Skip to main content

    Facebook Privacy Coach

    Lock down what strangers can see. 15 minutes.

    Why this matters

    By default, Facebook shows your photos, friends list, hometown, family members, and recent posts to anyone. Scammers harvest this info for targeted scams ("I see your daughter Sarah just had a baby — I need to send her a gift!").

    Step 1 — Privacy Checkup (5 min)

    1. Tap your photo (top right on web; bottom right on phone).
    2. Settings & Privacy → Privacy Checkup.
    3. Walk through all 5 sections. Set "Only Me" or "Friends" everywhere.

    Step 2 — Manual privacy lockdown

    • Future posts default to "Friends" only. Settings → Privacy → "Who can see your future posts?".
    • Past posts — there\'s a "Limit who can see past public posts" button. One click.
    • Friends list — set to "Only Me". Scammers love seeing who you know.
    • Profile info (hometown, birthday, family, work) — go through each in your "About" page. Set to "Friends" or "Only Me".
    • Search engine listing — Settings → Privacy → "Do you want search engines outside Facebook to link to your profile?" — turn OFF.
    • Tag review — turn ON: review what others tag you in before it shows up.

    Step 3 — Security

    1. Settings & Privacy → Settings → Accounts Center → Password and security.
    2. Turn on Two-factor authentication.
    3. Set up "Login Alerts" — get notified about new logins.
    4. Review "Where you\'re logged in" — log out anything you don\'t recognize.

    Step 4 — Control what you see

    • Snooze noisy people — three dots on a post → "Snooze for 30 days".
    • Unfollow without unfriending — three dots on a friend\'s post → "Unfollow". They stay friends but stop showing in your feed.
    • Hide political ads — Settings → Ad Preferences → "Less Of" specific topics.
    • Pause Facebook Marketplace messages from strangers — Settings → Notifications.

    Watch out for

    • Friend request from someone who\'s already your friend — scammer cloned them. Don\'t accept; report.
    • "I lost my account, can you help me get it back?" — you\'re being conned to give them YOUR login.
    • Quizzes asking for your mother\'s maiden name, your first car, etc. — these are security question answers. Skip.
    • "You\'ve won a Facebook giveaway!" — always a scam.
    • Suspicious DMs with links — hackers take over accounts and message friends.

    Yearly review

    Facebook changes settings often. Run Privacy Checkup once a year. Pick a date — Memorial Day, your birthday, January 1st. 5 minutes. Big peace of mind.