Learn how to make Facebook account private in 2025 with our step-by-step Facebook privacy settings breakdown to protect your profile from non-friends and public.
In the age of social media, privacy is becoming a growing concern for millions of users worldwide. Facebook, as one of the most widely used platforms, has made many strides in providing users with control over their privacy settings. However, many people still find their profiles more exposed than they would like. Whether you want to restrict strangers from seeing your posts, limit who can find you on Facebook, or simply keep your profile information within your trusted circle, making your Facebook account private is essential in 2025.
This detailed guide covers everything you need to know about how to make your Facebook account private—whether you’re on mobile, desktop, Android, or iPhone—and how to lock down your profile for maximum privacy and security.
Why Should You Make Your Facebook Account Private in 2025?
Understanding Facebook’s Privacy Landscape
Facebook collects a tremendous amount of data from its users, not just from posts and photos, but also from the way you interact with content, apps, and even friends. Despite the platform’s constant efforts to improve privacy controls, many default settings are still configured to share your content with a wide audience, including people you may not know.
Leaving your profile public or semi-public exposes you to various risks:
- Personal Information Exposure: Strangers might view your photos, posts, and details such as your birthday, location, and relationship status.
- Data Collection by Advertisers and Third Parties: Public profiles make it easier for advertisers and other organizations to target you with personalized ads, or worse, for your data to be harvested by malicious actors.
- Unwanted Contact: Public profiles often attract friend requests, messages, and tags from people outside your network.
- Loss of Control Over Content: When posts or photos are visible to the public, you lose control over who sees, shares, or downloads your content.
Who Benefits Most from a Private Facebook Account?
If you want to stay connected with friends and family but avoid unnecessary exposure to strangers or random Facebook users, making your account private is the way to go. People who run Facebook pages or groups but don’t want their personal profiles publicly accessible will also benefit from tightening their privacy settings.
Additionally, users concerned about digital safety, stalking, or personal data misuse should consider adjusting their privacy controls regularly. Even if you’re not actively posting, a public profile can still share your info with unknown users.
How to Make a Facebook Account Private on Mobile (Android and iPhone)
Facebook’s mobile app for both Android and iPhone provides intuitive tools to help you secure your profile. Making your Facebook account private on mobile can be done by adjusting your privacy settings directly within the app.
Step 1: Access Your Privacy Settings
- Open the Facebook app on your mobile device.
- Tap the three-line menu icon (also called the hamburger menu) located at the top right (Android) or bottom right (iPhone).
- Scroll down to Settings & Privacy and tap on Privacy Checkup.
Step 2: Utilize the Privacy Checkup Tool
Facebook’s Privacy Checkup is an easy-to-use guide that walks you through essential settings to safeguard your account:
- Who Can See Your Future Posts?
You can select who is allowed to view the posts you share going forward. The options include Public, Friends, Friends except…, Specific friends, or Only me. To maximize privacy, choose Friends or Only Me. - Review Profile Info and Personal Details
The tool helps you review who can see your personal info such as your birthday, contact information, relationship status, and education. You can restrict this information to friends or even just yourself. - Limit the Visibility of Past Posts
You might have shared posts publicly in the past without realizing the implications. Privacy Checkup allows you to limit the visibility of all past posts to friends only, preventing non-friends from viewing your old content.
Step 3: Adjust Additional Privacy Settings
After completing the Privacy Checkup, further refine your settings:
- Navigate to Settings & Privacy > Privacy Settings.
- Under How People Find and Contact You, adjust these options carefully:
- Who can send you friend requests? Set this to Friends of Friends to limit requests from complete strangers.
- Who can see your friends list? Set this to Only Me or Friends to restrict who can view your social connections. You can also check our detailed guide on how to make your friends list private on Facebook in 2025.
- Who can look you up using your email or phone number? Set these options to Only Me.
- Disable the setting Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile? to prevent Google and other search engines from indexing your Facebook profile.
Following these steps on both Android and iPhone will make your Facebook account private from non-friends and the general public.
For more advanced tips, you can explore how to lock your Facebook profile on mobile devices, which restricts access even further.
How to Make Facebook Completely Private to Non-Friends
Making your Facebook profile completely private to non-friends requires a combination of privacy settings and restrictions. The goal is to ensure that anyone who isn’t on your friends list can’t view your posts, photos, friends, or any other personal information.
Restrict Who Can Send You Friend Requests
By limiting friend requests to Friends of Friends only, you reduce the chances of random strangers adding you. This simple step prevents unknown people from connecting to you easily.
Hide Your Friends List from Public View
Your friends list can reveal a lot about your social connections and personal network. If visible publicly, it can be used to deduce other details about you. Setting your friends list visibility to Only Me or Friends is a strong privacy measure. For more details on hiding your friends list from others, visit our guide on how to hide friends list on Facebook from friends.
Control Timeline and Tagging Settings
Under Profile and Tagging Settings, you can:
- Approve posts you’re tagged in before they appear on your timeline.
- Control who can post on your timeline — usually best set to Only Me or Friends.
- Limit who can tag you in posts or photos.
These settings prevent strangers from posting or tagging you in content visible to others. Also, learn how to stop non-friends from tagging you on Facebook to keep your profile safe from unwanted tags.
Turn Off Public Posts and Followers
Make sure that your posts are not set to public visibility by default. Also, under Public Posts, change Who Can Follow Me to Friends only. This will ensure that only people you know can follow your updates.
How to Hide Your Facebook Account Without Deleting It
There are many reasons you may want to hide your Facebook presence temporarily without deleting your account. Facebook allows you to do this by deactivating your account or carefully managing privacy settings.
Deactivate Your Facebook Account Temporarily
Deactivation hides your profile, posts, and timeline from everyone except you. It’s reversible, meaning you can come back anytime by simply logging in. This option is ideal if you want a break from Facebook but don’t want to lose your friends, messages, or photos permanently.
You can easily deactivate your account from both the mobile app and desktop under Settings > Your Facebook Information > Deactivation and Deletion. For a step-by-step guide on this process, check out our how to deactivate Facebook account on mobile app in 2025.
Remove Your Profile Picture
Your profile picture is the most visible element of your Facebook profile. If you want to be less recognizable, you can remove or replace your profile picture without deleting your account. This increases your anonymity while keeping your account active. Learn how to remove your Facebook profile picture without deleting it.
Use Privacy Settings to Limit Visibility
Even without deactivating, you can restrict every aspect of your profile, posts, friends list, and contact info to Only Me or Friends only. This effectively hides your account from public view without full deactivation.
How to Lock Your Facebook Account: What It Means and How to Do It
Facebook introduced the Lock Profile feature to help users protect their privacy instantly.
What Does Locking Your Facebook Profile Do?
When you lock your profile:
- Only your Facebook friends can see your photos, posts, and stories.
- People who are not your friends can see only a limited version of your profile.
- Profile and cover photos, as well as stories, are restricted to friends only.
- The public cannot download or share your profile images.
This is an easy way to make your account private without manually adjusting multiple settings.
How to Lock Your Facebook Profile
Locking your profile can be done via mobile or desktop:
- Go to your Facebook profile.
- Click the three dots next to Add to Story or near your cover photo.
- Select Lock Profile from the menu.
- Follow the instructions and confirm.
Once locked, your profile is private to non-friends by default. For more details, read our full guide on how to lock Facebook profile on mobile and restrict access.
How to Delete Your Facebook Account Permanently
Sometimes, privacy concerns lead users to decide that deleting their Facebook account is the best option.
Understand the Difference Between Deactivation and Deletion
- Deactivation hides your profile temporarily and is reversible.
- Deletion permanently removes your account and all associated data after a grace period.
Steps to Delete Your Facebook Account
- Log in to Facebook.
- Navigate to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Deactivation and Deletion.
- Select Delete Account and follow the prompts.
- Facebook allows a 30-day grace period to cancel the deletion if you change your mind.
Backup Your Data Before Deleting
Before deleting, download a copy of your Facebook data, including posts, photos, and messages, so you don’t lose important information.
Additional Tips for Facebook Privacy and Security
Privacy is an ongoing process, not a one-time setup. To ensure your Facebook account remains secure and private, consider the following additional steps:
Use Strong Passwords and Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Using a strong, unique password is fundamental. Activate two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security.
Manage App Permissions and Third-Party Access
Review which apps and websites have access to your Facebook data, and revoke any that you no longer use or trust.
Turn Off Your Activity Status
Prevent friends and strangers from seeing when you are online by disabling your active status. Learn how to turn off activity status on Facebook.
Regularly Review Privacy Settings
Facebook often updates its privacy policies and settings. Regularly review your privacy controls to keep up with any changes.
Control Friend Requests and Connections
You can also manage who can send you friend requests and cancel unwanted sent requests. Read our comprehensive guide on how to cancel sent friend request on Facebook for detailed steps.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: How do I make my Facebook account private on mobile?
A: Use the Privacy Checkup tool in the Facebook app to adjust who can see your posts and personal information.
Q: Can I lock my Facebook profile?
A: Yes, you can lock your profile to restrict access to only your friends.
Q: How do I hide my Facebook profile without deleting it?
A: You can deactivate your account or restrict all profile visibility to friends or only yourself.
Q: How do I stop non-friends from tagging me?
A: Manage tagging permissions in Profile and Tagging Settings to approve tags before they appear on your timeline. See our guide on how to stop non-friends from tagging you on Facebook for more help.
Conclusion: Facebook Privacy Settings Breakdown
Making your Facebook account private in 2025 is easier than ever, thanks to a range of tools and settings designed to protect your personal information. Whether you want to restrict visibility to friends only, lock your profile, or even temporarily hide your account, Facebook offers flexible options for every user’s privacy needs.
Regularly updating your privacy settings, using features like profile locking, and understanding the difference between deactivation and deletion will help you maintain control over your online presence. Remember, privacy is not just about hiding but about managing who sees your information and how it’s shared.
Stay safe and enjoy Facebook on your terms.
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