Setting up your profile: profile picture, cover photo, name change

The profile picture and cover photo can be changed at any time, but name changes come with rules: Facebook allows them only at certain intervals and only accepts names that look like real names. Below are the steps for all three settings, along with the usual pitfalls.

Changing the profile picture

The profile picture appears next to every post, comment and message, so a clearly recognizable picture showing a face is the best choice.

1. Open your own profile: in a browser, click your name in the left-hand menu; in the app, tap your name at the top of the “Menu”.
2. Click the profile picture (in a browser, the camera icon in the corner of the picture), then choose “Update profile picture” or “Choose profile picture”.
3. Upload a new picture, or choose a photo uploaded earlier.
4. The picture can be positioned by dragging and zoomed. Facebook crops it into a circle, so the face should be in the center. Finally, click “Save”.

Changing the cover photo

The cover photo is the wide header image at the top of the profile. It appears wider on a computer and with its edges cropped on a phone, so the important part (a face or text) should be in the middle of the picture.

1. On your own profile, click the “Edit cover photo” button on the cover photo (“Add cover photo” on a new account, or the camera icon in the app).
2. Choose whether to upload a new picture or use an existing photo as the cover photo.
3. Drag the picture into position, then save it with “Save changes”.

What to keep in mind with pictures

• The current profile picture and cover photo are public: anyone can see them, even if the rest of the profile is visible only to friends. It is best to avoid showing a home address, license plate or children's clearly recognizable faces in them.
• A change may also appear as a post: sharing to Feed can be turned off when uploading, and the resulting post can be deleted later.
• Temporary profile picture: when uploading, the picture can be set to switch back to the previous one automatically after a while (for example, after a week). This is useful for occasional frames and events.
• Old pictures remain in the “Profile pictures” and “Cover photos” albums; from there they can be deleted one by one, or their audience can be narrowed.

Changing your name

1. Open “Menu” → “Settings & privacy” → “Settings”, then “Accounts Center”. In a browser it can also be reached directly: accountscenter.facebook.com.
2. Under “Profiles”, select the Facebook profile, then “Name”.
3. Enter the first name and last name (a middle name is optional), then click “Review change”.
4. Choose the order in which the name should appear and confirm with “Done”. The password may also be required.

Name change rules

• 60 days: after a name change, the name cannot be changed again for 60 days, so it is worth checking carefully for typos before saving.
• Not allowed: numbers, symbols, unusual punctuation, repeated characters, unusual capitalization, titles, words or phrases in place of a name, or characters from multiple languages mixed together. Accented letters are allowed.
• Nicknames and maiden names: these do not belong in the main name; they can be added under “Other names” in the profile's About section and set to appear next to the name.
• Review: Facebook may review the change, which can take from a few hours to a day or two. If the name looks suspicious, Facebook may ask for proof of identity.