Quick answer: To make your Facebook account private, open Settings & privacy → Settings → Audience and visibility. Set Posts to Friends, tap Limit past posts, set your friends list to Only me, and turn off search engines linking to your profile. Your name, profile picture and cover photo always stay public. Same steps in the app and on facebook.com.
As of October 2026 · Source: Facebook Help Center. Facebook has no single “private account” switch, so these steps cover each setting that matters, in the order worth doing them.
How do I make my Facebook profile private?
You make a Facebook profile private by changing six audience settings, all found under Settings & privacy → Settings → Audience and visibility. Do the first three and most strangers can no longer see your activity.
| Setting | Where to find it | Recommended audience |
|---|---|---|
| Future posts | Audience and visibility → Posts | Friends |
| Past posts | Audience and visibility → Posts → Limit past posts | Friends (one-time switch) |
| Friends list | How people find and contact you → Who can see your friends list? | Only me |
| Profile details (birthday, hometown, contact info) | Your profile → Edit details / About | Friends or Only me |
| Look you up by email or phone | How people find and contact you | Friends |
| Search engines outside Facebook | How people find and contact you | Off |
Step 1: Set who can see your future posts
This controls who sees everything you post from now on. Set it to Friends.
- Tap your profile photo (app) or click it at the top right (facebook.com).
- Tap Settings & privacy, then Settings.
- Under Audience and visibility, tap Posts.
- Set Who can see your future posts? to Friends or Only me.
Step 2: Limit everything you’ve already posted
Changing future posts doesn’t touch old ones. Limit past posts switches every old post you shared as Public or Friends of friends to Friends in one go.
- Go to Settings → Audience and visibility → Posts.
- Next to Limit who can see past posts, tap Limit past posts.
- Tap Limit past posts again to confirm.
Two catches: you can’t undo it in one click (you’d have to change posts one by one), and people tagged in a post can still see it. As of October 2026 · Source: Facebook Help: Choose who can see your previous posts.
Step 3: Lock down your profile details
Your birthday, hometown, relationship status and contact info each have their own audience. Open your profile → Edit details (or About) and set each one to Friends or Only me with the audience icon next to it. For birthdays, see how to change or hide your birthday.
How do I hide my friends list on Facebook?
Your friends list is public by default. Set Who can see your friends list? to Only me to hide it from your profile.
- Go to Settings → Audience and visibility.
- Tap How people find and contact you.
- Tap Who can see your friends list? and choose Only me (or Friends).
This only hides the list on your profile. If a friend keeps their own list public, people can still see the two of you are connected there, and visitors may see mutual friends. As of October 2026 · Source: Facebook Help: Adjust who can see your Friends section.
How do I stop Facebook appearing in Google?
Turn off Do you want search engines outside Facebook to link to your profile? and set who can look you up by email or phone to Friends. Old results can take weeks to drop out of Google.
- Go to Settings → Audience and visibility → How people find and contact you.
- Set Who can look you up using the email address you provided? to Friends.
- Set Who can look you up using the phone number you provided? to Friends.
- Turn off Do you want search engines outside Facebook to link to your profile?
While you’re there, set Who can send you friend requests? to Friends of friends to cut random requests. Search engines can still show anything you shared publicly, plus comments on Pages and public groups. To remove results already listed, use each search engine’s own removal tool. As of October 2026 · Source: Facebook Help: Stop search engines linking to your profile.
What stays public on a private Facebook profile?
Even with every setting locked down, Facebook keeps some information public by design: your name, gender, username and user ID, your profile picture and cover photo, your age range, language and country, and your follower count. Anything you share with a Public audience, and posts or comments on Pages and public groups, are public too.
That’s why a private profile still shows up when someone searches your exact name inside Facebook. As of October 2026 · Source: Facebook Help: Public information on Facebook.
How do I lock my Facebook profile?
Lock Profile is a one-tap setting in the Facebook app, but it’s only offered in certain countries and most US accounts don’t have it. If you don’t see it, Steps 1–3 above give you the same result anywhere.
Locking makes your profile photos and posts, full-size profile picture and cover photo, stories, and new posts visible to friends only. It also switches past Public posts to Friends and turns on profile review and tag review. Where it’s offered:
- Open the Facebook app and go to your profile.
- Tap the three-dot menu next to Edit profile.
- Tap Lock Profile and confirm.
No Lock Profile option? Either it isn’t available in your country, or your profile has professional mode turned on, which can’t be locked. As of October 2026 · Source: Facebook Help: Lock your profile.
Should I also secure my account?
Yes. Privacy settings control who sees your stuff; security stops someone else taking over the account. In Accounts Center → Password and security (some accounts now call this menu Meta Account), turn on two-factor authentication and login alerts, then check Where you’re logged in and log out any device you don’t recognize. If you need a new password, see how to change your Facebook password.
Can’t find a setting? Troubleshooting
- Menu looks different? In Settings, use the search bar at the top and type the setting name (“posts”, “friends list”, “search engines”). It jumps straight there in any app version.
- Can’t find “Limit past posts”? It’s only under Audience and visibility → Posts, not on individual posts.
- Still showing up in Google? Turning off search-engine linking stops new links, but cached results can linger for weeks.
FAQ
Can I make my whole profile private in one click? Not exactly. Facebook keeps your name, profile picture and cover photo public by design. Everything else can be set to Friends or Only me using the steps above, and the app’s Lock Profile bundles the main ones together.
Will people know I made my profile private? No. Nobody is notified when you change your audience settings.
How do I make my Facebook unsearchable? Turn off search engines linking to your profile and set who can look you up by email/phone to Friends. You’ll still be findable inside Facebook by people who know your exact name.
Why don’t I see Lock Profile in the US? Facebook only offers Lock Profile in certain countries, and most US accounts don’t get it. Setting your posts, past posts, friends list and profile details to Friends gives you the same privacy.
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