Where to find your birthday settings on Facebook
Your birthday lives in your Facebook profile settings, not in a separate account menu. To reach it, click your profile picture in the top right corner of Facebook, then select "Settings and privacy" from the dropdown. From there, click "Settings."
Once you're in Settings, look for "Personal information" in the left sidebar menu. Click it. Your birthday field appears on this page alongside your name, email, phone number, and other profile details. The birthday you see here is what displays on your profile and in your friends' notifications.
Key Takeaways
- Your birthday is stored in Settings under "Personal information," not in your main profile editing screen.
- You can change your birthday as many times as you want, but Facebook limits how often you can hide it from your friends list.
- Changing your birthday does not affect your account security, password, or login information.
- If you set your birthday to under 18, Facebook automatically restricts certain features like ad targeting and third-party app access.
The steps to update your birthday
Click on the birthday field itself. A date picker will appear. Use the dropdown menus to select the month, day, and year. Facebook lists months by name, days as numbers 1–31, and years going back to 1905 or earlier depending on your age.
After you've selected the correct date, click outside the date picker or press Enter. Facebook saves the change immediately—you do not need to click a separate "Save" button. The new birthday is now live on your account.
If you want to verify the change took effect, refresh your profile page. Your birthday should now show the updated date in your "About" section if you've set it to be visible to your friends.
Who can see your birthday and how to control that
By default, Facebook shows your birthday to your friends. You can change this by clicking the privacy icon next to your birthday field in Settings—it looks like a circle with lines radiating outward. A menu appears with three options: "Friends," "Only me," or "Public."
Choosing "Only me" hides your birthday from everyone except Facebook itself. Choosing "Public" makes it visible to anyone on Facebook, including people who are not your friends. Most people leave it set to "Friends" so their friends see birthday notifications but strangers do not.
Facebook will not send birthday reminders to your friends if you set your birthday to "Only me." If you hide your birthday and later make it visible again, your friends will receive a notification about your birthday on the next occurrence of that date.
What happens if you change your birthday multiple times
You can change your birthday as often as you want without penalty. Facebook does not lock you out or require you to wait between changes. However, if you change the year of your birth (which moves you into a different age bracket), Facebook may temporarily restrict your ability to hide your birthday from your friends list.
This restriction is a safety measure. Facebook uses it to prevent people from repeatedly hiding and unhiding their birthday to confuse their friends or evade age-based restrictions. The restriction typically lasts a few days to a week, after which you can adjust your privacy settings again.
Age-related restrictions tied to your birthday
If your birthday indicates you are under 18, Facebook automatically limits your account in several ways. Third-party apps cannot access your data. Your ads are restricted to a smaller audience. Your profile defaults to a more private setting. These restrictions exist regardless of your privacy choices—they are built into Facebook's system for accounts belonging to minors.
If you turn 18 and update your birthday to reflect that, these restrictions lift automatically. You do not need to contact Facebook or take any additional steps. The system checks your birthday each day and adjusts your account permissions based on your age.
Changing your birthday on mobile devices
The process is nearly identical on Facebook's mobile app. Tap your profile picture at the bottom right, then tap "Settings and privacy" and "Settings." Scroll down to "Personal information" and tap it. Your birthday field appears the same way as on desktop.
Tap the birthday field to open the date picker. The mobile version uses the same month, day, and year dropdowns. After selecting your new date, tap outside the picker or press the back button. Your change saves immediately, just as it does on desktop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change my birthday if I just created my account?
Yes. Facebook does not require you to wait any amount of time before changing your birthday. You can update it immediately after creating your account or at any point afterward. The only restriction is the temporary lock on hiding your birthday if you change your birth year multiple times in a short period.
What if I entered the wrong birthday when I signed up?
Follow the same steps: go to Settings, click "Personal information," and update the date. Facebook treats a corrected birthday the same as any other change. If you changed your birth year, you may see a temporary restriction on privacy settings, but this lifts after a few days.
Does changing my birthday affect my password or login?
No. Your birthday is separate from your account security. Changing it does not reset your password, log you out, or require you to re-enter your login information. You remain logged in and your account works exactly as before.
Can I hide my birthday from specific people instead of all friends?
Facebook does not offer granular privacy controls for birthday visibility. You can only choose "Friends," "Only me," or "Public." If you want certain people to not see your birthday, your only option is to set it to "Only me," which hides it from everyone.
What happens to birthday notifications if I change my birthday?
If you change the month or day, your friends will receive a new birthday notification on the updated date. If you only change the year, no new notification goes out—your friends will still see the original date you set. Facebook treats month and day changes as a new birthday for notification purposes.