--- title: "How to Make your Facebook Account Private" url: https://new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/ description: "Lock away your Facebook account from prying eyes. Make your Facebook account private and secure with this guide and stay safe on Facebook." published: 2023-09-06T18:36:42+00:00 updated: 2023-09-07T08:30:25+00:00 author: Ian Anderson Gray --- # How to Make your Facebook Account Private [Ian Anderson Gray](https://new2.iag.me/about/) Published 6 September 20238 min read Written by Ian Category [Social Media](https://new2.iag.me/blog/category/socialmedia/) Last updated in September 2023, so some details may have changed since. ## Do you want to make your Facebook Account private? **Do you want to lock down your Facebook account away from prying eyes and make it more secure?** **In this article, I show you how.** People have asked me many times how to lock down their Facebook account. Why? Not everyone wants to be on Facebook. But sometimes you don't have a choice. Perhaps you want to be involved in certain Facebook groups or keep tabs on what family members or friends are up to. Since the early days, Facebook has come a long way regarding privacy and security. They do give us so much control over our data and privacy. Some might say they give too much power - because it is far too complicated for most people to figure out. So, that’s how I came to write this article. It is written for people who don’t want to be on Facebook, but... 1. Manage a Facebook page or group 2. Be involved with a group or community on Facebook 3. Follow the posts of certain friends or family members It’s also for people who are just paranoid about Facebook but still want to use it. Not all groups are private, so you'll always need to be careful what you post on Facebook. [Broadcasting to Facebook Live](https://iag.me/socialmedia/broadcast-computer-facebook-live/) and public posts should be avoided. As for me, I enjoy Facebook, but I understand the concerns. I’ve not locked down my Facebook account anywhere near as much as what I am suggesting in this article. However, I want to make it easy for you if you do. If you want to secure your Facebook account and make it as secure as possible... if you want to use Facebook but stop being found, this article is for you. --- ## How to Make your Facebook Account Private ### **STEP 1: If you don’t have a Facebook account...** (If you already have a Facebook account, skip on to [step 2](https://new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/#step2)) If you don't have a Facebook account, you'll need to create one. Here is how you create a Facebook account and make it private. 1. Go to [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/). Sign up for an account. If at all possible, use a **private** email address that you **don’t** use elsewhere. We’ll make sure Facebook doesn’t allow people to find you via your email address. But it’s best to be on the safe side. If you use GMail, you can add a "+" symbol followed by a word (before the "@" symbol). This, in effect, gives you lots of different email addresses for the same account. For example, **[[email protected]](https://new2.iag.me/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)** will receive the same emails as [[email protected]](https://new2.iag.me/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection) or **[[email protected]](https://new2.iag.me/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)**. You do need to enter your proper name, as creating a fake account goes against Facebook’s terms 2. I can’t recommend this since it goes against Facebook’s terms, but if you select the oldest possible date for your birthday, Facebook won’t be able to target you so much with specific ads.[![How to set up a secure and private Facebook account](https://new2.iag.me/media/1-sign-up-for-fb-here-0e9302-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/1-sign-up-for-fb-here-0e9302-1600.jpg) 3. Confirm your email address by entering the code that was emailed to you: [![Enter 2 Step Facebook](https://new2.iag.me/media/2-enter-confirmation-code-here-2-989e2f-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/2-enter-confirmation-code-here-2-989e2f-1020.jpg) 4. Once you confirm your email address, you can move on. Click **OK**... [![Confirm Email](https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-confirmed-841351-492.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-confirmed-841351-492.jpg) 5. Facebook will ask you if you want to add some friends. Just ignore and click **"next"**: [![Avoid adding friends in Facebook to be more private and secure](https://new2.iag.me/media/add-friends-ef13b4-761.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/add-friends-ef13b4-761.jpg) ### STEP 2: If you already have a Facebook Account, you can start here… Make sure you've logged into your Facebook account. Now, it's time to make your Facebook account private and secure. Not adding your photo as your profile picture will help you be less recognisable. You could either leave it blank or upload a generic image. Click on your **profile picture** in the top right corner of your Facebook page. Then click '**Settings & privacy**' and then **'Privacy Checkup'.** This will open the Privacy Checkup options. You will now go through the simple steps to make your Facebook account private. [![Facebook Security Checkup options to make your account private](https://new2.iag.me/media/who-can-see-what-you-share-eecc5c-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/who-can-see-what-you-share-eecc5c-1111.jpg) First, start by clicking **'Who can see what you share'** box. You will start first with setting the privacy for your **profile information**. If you do not want certain profile information available to anyone, make sure to select "Only me" for those options. [![Facebook profile information - review to make secure](https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-profile-info-update-a1b6a4-787.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-profile-info-update-a1b6a4-787.jpg) Once your profile privacy is set the way you want it, click **NEXT** Now you will set privacy for your **posts** **and stories.** [![Facebook secure past and future posts](https://new2.iag.me/media/posts-and-stories-1ea407-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/posts-and-stories-1ea407-951.jpg) **Future Posts** – You can make all future posts available to the *public*, to *friends*, *Friends except*, *Specific friends only*, *only to you* or *customize* who can see your future posts. **Stories** – Because posting to stories is optional, the options are more limited. The possibilities for stories are public, Friends, custom and hide stories from, which will hide certain people from seeing your stories. You can also choose to turn commenting off on your stories. **Limit Past Posts** – You can change who can see past posts you created. This will limit all past posts to "only friends". Once you have updated your post and story settings the way you like them, click **NEXT**. Here, you can block people, if needed. Click **Add to blocked list** Type the name of the person you want to block. Find the person and click "Block" to the right of their name and profile picture. Click **NEXT** then click **Review Another Topic**. Now click on **How people can find you on Facebook** [![Facebook Security: How People Can Find You on Facebook](https://new2.iag.me/media/how-people-can-find-you-on-facebook-ee9729-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/how-people-can-find-you-on-facebook-ee9729-1111.jpg) Click **Continue** [![Facebook Privacy: How people can find you on Facebook](https://new2.iag.me/media/image-12-how-people-can-find-you-on-facebook-1-cbcea6-699.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/image-12-how-people-can-find-you-on-facebook-1-cbcea6-699.jpg) First you will decide who can send you friend requests. The options are **everyone** or **friends of friends**. To limit your privacy, you will want to select **friends of friends**. Click **NEXT** [![Take control of who can send you Facebook friend requests](https://new2.iag.me/media/who-can-send-you-friend-requests-1-7ef90f-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/who-can-send-you-friend-requests-1-7ef90f-867.jpg) Now you will decide who can look you up, or search for you, by your phone number and email address. **For the maximum privacy on FB, select Only me for both phone number and email address.** [![Make Facebook Private - your phone and email addresses](https://new2.iag.me/media/phone-and-email-search-option-23a089-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/phone-and-email-search-option-23a089-898.jpg) Click **NEXT** On this screen you will have an option to allow search engines, such as Google, to link to your profile to help people find you. **The default for this option is OFF. For maximum privacy, keep this selection.** [![Facebook Privacy - turn of Search Engine Spidering and SEO](https://new2.iag.me/media/search-engines-can-link-to-your-profile-3ca76c-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/search-engines-can-link-to-your-profile-3ca76c-865.jpg) Click **NEXT**. You have now completed the '**How people can find you on Facebook section'**. Let's move on to the next section, '**How to keep your account secure'**. [![Facebook Privacy: How to keep your account secure](https://new2.iag.me/media/how-to-keep-ypur-account-secure-881c26-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/how-to-keep-ypur-account-secure-881c26-1111.jpg) **IMPORTANT!!!** Password privacy is extremely important. Your password should be secure and not be used for any other websites. If this is not the case, you will want to change your password to a secure password. In order to manage original, secure passwords for every website you log in to, I recommend using a password manager program such as [LastPass](https://lastpass.com/create_account.php?fromloginpage=1). LastPass will not only store all your passwords but it can also be used to generate secure passwords and can automatically log you into websites that you visit. One of the most incredible things, aside from having a security system in place for all of your passwords, is that you no longer need to memorise your passwords. You just remember your pass phrase for logging into LastPass, and then you have secure access to all of your secure passwords inside your vault. LastPass has a lot of other features as well that you can check out here on their [website](https://lastpass.com/create_account.php?fromloginpage=1). If you need to change your Facebook Password, keep reading here. If not, you can [jump to the next section](https://new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/#no-password-change). [![Facebook password security](https://new2.iag.me/media/is-your-password-private-bf93cc-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/is-your-password-private-bf93cc-865.jpg) First click **Change password**. [![Keep your Facebook account password private](https://new2.iag.me/media/change-password-1-b6d4a5-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/change-password-1-b6d4a5-1151.jpg) In the first field, enter your **current password**. In the second and third fields, enter your **new secure password**. Click **SAVE CHANGES**. If you did **NOT** need to change your password, click **NEXT** You will now have the option to turn on [two-factor authentication](https://www.lastpass.com/solutions/authentication/two-factor-authentication?sfdcid=7014P000001s0AOQAY&=20255017565&utm_term=&utm_content=&sfdcid=7018c000001hgNV&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5f2lBhCkARIsAHeTvlhMWDQinBOwJiPLn8TEbv_7OMDn0Ev-leXkx1k2OhUtfGe22-zq9wcaAvItEALw_wcB) (2FA). For maximum protection of your Facebook account, I highly recommend you use 2FA. If a hacker manages to steal your password, they won't be able to log into your account unless they also have your two-factor authentication code, which changes every 30 seconds. To turn on 2FA, click **Get Started**. Otherwise, click NEXT if you do NOT want to turn on 2FA. [![Facebook Two-step authentication - increase password security](https://new2.iag.me/media/add-extra-layer-security-to-your-account-56f04f-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/add-extra-layer-security-to-your-account-56f04f-1073.jpg) #### Turning on two-factor authentication (2FA) ##### Using an Authenticator App I highly recommend that you use an Authenticator App for 2FA. I like the Google Authenticator App as it is easy to add 2FA and easy to use. Get the [Google Authenticator app for Apple iOS here](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-authenticator/id388497605) Get the [Google Authenticator app for Android here](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator2&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1) If you have never used an authenticator app before and have questions, [this article](https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-google-authenticator-app/) can help get you started. To turn on 2FA using an app, click on the Use Authentication App button. Then open your authenticator app and scan the QR code. Alternatively, you can copy and paste the code provided into your app. Click **continue** and then enter the code from your app for your FB account. Once you enter the code, you will receive a message that 2FA has been activated. You will then be prompted to login again. When you login again you will be offered the ability to add a back-up method for 2FA. I recommend that you do this, and using either Text Message SMS or Recovery Codes would be solid options for securing access to your Facebook account. **Using Text Message (SMS)** Another option that FB offers is to have a code sent via text message to your mobile phone every time you log into Facebook. Click the 'Use Text Message (SMS)' button and enter your phone number and click continue. You will receive a code via text message. Enter that code to in the space provided. **Using a Security Key** If you have a physical USB security key, you can use this for 2FA for your Facebook account. You can [click here](https://logixconsulting.com/2021/07/22/usb-security-keys-everything-you-need-to-know/) to learn more about physical USB security keys. **Alerts** Finally, you can **turn on Alerts** so that you are notified if someone logs into your Facebook account from an unrecognized location. I recommend that you turn on both available options, receiving a Facebook notification and receiving an email. [![Turn on Facebook Security Alerts](https://new2.iag.me/media/turn-on-alerts-ab6232-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/turn-on-alerts-ab6232-1246.jpg) Click **NEXT** then click **Review Another Topic**. Now click on **Your data settings on Facebook** and click **CONTINUE**. [![Facebook Privacy Settings - Your Data Settings on Facebook](https://new2.iag.me/media/your-data-settings-on-fb-1-795e91-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/your-data-settings-on-fb-1-795e91-1111.jpg) You will now review the apps and websites that you have previously used to log into Facebook. Remove any that you no longer want to use. [![Remove 3rd part apps access from Facebook](https://new2.iag.me/media/apps-and-websites-youve-used-toi-log-into-fb-48beee-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/apps-and-websites-youve-used-toi-log-into-fb-48beee-1109.jpg) Click **NEXT** then click **Review Another Topic**. Now click on **Your ad preferences on Facebook** and click **CONTINUE**. [![Facebook Security & Privacy - Your ad preferences](https://new2.iag.me/media/your-ad-preferences-387429-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/your-ad-preferences-387429-1053.jpg) I encourage you to read this page, as it explains how Facebook personalizes ads based on what they think interests you. Once you have read through this page, click **NEXT**. Here, you can change how advertisers target you based on your profile. **Turn off any settings you do not want to be used to target you for advertising.** [![Facebook Privacy and security - Profile Information](https://new2.iag.me/media/profile-info-1-1-215202-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/profile-info-1-1-215202-1073.jpg) When you have your settings the way you want them, click **NEXT**. On this page, you decide if your friends can see social interactions you have had with pages. If you want to keep this private, then scroll down and change the setting for '**Who can see your social interactions alongside ads?**' to **ONLY ME.** [![Facebook social interactions (Make your Facebook account private)](https://new2.iag.me/media/social-interractions-21b5b2-800.jpg)](https://new2.iag.me/media/social-interractions-21b5b2-998.jpg) Click **NEXT.** That’s it! Your Facebook account is now PRIVATE and SECURE. You’re pretty much done at this point. However, it is worth saying that you’ll never be able to be utterly private on Facebook. That’s not what a social network or the internet was built for. However, if you follow the points in this article, are careful what you post, and don’t give Facebook too much information, you’ll have locked things down as much as you can! I also recommend unplugging and having a [social media blackout](https://iag.me/socialmedia/life-social-media-time-socialmediablackout/) a few times a year. You'll feel better for it. I hope this article has helped make your Facebook account private and more secure. Let me know in the comments below. Use this with AI - [View as Markdown](https://new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/index.html.md) - [Ask Claude](https://claude.ai/new?q=Read%20https%3A//new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/index.html.md%20%28a%20Markdown%20copy%20of%20https%3A//new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/%29%20and%20give%20me%20the%20key%20points%2C%20then%20help%20me%20put%20them%20into%20practice.) - [Ask ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/?q=Read%20https%3A//new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/index.html.md%20%28a%20Markdown%20copy%20of%20https%3A//new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/%29%20and%20give%20me%20the%20key%20points%2C%20then%20help%20me%20put%20them%20into%20practice.) - [Ask Perplexity](https://www.perplexity.ai/search?q=Read%20https%3A//new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/index.html.md%20%28a%20Markdown%20copy%20of%20https%3A//new2.iag.me/blog/make-facebook-account-private/%29%20and%20give%20me%20the%20key%20points%2C%20then%20help%20me%20put%20them%20into%20practice.) **Ian Anderson Gray** is an AI consultant, trainer, speaker and creative tech specialist. [More about Ian](https://new2.iag.me/about/). The conversation ## 85 comments Newest conversations first. Comments are lightly tidied: names and messages typed in capitals, common misspellings and swear words. Each tidied one says so. 1. DL**Digiquest.life** 29 March 2025 Great article, Ian! Your step-by-step guide makes securing a Facebook account so much easier to understand. I was wondering, does enabling two-factor authentication slow down login times significantly, or is it a quick process? Thanks in advance for your insights! 2. **Diligence Certifications** 15 March 2025 To make your Facebook account private, go to **Settings & Privacy > Privacy Settings** and adjust who can see your posts, friend list, and personal details. Set your profile to **"Friends" or "Only Me"** for maximum privacy. Also, review your past posts, enable **profile lock**, and turn off search engine indexing to limit visibility. Regularly check your privacy settings to stay secure. 3. **Diligence Certifications** 13 March 2025 Adjust your privacy settings to control who sees your posts, friend list, and personal details. Go to Settings > Privacy and customize your preferences. Stay secure and take charge of your online presence! #PrivacyMatters 4. P**Peggy** 14 February 2025 I followed your advice but every day I still get profiles from people places I don’t know follow or want. I really only used to see just any posts by friends. How do I stop this? I have to block no less than 20 each time I open 5. **Sidaani** 24 January 2025 Great post! These tips are really helpful for securing a Facebook account. The steps on controlling friend requests and enabling two-factor authentication are especially useful. Thanks for sharing! 6. KI**Kiran Singh Interiors** 29 November 2024 Creating a Facebook account with a private email helps protect your privacy. The "+" symbol in Gmail is a great trick for multiple email addresses. Just remember to follow Facebook's terms and avoid misleading information, even for better ad targeting. 7. H**Herbspro** 11 November 2024 Thanks for creating this blog! It’s really helpful and full of great information. 8. **Daniel Gilliam** 4 May 2024 Securing your Facebook account is crucial for safeguarding your privacy. Start by adjusting your privacy settings to limit who can see your posts, photos, and personal information. Utilize features like friend lists to control who can view specific content. Regularly review and update your privacy settings to stay protected against evolving threats. Remember, your online privacy is in your hands. 9. **Point Cloud to BIM** 9 April 2024 Great detailed post. Thanks for sharing. 10. FK**[Fiziksel Sunucu Kiralama](https://www.meric.net.tr/fiziksel-sunucu-kiralama)** 2 December 2023 Wow. Thank you for post.