Privacy settings: who can see what about me?
Facebook's default settings are not always the most restrictive: some profile details may be visible to strangers. “Privacy Checkup” walks through the most important settings, so it takes about fifteen minutes to review who can see what.
In this article
Starting Privacy Checkup
- In a browser, click the profile picture in the top right corner, then “Settings & privacy” → “Privacy Checkup”.
- In the app, “Privacy Checkup” is under “Menu” → “Settings & privacy” → “Settings”.
- Choose a topic: who can see what is shared, account security, how others can find the account, what apps used with Facebook can see, and ad preferences. The checkup guides through each topic step by step, and changes take effect immediately.
Who can see posts and profile details?
- Future posts: the default audience can be “Public”, “Friends”, “Friends except...”, “Specific friends” or “Only me”. In most cases, “Friends” is the right setting.
- Individual posts: before posting, a different audience can be chosen with the audience selector under the name; it applies only to that post.
- Past posts: “Limit past posts” restricts all older posts shared publicly or with a wider audience to friends in one step. They can only be changed back one by one.
- Profile details: the visibility of the phone number, email address, birthday, current city and friends list can be set separately. For the phone number and email address, “Only me” is the safe choice.
Who can look up the account and send friend requests?
- Friend requests: can be set to “Everyone” or “Friends of friends”. The latter greatly reduces requests from strangers and fake profiles.
- Lookup by email address or phone number: it can be set who can find the account if they know these details. With the most restrictive setting, strangers cannot reach the profile this way.
- External search engines: Google and other search engines can be stopped from linking to the profile. The change only shows up in search results after some time.
What else to keep in mind
- The name, the current profile picture and the cover photo are always public, so they should not reveal sensitive information. More details: Setting up your profile.
- Comments on other people's posts and in public groups are visible to the audience of the original post, not to the audience chosen in one's own settings.
- In the “Profile and tagging” section, it can be set that posts with tags only appear on the profile after approval.
- After adjusting the settings, it is worth checking what a stranger sees: on your own profile, “View as” in the “...” menu shows exactly that.
If it doesn't work
If the audience is “Only me”, does nobody else really see it?
Yes, only the account owner sees the post. However, nothing can be done if someone took a screenshot of it earlier, while it was public.
Will friends notice if I tighten the settings?
No, Facebook does not send a notification about it. At most, they may notice that certain details are no longer visible.
Can the profile be hidden completely?
No: the name and the current profile picture remain visible to everyone. If the goal is to disappear completely, the account can be deactivated: How to deactivate or permanently delete a Facebook account.
Lots of strangers send me friend requests. What can be done?
Restrict friend requests to “Friends of friends”. Such requests often come from scam profiles: Common scams on Facebook and Messenger.
What can games and other apps see about me?
Apps and websites logged into with a Facebook account may have access to details such as the name and profile picture. They can be reviewed in the “Apps and websites” section of the settings, and the ones no longer used can be removed.
Where is account security in the checkup?
The security topic covers the password and login alerts. More details: How to turn on two-factor authentication on Facebook.