How to Private Facebook Account

Facebook holds more of your personal information than you might realize. Without the right privacy settings, this data could be visible to strangers, advertisers, and potential bad actors. This comprehensive guide will walk you through exactly how to private your Facebook account, control who sees your information, and protect your online presence.

Understanding Facebook Privacy Levels

Facebook offers several privacy levels that determine who can see your content:

• Public - Anyone on or off Facebook can see your content, even without an account

• Friends - Only people on your friends list can view your content

• Friends except - All friends except specific people you choose to exclude

• Specific friends - Only particular friends you select

• Only me - Completely private; only you can see the content

For maximum privacy, you'll want to use the "Only me" or "Friends" options for most settings. Let's dive into how to adjust these settings step by step.

Facebook's privacy options allow you to control who sees your content

Using Facebook's Privacy Checkup Tool

The easiest way to adjust your privacy settings is through Facebook's built-in Privacy Checkup tool. This guided process helps you review and adjust your most important privacy settings in one place.

How to Access Privacy Checkup

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Facebook

2. Select "Settings & privacy" from the dropdown menu

3. Click "Privacy Checkup"

   
   

The Privacy Checkup tool covers four main areas:

• Who can see what you share - Control visibility of your profile information and posts

• How people can find you on Facebook - Manage friend requests and searchability

• Your data settings on Facebook - Review apps and websites connected to your account

• Your ad preferences on Facebook - Control how advertisers target you

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Making Your Facebook Profile Private

Step 1: Control Who Can See Your Profile Information

Your profile contains personal details that you might not want everyone to see. Here's how to restrict access:

1. In Privacy Checkup, click "Who can see what you share"

2. Select "Profile information"

3. For each item (email, phone number, birthdate, etc.), choose who can see it

4. For maximum privacy, set most items to "Only me" or "Friends"

   
   

Step 2: Hide Your Friends List

Your connections can reveal a lot about you. To hide your friends list:

1. While in the "Profile information" section

2. Find "Friends list" and click the dropdown menu

3. Select "Only me" to make your friends list completely private

   
   

Hiding your friends list is one of the most effective ways to protect your network and prevent others from mapping your social connections.

Controlling Who Sees Your Posts and Content

Step 1: Set Default Privacy for Future Posts

You can set a default privacy level for everything you post going forward:

1. In Privacy Checkup, under "Who can see what you share"

2. Click "Posts and stories"

3. For "Future posts", select your preferred audience (Friends recommended)

4. Click "Next" to save

   
   

Step 2: Limit Past Posts' Visibility

If you've previously shared content publicly, you can quickly make it all private:

1. In the "Posts and stories" section

2. Find "Limit past posts"

3. Click "Limit" and confirm

   
   

Important: The "Limit past posts" option changes all your public or "Friends of friends" posts to "Friends only." This action cannot be easily reversed in bulk, so be certain before proceeding.

Step 3: Control Who Can Comment on Your Posts

To restrict who can interact with your content:

1. Go to "Settings & privacy" > "Settings"

2. Select "Profile and tagging" from the left menu

3. Find "Who can comment on your posts" and select "Friends"

   
   

Controlling How People Find You on Facebook

Making your profile private isn't just about what people can see—it's also about controlling who can find you in the first place.

Step 1: Limit Friend Requests

1. In Privacy Checkup, click "How people can find you on Facebook"

2. For "Who can send you friend requests", select "Friends of friends"

   
   

Step 2: Prevent Email and Phone Lookups

Stop people from finding you using your contact information:

1. In the same section, find "Who can look you up using the email/phone number you provided"

2. Change both settings to "Only me" or "Friends"

   
   

Step 3: Remove Your Profile from Search Engines

Prevent Google and other search engines from indexing your profile:

1. Find "Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?"

2. Make sure this setting is turned OFF

   
   

Disabling search engine indexing can take several weeks to fully take effect as search engines need time to update their results.

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Controlling Who Can Message You

Unwanted messages can be intrusive. Here's how to control who can contact you:

Step 1: Access Message Privacy Settings

1. Go to "Settings & privacy" > "Settings"

2. Click "Privacy" in the left sidebar

3. Scroll to "How you get message requests"

   
   

Step 2: Adjust Message Filtering

You can control messages from two categories of people:

• Potential connections (people with your phone number or mutual friends)

  • Choose between "Chats" (regular inbox), "Message requests" (separate folder), or "Don't receive requests"

• Other people (everyone else)

  • Choose between "Message requests" or "Don't receive requests"

Pro Tip: Setting "Other people" to "Don't receive requests" will block messages from strangers completely, significantly reducing spam and unwanted contact.

Advanced Privacy Protection for Facebook

Step 1: Review Connected Apps and Websites

Apps and websites you've logged into with Facebook can access your data:

1. In Privacy Checkup, click "Your data settings on Facebook"

2. Review the list of connected apps and websites

3. Remove any that you no longer use or don't recognize

   
   

Step 2: Control Ad Personalization

Limit how advertisers can target you:

1. In Privacy Checkup, click "Your ad preferences on Facebook"

2. Turn off settings for "Relationship status, employer, job title, and education"

3. Set "Who can see your social interactions alongside ads" to "Only me"

   
   

Step 3: Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Add an extra layer of security to your account:

1. Go to "Settings & privacy" > "Settings"

2. Click "Security and login"

3. Find "Two-factor authentication" and click "Edit"

4. Choose your preferred method (authentication app recommended)

   
   

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Setting Privacy for Individual Posts and Content

Beyond your default settings, you can control privacy for each individual post:

Step 1: Change Privacy When Creating a Post

1. When creating a post, click the audience selector below your name

2. Choose who can see this specific post

3. This setting will override your default for this post only

   
   

Step 2: Change Privacy for Existing Posts

1. Go to the post you want to modify

2. Click the three dots (⋯) in the top-right corner of the post

3. Select "Edit audience" or "Edit privacy"

4. Choose your preferred audience

   
   

Remember: Changing privacy settings doesn't guarantee that content wasn't already seen, saved, or shared by others who had access to it previously.

Managing Your Facebook Activity Log

Your activity log contains a record of everything you've done on Facebook. Reviewing and cleaning it up is essential for privacy:

How to Access and Clean Your Activity Log

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner

2. Select "Settings & privacy" > "Settings"

3. Click "Activity log" under "Your activity and permissions"

4. Use the filters on the left to view specific types of activity

5. Remove unwanted items by clicking the three dots next to each entry

   
   

Bulk Actions: Facebook allows you to delete certain activities in bulk. Look for options like "Manage posts" or "Manage interactions" to quickly clean up your history.

Removing Your Facebook Data from the Web

Even with tight Facebook privacy settings, your data might be exposed on data broker websites. These sites collect and sell personal information, including details from your Facebook profile.

Why Data Brokers Are a Privacy Risk

Data brokers can expose:

• Your full name and age

• Current and past addresses

• Phone numbers and email addresses

• Social media profiles, including Facebook

• Family member information

• Employment history

How to Remove Your Data

There are two approaches to removing your data from broker sites:

Manual Removal

• Find each data broker site individually

• Locate their opt-out page

• Submit removal requests for each site

• Follow up regularly to ensure data stays removed

Pros: Free

Cons: Extremely time-consuming, requires constant monitoring

Automated Removal Services

• Services like Incogni or DeleteMe handle the process

• They submit opt-out requests to hundreds of data brokers

• They continuously monitor and remove your data

• Regular reports show what data was found and removed

Pros: Saves time, more comprehensive, ongoing protection

Cons: Subscription cost

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Final Tips for Maximum Facebook Privacy

Can I make my Facebook completely private?

While you can significantly restrict who sees your content by setting everything to "Only me" or "Friends," Facebook is inherently a social platform. Some basic information will always be visible to Facebook itself and potentially to Facebook employees. For complete privacy, the only solution is to delete your account.

How often should I review my privacy settings?

Facebook regularly updates its platform and privacy options. It's recommended to review your privacy settings at least every 3-6 months. You can set up privacy checkup reminders in Facebook to help you remember.

Will making my account private affect my ability to use Facebook?

Some features may be limited with maximum privacy settings. For example, if you set your profile to be unsearchable, new friends might have difficulty finding you. However, most core Facebook functionality will work normally even with strict privacy settings.

By following the steps in this guide, you've taken significant measures to private your Facebook account and protect your personal information. Remember that digital privacy requires ongoing attention as platforms evolve and new privacy concerns emerge.

For the most comprehensive protection, consider using a combination of privacy tools: strong, unique passwords managed with a password manager, two-factor authentication for account security, a VPN for connection privacy, and a data removal service to keep your personal information off the open web.