Find Facebook settings enormously complicated and layered? You’re not alone. With so many menus, submenus, and privacy options hidden deep within navigation loops, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. If you struggle to keep track of where to go and what to change in order to truly protect your information, this guide is for you. I’ve sifted through the maze of settings to highlight 18 specific actions you can take right now to lock down your profile, limit tracking, and reduce how much of your data is exposed. Let’s make privacy on Facebook web application easier than ever before with these steps.
1. To make your friend list private – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Audience & Visibility > How people can find and contact you > Who can see your friends list? > Choose Only me or Friends.
2. To stop search engines from linking to your profile – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Audience & Visibility > How people can find and contact you > Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile? > Turn Off.
3. To review posts you’re tagged in, before they appear on your timeline – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Profile and Tagging > Reviewing > Review posts you’re tagged in > Toggle On.
4. To review tags people add to your posts before they appear – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Profile and Tagging > Reviewing > Review tags people add to your posts > Toggle On.
5. To enable two-factor authentication – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Password and Security > Select Password and Security again in the left hand panel > Click on Two-Factor Authentication and Set up with an authentication app or SMS.
6. To get alerts for unrecognized logins – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Login Alerts > Enable Email and In-app notifications.
7. To limit who can look you up using your phone number/email – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Audience & Visibility > How people can find and contact you (left hand panel) > Change Who can look you up using the email address/phone number you provided? to Friends or Only me.
8. To restrict profile information visibility (e.g., birthday, relationship status) – Go to your profile (your Name and Photo under your photo in the right hand top corner) > About > Edit each section individually > Choose Only me or Friends as needed.
9. To manage apps and websites that have access to your data – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Apps and Websites (left hand panel) > Remove unused or suspicious third-party apps.
10. To control who can comment on your public posts – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Followers and Public Content > Who can Comment on your Public Posts > Choose Friends or Friends of Friends.
11. To protect your public profile info such as your profile photo, profile videos and bio – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Followers and Public Content > Public Profile Info > Choose Friends or Friends of Friends
12. To prevent others from posting on your timeline – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Profile and Tagging > Under Viewing and Sharing look for Who can post on your profile? > Set to Only me.
13. To lock your profile (so you can control who views your public info) – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Profile Locking under Audience and visibility > Lock Profile
14. To limit who can see your future posts – Go to Settings & Privacy > Privacy Checkup > Who can see what you share > Continue > Next > Who can see your future posts > Friends (or as per your preference)
15. To control your off Facebook public posts – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Followers and Public Content > Off-Facebook previews – Toggle it off
16. To control who sees posts you’re tagged in – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Profile and Tagging > Tagging and Implied Mentions > Who can see posts you’re tagged in on your profile > Choose Friends (or as per your preference)
17. To review devices logged into your account – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > (Left hand panel under Accounts Center) Password and Security > Password and Security > (Under Security Checks) Where You’re Logged In > Select Devices to log out.
18. To control what information Meta technologies can use to influence your experiences – – Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > (Left hand panel under Accounts Center) Password and Security > Your Information and Permissions > Your activity off Meta technologies > (Clear Previous Activity and/or Manage Future Activity > Disconnect Future Activity)