How to Lock Down Facebook Privacy Settings

Adjust your Facebook settings to control who sees your posts, profile, and personal information.

Steps

1
Open Facebook Settings
by clicking your profile picture and selecting Settings and Privacy. Choose Privacy Checkup to review key settings.
2
Change your post audience to Friends
so only people you know can see what you share. You can adjust this per post if needed.
3
Turn off profile search engines
so Google cannot find your profile. Go to Privacy Settings and disable the option for search engines.
4
Review and limit past posts.
Use the Limit Past Posts tool to change old public posts to Friends only in one click.
5
Disable facial recognition
in the Face Recognition settings page. Facebook will no longer identify you in photos.

Can people see my friend list on Facebook?Show

Yes by default. Go to Privacy Settings and change "Who can see your friend list" to Only Me to hide it.

How do I stop Facebook from showing my birthday?Show

Go to your About section and change the audience for your birthday to Only Me. Your friends will not see it on your profile.

Can I review tags before they appear on my profile?Show

Yes, enable Timeline Review in the Profile and Tagging settings. You will approve tags before they appear.

Written by the HowToDoStuff.online editorial team. Last updated May 18, 2026.