How to Make Facebook Private

Changing the privacy setting for future Facebook posts.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

It is impossible to completely lock down your Facebook profile -- your name, gender, profile photo and cover photo, username and account number are always visible to everyone, no matter what. What you can do, however, is ensure any posts you make in the future, as well as any you have made in the past, are visible only to your friends unless you specify otherwise; you can also change the visibility of the friend list on your profile. Further, you can limit the ways in which people can search for your profile, whether the search is on Facebook or the Web.

Changing the Visibility of Posts

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Step 1

The entire bar, including the lock icon, is visible regardless of where you are on Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click the lock icon on the Facebook bar.

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Step 2

The second option in the menu lets you change who can send you friend requests, while the third gives you access to the block feature.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click Who Can See My Stuff?.

Step 3

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Set the Who Can See My Future Posts? option to Friends.

Alternatively, if you want your future posts to be visible only to you unless you deliberately specify otherwise when posting, select More Options and then click Only Me.

Step 4

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click See More Settings.

Step 5

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click Limit Past Posts.

Step 6

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click Limit Old Posts and then click Confirm to change all old posts on your Timeline that are currently visible to everyone or to friends of friends to instead be visible to friends only.

Changing the Visibility of Your Friends List

Step 1

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Open your profile, hover over the friends list and click the pencil icon that displays.

Step 2

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click Edit Privacy.

Step 3

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Change the privacy settings for Friend List and Following to either Friends or Only Me, depending on your preference, using the drop-down menus.

Step 4

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Facebook.

Click Close to save your changes.