Where to find privacy settings on Facebook
Facebook privacy settings live in one place: the Settings & Privacy menu in the top right corner of your screen. Click the downward arrow or three horizontal lines (the menu icon), then select "Settings & Privacy," then "Settings." On mobile, the same menu is in the bottom right corner.
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 what information appears on your profile. The settings are organized into sections, and you can change each one independently.
Facebook also hides privacy controls in other places — like directly on your profile or when you post something new. But the Settings menu is where you make changes that stick across your entire account.
Key Takeaways
- Privacy settings are in Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy in the top menu, accessible from any page on Facebook.
- The "Who can see your posts?" setting controls whether your content is visible to friends only, the public, or a custom list you create.
- You can limit who can contact you, see your email address, and find your profile through search separately from who sees your posts.
- Profile visibility and post visibility are two different controls — changing one does not automatically change the other.
- Facebook stores old privacy choices even after you change them, so posts you made public years ago stay public unless you edit them individually.
Controlling who sees your posts and profile information
The main privacy control is "Who can see your posts?" This setting determines whether new posts go to friends only, the public, or a custom list. Find it in Settings > Privacy > Who can see your posts? and click the dropdown to choose your audience.
This setting does not change who sees your profile itself — your name, profile picture, and bio. To control that, go to Settings > Privacy > Who can see your profile? You can set this to friends only, public, or friends of friends. These two controls work independently, so you can have a public profile but private posts, or the reverse.
Your profile also contains other information: your email address, phone number, birthday, and relationship status. Each of these has its own privacy control. Go to Settings > Privacy and scroll to "Who can look you up using the email address you provided?" and "Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?" to limit search access. Birthday visibility is on your profile itself — click "Edit" next to your birthday and choose who sees it.
Limiting who can contact you and send friend requests
You can restrict who sends you friend requests and messages without blocking specific people. In Settings > Privacy, find "Who can send you friend requests?" and choose between everyone or friends of friends. Choosing friends of friends means only people who share a mutual friend with you can request to connect.
Message requests work differently. Go to Settings > Privacy > "Who can message you?" You can allow messages from everyone, friends only, or friends and people with mutual friends. Messages from people outside your chosen group go to a separate "Message Requests" folder instead of your main inbox, so you still see them but they do not clutter your primary messages.
If you want to prevent specific people from contacting you without blocking them entirely, there is no single setting for that. You would need to block the person, unfriend them, or manually delete their messages.
Controlling what old posts and photos show
Changing your privacy settings does not automatically change the privacy level of posts you made before the change. A post you shared publicly five years ago stays public unless you edit it. To change old posts in bulk, go to Settings > Privacy > "Limit the audience for posts you've shared with friends of friends or Public?"
This tool changes only posts made to "friends of friends" or "public" — it converts them to "friends only." It does not affect posts already set to friends only, and it does not delete posts. After you run this tool, you can still see the posts on your timeline, but only your friends can see them.
For photos, the same rule applies. Photos you uploaded to a public album stay public. You can change individual photos by clicking on them, selecting "Edit," and changing the audience. There is no bulk tool for photos, so if you have many old public photos, you will need to change them one at a time or move them to a private album.
Managing tag and review settings
Other people can tag you in their posts and photos, and those tags can make you visible in places you did not intend. In Settings > Privacy, find "Review tags people add to your posts before the tag appears on your timeline?" and turn this on. When someone tags you, you will see the tag first and can approve or reject it before it shows on your profile.
You can also control who can tag you in posts and photos. Look for "Who can tag you in posts and photos?" and choose between everyone, friends only, or friends of friends. If you set this to friends only, strangers cannot tag you even if they try.
A related setting is "Who can see posts you're tagged in on your timeline?" This controls whether your friends see the tags when they visit your profile. You can set this to friends only, public, or custom, independent of who can actually tag you.
Blocking and reporting instead of changing settings
Privacy settings control what information is visible to groups of people. If you want to prevent one specific person from seeing anything about you, blocking is faster than adjusting settings. Go to their profile, click the three dots, and select "Block." A blocked person cannot see your profile, posts, or send you messages.
Blocking is not the same as unfriending. When you unfriend someone, they can still see your public posts and profile unless you have other privacy settings in place. When you block someone, they see almost nothing.
If someone is harassing you or posting content that violates Facebook's rules, report them instead of or in addition to blocking. Click the three dots on their post or profile and select "Report." Facebook reviews reports and may remove the person's account or content.
Privacy settings for apps and websites
Facebook lets third-party apps and websites access your information if you give them permission. In Settings > Apps and Websites, you can see which apps are connected to your account and what data they can see. Click on an app to view or change its permissions, or remove it entirely by clicking "Remove."
You can also control whether websites outside Facebook can use your Facebook login to sign you in. In Settings > Apps and Websites > Websites and Apps, you can see which sites have access and remove them. Some people use Facebook login for convenience; others prefer to keep Facebook separate from other accounts.
A separate control is "Off-Facebook Activity." This shows you what data Facebook collects from websites you visit, even when you are not logged in. Go to Settings > Apps and Websites > Off-Facebook Activity to see the list and clear your history. You can also turn off future tracking, though this does not prevent Facebook from collecting the data — it just prevents Facebook from linking it to your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I change my privacy settings, do my old posts become private?
No. Changing your privacy settings only affects new posts you make after the change. Old posts keep their original privacy level. To change old posts, use the "Limit the audience for posts you've shared with friends of friends or Public?" tool in Settings > Privacy, which converts public and friends-of-friends posts to friends only. You must change individual photos manually.
Can I make my profile invisible to search?
You can make your profile invisible to search within Facebook by setting "Who can look you up using the email address you provided?" and "Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?" to friends only. However, this does not prevent Google or other search engines from indexing your public profile. To opt out of external search, go to Settings > Privacy and look for "Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?"
What happens when I block someone?
A blocked person cannot see your profile, posts, or send you messages. They cannot find you through search. If you were friends, the friendship is removed. The blocked person is not notified that you blocked them, but they may figure it out if they try to visit your profile and cannot.
Can I see what data Facebook has collected about me?
Yes. Go to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information. You can download a copy of your posts, photos, messages, and other data. You can also go to Settings > Apps and Websites > Off-Facebook Activity to see what data third-party websites have sent to Facebook about you.
Do privacy settings work the same on mobile and desktop?
Yes. The settings are the same whether you use Facebook on a computer or phone. The menu location is different — on mobile it is in the bottom right corner instead of the top right — but the actual controls and options are identical.