email, friend list, or birthday for all future apps at once. This does not affect apps you have already connected — you have to remove those individually.
Changing who can look up your profile by email or phone number
If someone has your email address or phone number, they can search for you on Facebook and find your profile. To prevent this, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Privacy and look for Who can look you up using the email address you provided and Who can look you up using the phone number you provided. Change both from Everyone to Friends. This means only people already on your friend list can find you by searching your email or phone — strangers will not see your profile in search results if they only have that information.
Note that this does not prevent Facebook from using your email or phone for its own purposes, like sending you notifications or helping advertisers find you. It only controls whether other Facebook users can search for you using that information.
Limiting what advertisers can see about you
Advertisers on Facebook can target you based on your activity, interests, and demographics. To see what Facebook thinks it knows about you, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Ads. Click Ad preferences to see the categories Facebook has assigned to you — things like age, location, interests, and purchase behavior. You cannot delete these categories entirely, but you can remove individual interests by clicking the X next to them. Removing an interest does not stop Facebook from collecting that data — it only stops advertisers from using that specific interest to target you.
You can also limit how advertisers use information from outside Facebook. In the same Ads section, look for Ad topics and toggle off categories you do not want to see ads about. This is a preference, not a block — you may still see ads in those categories, but Facebook will try to show you fewer of them.
What privacy changes take effect immediately and what does not
Most privacy setting changes take effect right away. If you change Who can see your posts from Friends to Only me, your posts become private immediately. If you hide your friend list, it disappears from your profile right away. The exception is Limit past posts — when you click it, Facebook processes your old posts in the background, which can take a few minutes to a few hours depending on how many posts you have.
Changes to app permissions also take effect immediately. If you remove an app's access, it can no longer see your information, but Facebook does not delete the data the app already collected. If you want to know what data an app stored before you removed it, you would have to contact the app's developer directly — Facebook does not provide that information.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I change my post privacy to "Only me", can I still see my old posts?
Yes. Only me means only you can see the post — not your friends, not the public. Your old posts remain visible to you in your timeline and in your activity log. If you want to hide a specific old post from everyone including yourself, you can delete it instead of just changing its privacy.
Does hiding my friend list stop my friends from seeing each other?
No. Hiding your friend list only hides it from people viewing your profile. Your friends can still see each other's profiles and friend lists unless they have also hidden theirs. If you want to hide a specific friendship, you have to unfriend that person — there is no way to hide individual friendships while staying connected.
What happens if I turn off "Allow other people to put your photo on the internet"?
People can still tag you in photos and posts, but the tag will not show on your profile until you approve it. The photo itself remains visible to whoever the person shared it with — turning off this setting only controls whether your name is attached to it on your profile. If someone posts a photo of you without tagging you, this setting does not affect it.
Can I see what information apps have already collected about me?
No. Facebook does not show you what data an app collected before you removed it. You can only see what information the app is currently allowed to access. If you want to know what data an app stored, you would have to contact the app's support team directly and ask them to show you or delete it.
If I remove an app, does it delete the data it already has?
No. Removing an app stops it from accessing your information going forward, but it does not delete data the app already collected. Some apps may delete your data after a certain period of time, but Facebook does not require them to. Check the app's privacy policy or contact them directly if you want your data deleted.