Facebook has about 3 million monthly active users. With so many users, it is not surprising that hackers are often found on Facebook. Protecting your privacy on Facebook and other social media platforms is paramount if your goal is to avoid hacking attempts and data breaches. Fortunately, Facebook has put in place numerous privacy and security settings that can be leveraged to fortify your account.
In this article, we discuss how to make your profile private on Facebook.
Facebook Privacy: What Are Your Options?
Facebook’s privacy settings are usually disabled by default ─ users have to activate them manually. As such, your profile information is out in the open for everyone to see. This includes your posts, likes, friends list and personal information.
The good news is that you can enable any of the following privacy options on Facebook:
- Friends. When you choose this option, your posts will only be visible to your Facebook friends.
- Specific Friends. If you’re a super private person who likes keeping a small circle of friends, you can customize your FB privacy setting to specific friends. This selection lets you choose an exact number of friends who can see your posts.
- Friends Except. This option allows you to conceal your Facebook posts from any toxic friends you might have. Choose all friends you’d like to hide your posts from and click Ok.
- Only Me. Once your FB privacy status is set to “only me”, nobody else apart from you can view the post.
How to Make a Facebook Profile Private on an Android/iPhone Device
Facebook allows users to control the content they’d like other people to see. Its privacy features are well-fragmented, meaning you can quickly learn how to adjust your FB privacy settings with a few simple steps.
Follow these steps to make your Facebook profile private on your phone:
- Launch the Facebook app on your smartphone.
- Click on the three lines located on the top right section of your screen to navigate to Menu.
- Click the gear icon. This should take you to the Settings & privacy tab.
- You can then control all privacy aspects here.
- Click on Personal and account information to select who can see your name, email address, phone number and other private details.
- Navigate to Audience and visibility and click “How people find and contact you”. These settings are very useful if you’re wondering how to make friends private on Facebook. Here you can select who can view your friends list or look you up using your contact info.
- Under “Posts”, you can choose who can view your past or future Facebook posts.
- There are numerous privacy options for Stories, Reels, Blocking, Tagging and public content, just to mention a few. Ensure you personalize these controls as you see fit.
You can take it a notch higher by learning how to make photos private on Facebook. Here’s how to do it:
- Go to the Settings & privacy tab on Facebook.
- Scroll down to Audience & visibility and click “followers and public content”.
- From here, you can select who views your profile photos, follows you, checks your profile info and so on.
How to Make a Facebook Account Private on Laptop/PC
Another method you can enforce to make your Facebook account private is by using your computer. Let’s delve into how to make your Facebook profile private via laptop/PC:
- Visit facebook.com using your preferred browser and sign into your account.
- Click on your profile picture that’s located at the screen’s top right section.
- Select Settings and Privacy.
- Click on the option labeled Privacy Checkup.
- Proceed to activate all privacy aspects of your Facebook account from this tab.
- Go to Who can see What You Share and click on “Continue”.
- This option allows you to choose who you can share your email, phone contacts, birthday, friends list, address and even education details.
- On the right, you’ll view a variety of bubble options. Select the most suitable privacy setting for your specific needs. Once you’re done, click on “Next”.
- Click on the bubble options and choose who can view your future Facebook posts. You can also limit who sees your previous posts. When everything is set, click “Next”. Congrats! Now you know how to make Facebook private.
- Privacy checkup also lets you block annoying users who constantly flood your inbox or feed with spam messages and posts.
Facebook’s web platform provides users with a plethora of privacy settings to help secure their accounts sufficiently. You can control different aspects of your account, including confidentiality, on the Settings and Privacy tab.
How to Tell if a Facebook Profile Is Private
You can quickly discover whether your profile is private by requesting one of your friends to look you up on Facebook. If your profile has a padlock and clearly states that this profile is private, then you’re entirely incognito.
To make your Facebook account private, simply head to Settings and privacy > Settings then select “Privacy Checkup” on the left column.
How to Make Photos Private on Facebook
If you’d like to make your Facebook photos private, simply click on your profile picture and select Photos. This photos tab is located under the “Posts” section. Next, tap on Your Photos and choose the specific picture that you’d like to make private.
Click the three-dot menu located on the top right side of the image and choose Edit privacy. You can then choose the specific audience that can view the photo.
Final Thoughts
A stitch in time saves nine. Learning how to make a Facebook account private can help you protect those close to you from digital imposters and child bullies. If followed to the letter, the tips discussed in this article will equip you with the appropriate skills to control your Facebook’s privacy settings.