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Hide your Facebook by deactivating it or making it private
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- Deactivating on Mobile via Accounts Center |
- Deactivating on Mobile via Facebook Settings |
- Deactivating on Desktop via Accounts Center |
- Deactivating on Desktop via Facebook Settings |
- Adjusting Your Privacy Settings (Desktop) |
- Adjusting Your Privacy Settings (Mobile) |
- Video |
- Expert Interview |
- Expert Q&A
Does having a public Facebook profile make you feel too exposed? If you want to make your Facebook profile less visible, there are several privacy options you can adjust to lock down your information. We'll show you how to make your Facebook profile more private by hiding posts, removing yourself from search, and temporarily deactivating your account.
Hiding Your Facebook Profile
- Make your account private by using the options under the "Audience and visibility" heading to change the audience to "Only me" for your posts and tags.
- Hide your profile from search by changing the audience visibility to "Only me" for all of your Facebook profile information.
- Deactivate your account via the Accounts Center or your Facebook settings to hide it temporarily.
Steps
-
Determine which deactivation method to use. Tap the ☰ menu in the upper-right (Android) or bottom-right (iPhone/iPad), then select Settings & Privacy . In this menu, look for the Accounts Center .
- If the Accounts Center is at the top of your settings, continue with this method to deactivate your account via the Accounts Center.
- If it's at the bottom of your settings, skip to this section to deactivate with your Facebook settings.
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From the Settings & Privacy menu, tap Accounts Center . It will be at the top of your Settings & Privacy menu.Advertisement
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Tap Personal details . This option is under the "Account settings" heading and has an icon that looks like a badge with a person on it.
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Tap Account ownership and control . It's the last option in the "Personal details" settings menu.
-
Tap Deactivation and deletion . It's the second option.
-
Select the account you want to deactivate. If you have an account with another Meta product (like Instagram), you'll see those accounts here, too.
- You may not see this screen if you don't have multiple Meta accounts. Continue to the next step if so.
-
Select Deactivate account . This is the option that will preserve your account name and data in case you want to reactivate again in the future. Tap Continue to progress to the next step.
- If you'd rather permanently delete your account, you can select Delete account here. This action, unlike deactivating, is permanent.
- Deactivating your Facebook account will not deactivate Facebook Messenger.
-
Enter your Facebook password and tap Continue . This confirms that you are the owner of the account.
-
Choose why you want to deactivate and tap Continue . This is just for Facebook's own records. If you're coming back later, just select This is temporary, I'll be back .
-
Choose when to reactivate your account. If you still want to deactivate, scroll down to the bottom and choose when you want Facebook to reactivate your account automatically. If you'd rather reactivate it yourself by signing back in when you want to, choose Don't reactivate automatically from the menu.
-
Tap the blue Deactivate my account button. This deactivates your account and signs you out of Facebook.
- You can re-activate your account by logging back into Facebook the next time you open the app.
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-
Determine which deactivation method to use. Tap the ☰ menu in the upper-right (Android) or bottom-right (iPhone/iPad), then select Settings & Privacy . In this menu, look for the Accounts Center .
- If the Accounts Center is at the bottom of your settings, continue with this method to deactivate your account via your Facebook settings.
- If it's at the top of your settings, go back up to this section to deactivate via Accounts Center.
-
From the Settings & Privacy menu, tap Settings . It should be near the top of the Settings & Privacy menu.
-
Tap Personal and account information . It's near the top of the screen. If you don't see this option, tap Profile Access and Control instead, then skip the next step.
- Facebook is in the process of updating their settings to align with the new Pages experience, so you may or may not see this option. [1] X Research source
-
Tap Account ownership and control . It'll be under "Personal and Account Information."
- If you had to tap Profile Access and Control you can skip this step.
-
Tap Deactivation and deletion . It's the second option.
-
Select Deactivate account . This is the option that will preserve your account name and data in case you want to reactivate again in the future.
- If you'd rather permanently delete your account, you can select Delete account here. This action, unlike deactivating, is permanent.
- Deactivating your Facebook account will not deactivate Facebook Messenger.
-
Tap Continue to account deactivation . It's the blue button at the bottom of the screen.
-
Enter your Facebook password and tap Continue . This confirms that you are the owner of the account.
-
Choose why you want to deactivate and tap Continue . This is just for Facebook's own records. If you're coming back later, just select This is temporary, I'll be back .
-
Choose when to reactivate your account. If you still want to deactivate, scroll down to the bottom and choose when you want Facebook to reactivate your account automatically. If you'd rather reactivate it yourself by signing back in when you want to, choose Don't reactivate automatically from the menu.
-
Tap the blue Deactivate my account button. This deactivates your account and signs you out of Facebook.
- You can re-activate your account by logging back into Facebook the next time you open the app.
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-
Determine which deactivation method to use. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner, then select Settings & Privacy > Settings . In this menu, look for the Accounts Center .
- If the Accounts Center is at the top-left of your settings, continue with this method to deactivate your account via the Accounts Center.
- If it's at the bottom-left of your settings, skip to this section to deactivate with your Facebook settings.
-
From the Settings menu, click Accounts Center . It'll be in the top-left part of the page.
-
Click Personal details . This option is under the "Account settings" heading, and has an icon that looks like a badge with a person on it.
-
Click Account ownership and control . It's the last option in the "Personal details" settings menu.
-
Click Deactivation and deletion . It's the second option.
-
Select the account you want to deactivate. If you have an account with another Meta product (like Instagram), you'll see those accounts here, too.
- If you don't have multiple Meta accounts, you may not see this screen. Continue to the next step if so.
-
Select Deactivate account . This is the option that will preserve your account name and data in case you want to reactivate again in the future. Click Continue to progress to the next step.
- If you'd rather permanently delete your account, you can select Delete account here. This action, unlike deactivating, is permanent.
- Deactivating your Facebook account will not deactivate Facebook Messenger.
-
Enter your Facebook password and click Continue . This confirms that you are the owner of the account.
-
Choose why you want to deactivate and click Continue . This is just for Facebook's own records. If you're coming back later, just select This is temporary, I'll be back .
-
Choose when to reactivate your account. If you still want to deactivate, you can choose when you want Facebook to reactivate your account automatically. If you'd rather reactivate it yourself by signing back in when you want to, choose Don't reactivate automatically from the menu.
-
Click the blue Deactivate my account button. This deactivates your account and signs you out of Facebook.
- You can re-activate your account by logging back into Facebook the next time you open the website.
Advertisement
-
Determine which deactivation method to use. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner, then select Settings & Privacy > Settings . In this menu, look for the Accounts Center .
- If the Accounts Center is at the bottom-left of your settings, continue with this method to deactivate your account via your Facebook settings.
- If it's at the top-left of your settings, go back up to this section to deactivate with the Accounts Center.
-
From the Settings menu, click Your Facebook Information . If you don't see this button, click Privacy > Your Facebook Information instead.
- Facebook is in the process of updating their settings to align with the new Pages experience, so you may have the Your Facebook Information button or the Privacy button. [2] X Research source
-
Tap Deactivation and deletion . It's the second option.
-
Select Deactivate account . This is the option that will preserve your account name and data in case you want to reactivate again in the future. Click Continue to progress to the next step.
- Deactivating your Facebook account will not deactivate Facebook Messenger.
- If you'd rather permanently delete your account, you can select Delete account here. This action, unlike deactivating, is permanent.
-
Type your Facebook password and click Continue . This is to confirm your identity.
-
Choose a reason why you're deactivating your account. You have several options here:
- If you want to keep your account deactivated until you decide you want to log back in, choose I don't find Facebook useful or I spend too much time on Facebook . When Facebook tries to get you to make changes to your account instead, click Cancel to continue.
- If you want Facebook to automatically reactivate your account for you in anywhere from 1 to 7 days, you can select This is temporary, I'll be back . Then, choose how many days you want to wait until your account is automatically reactivated. There's no option for manually reactivating if you select this option.
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Click the blue Deactivate button. It's at the bottom of the page. A confirmation message will appear.
-
Click Deactivate now . This deactivates your account and signs you out of Facebook.
- When you want to sign back in, you can do so by going to Facebook.com and logging in with your username and password.
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Click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the Facebook page. The arrow looks like â–¼.
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Click Settings & privacy > Settings . This will open your Facebook settings.
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Find the "Audience and visibility" heading in the left-hand sidebar. It's between the "Preferences" and "Payments" sections. [3] X Research source
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Hide your posts and tags. You can hide your posts so that no one else besides you can see them, or limit them to a small set of close friends.
- Click Posts under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
- Click the rectangle next to "Who can see your future posts?" This will allow you to change the audience who can view what you post.
- Select Only Me to make all of your posts private. This will prevent anyone from reading any posts you create from appearing to anyone other than yourself. You can choose different groups, such as Close Friends or any custom lists, but be aware that anyone who can view your posts can share them with their friends.
- Click Limit Past Posts
. This tool will automatically change your old posts
to Friends Only. This will limit who can see what you've posted in the past.
- If you want to change the audience to "Only Me," you'll need to find each individual post and change the audience manually.
-
Block people from posting on your timeline. You can turn posting for your timeline off so that no one else can post anything to it. This will allow you to use your timeline just for yourself, or completely lock it down and turn it off.
- Click Profile and tagging under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
- Click the rectangle next to "Who can post to your timeline?" This will let you change who can post content to your personal timeline.
- Select Only Me to make your timeline completely private. This will prevent anyone from posting on your timeline. Combined with the previous steps for hiding your posts, your timeline will be completely private.
- Click the rectangle next to "Who can see what others post on your timeline?" This will change who can see content other people post on your timeline.
- Select Only Me. This will prevent anyone from seeing any content posted on your timeline.
-
Hide your profile from search. Each entry in your profile, such as your employment, age, location, and more, has a separate privacy control. You'll need to make sure all of these things are set to "Only Me" if you don't want them to appear to others:
- Click Profile details
under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
- By default, you'll start on the Overview tab. Click the other tabs on the left-hand side to switch between them.
- Click the audience icon next to each entry in your profile. It's directly to the left of the three-dot button.
- The icon could be a world, two people, one person with a grayed-out person, a single person, or a lock.
- Select Only Me to hide that piece of profile information.
- Click Save . Repeat these steps until you've made all of your profile info private.
- Click Profile details
under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
Advertisement
-
Open the Facebook app. You can adjust all of your privacy settings directly in the Facebook mobile app.
-
Tap the Menu (☰) button. You'll find this in the upper-right corner (Android) or the lower-right corner (iOS).
-
Tap the cogwheel in the upper-right corner. This opens your Facebook settings and privacy menu.
-
Scroll until you find the "Audience and visibility" heading. It's between the "Preferences" and "Payments" sections.
-
Hide your posts and tags. You can hide your posts so that no one else besides you can see them, or limit them to a small set of close friends.
- Tap Posts under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
- Tap the dropdown next to "Who can see your future posts?" This will allow you to change the audience who can view what you post.
- Select Only Me to make all of your posts private. This will prevent anyone from reading any posts you create from appearing to anyone other than yourself. You can choose different groups, such as Close Friends or any custom lists, but be aware that anyone who can view your posts can share them with their friends.
- Tap View
next to "Limit who can see past posts", then tap Limit Past Posts
. This tool will automatically change your old posts to Friends Only. This will limit who can see what you've posted in the past.
- If you want to change the audience to "Only Me," you'll need to find each individual post and change the audience manually.
-
Block people from posting on your timeline. You can turn posting for your timeline off so that no one else can post anything to it. This will allow you to use your timeline just for yourself, or completely lock it down and turn it off.
- Tap the back button, and then tap Profile and tagging under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
- Tap the dropdown next to "Who can post to your timeline?" This will let you change who can post content to your personal timeline.
- Select Only Me to make your timeline completely private. This will prevent anyone from posting on your timeline. Combined with the previous steps for hiding your posts, your timeline will be completely private.
- Tap the dropdown next to "Who can see what others post on your timeline?" This will change who can see content other people post on your timeline.
- Select Only Me. This will prevent anyone from seeing any content posted on your timeline.
-
Hide your profile from search. Each entry in your profile, such as your employment, age, location, and more, has a separate privacy control. You'll need to make sure all of these things are set to "Only Me" if you don't want them to appear to others:
- Tap Profile details under the "Audience and visibility" heading.
- Tap the pencil icon next to each entry in your profile.
- Tap the Sharing with option at the bottom of the menu.
- Select Only Me to hide that piece of profile information. Once you tap Only Me the app will save your selection and bring you back to your profile details.
- Continue until you've hidden all of your profile information.
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Expert Q&A
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QuestionHow do I lock my Facebook profile?Naveh Ben Dror is a Social Media Security Expert and the CEO of Spikerz based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Naveh and his team provide social media protection for content creators, businesses, and enterprises. His professional background is in international brand marketing and e-commerce. Naveh received both his Bachelor of Law and MBA from Reichman University.The process is straightforward. First, navigate to your profile, then click on settings. At the top, there's a small magnifying glass logo. Type in the word "lock" and press "lock your profile." Also, note that this feature is currently available only in certain countries.
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QuestionHow can I stop someone from sending me a message?Community AnswerGo to their Facebook page and click on the message symbol. Then go to settings (within the chat window) and block them.
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QuestionHow do I open my husband's Facebook account?Community AnswerUse his email address and password (if you know them). If you're trying to do this without his knowledge, think very carefully about why you are doing it.
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Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about social media, check out our in-depth interview with Naveh Ben Dror .
References
About This Article
Article Summary
X
1. Click the top-right arrow.
2. Click Settings
.
3. Click Security
.
4. Click Deactivate your account
.
5. Select a reason.
6. Click Deactivate
.
7. Log back in to unhide your profile.
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,486,586 times.
Reader Success Stories
- "Didn't want my Facebook page visible and didn't want to deactivate, it so I just hid it for a while."
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"Didn't want my Facebook page visible and didn't want to deactivate, it so I just hid it for a while."
"It overall greatly improved the time frame on projects becoming a real idea. "
