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    How to Tighten Your Facebook Privacy Settings

    Facebook's default settings share more than most people realize — a quick privacy checkup takes 10 minutes and makes a big difference.

    4 min read · 5 steps · Checked April 2026

    1. Step 1. Run the Built-In Privacy Checkup

      On your phone, tap the three-line menu icon, then go to Settings & Privacy > Privacy Checkup. Facebook will walk you through five categories of settings. Complete all five sections — this covers the most important privacy controls in one place.

    2. Step 2. Lock Down Who Can See Your Posts

      In Privacy Checkup or Settings > Privacy > Your Activity, set "Who can see your future posts?" to "Friends." Tap "Limit Past Posts" to also change older public posts to Friends-only. Confirm when prompted.

      Quick Tip

      If you want certain posts (like birthdays or milestones) to be public, you can override the setting on individual posts. The default controls what happens automatically when you do not specify.

    3. Step 3. Protect Your Phone Number and Email

      In Settings > Privacy > How People Find and Contact You, set "Who can look you up using your phone number" and "Who can look you up using your email" to "Friends of Friends" or "Only Me." This prevents strangers and scammers from finding your account via your contact info.

    4. Step 4. Review Third-Party Apps with Access to Your Account

      Go to Settings > Apps and Websites. You will see a list of apps and websites that can access your Facebook account. Tap each one you do not use or recognize and tap Remove. These apps can read your profile and sometimes post on your behalf.

      Warning

      Many apps granted access years ago are still connected and actively collecting data. Remove anything you no longer use.

    5. Step 5. Enable Two-Factor Authentication

      Go to Settings > Security and Login > Two-Factor Authentication and tap Edit. Choose Text Message (your phone number) or an authenticator app. Follow the prompts to complete setup. After this, logging in from an unrecognized device will require a code sent to your phone.

    Facebook's default settings are designed for sharing, not for privacy. When you first create an account, many things — your posts, your friend list, your phone number — may be visible to strangers, not only your friends. Changing these settings takes about 10 minutes and makes a meaningful difference in who can see your information.

    Facebook actually has a built-in tool called Privacy Checkup that walks you through the most important settings. To find it: tap the three horizontal lines (menu) on your phone, go to Settings & Privacy, then tap Privacy Checkup. It walks you through five categories: who can see your posts, how people find you, data from other apps, ad settings, and profile information.

    The most important setting to change is who can see your future posts. The default is often "Friends," but older accounts may still be set to "Public." In Privacy Checkup, change your default audience to "Friends" so strangers cannot see what you post.

    Your phone number and email address deserve protection too. In Privacy Checkup or Settings > Privacy > Your Facebook Information, set "Who can look you up using your phone number" to "Friends of Friends" or "Only Me." The same goes for your email address.

    Your friends list is often public by default, which lets strangers see everyone you know — useful information for scammers. Go to your profile, tap Friends, then tap the pencil icon to set your friends list visibility to "Only Me" or "Friends."

    Off-Facebook Activity is a lesser-known setting that reveals how many websites and apps share your browsing data with Facebook. Go to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Off-Facebook Activity to review this list. You can clear your history and limit future tracking.

    For ad personalization, go to Settings > Ads > Ad Settings. Here you can reduce how much Facebook uses your data to target ads — including data from data brokers and your activity off Facebook.

    Third-party apps connected to your Facebook account can read your profile and post on your behalf. Go to Settings > Apps and Websites to see the full list. Remove any app you no longer use.

    Two-factor authentication is critical. Go to Settings > Security and Login > Two-Factor Authentication and turn it on using your phone number or an authenticator app.

    Finally, you can download everything Facebook has stored about you. Go to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information to request a full copy. This shows you exactly what data Facebook holds.

    Official sources

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