Facebook, with its billions of users, is a powerful tool for connecting with friends and family. However, the platform’s default privacy settings often leave users exposed to unwanted attention from strangers. Many users prefer to limit who can see their posts, photos, and other personal information. Thankfully, Facebook offers a variety of privacy settings that allow you to effectively block non-friends from accessing your content. This comprehensive guide will walk you through each step, ensuring you can confidently control your Facebook privacy.
Why Block Non-Friends on Facebook?
Before diving into the how-to, let’s consider why you might want to block non-friends from seeing your Facebook profile:
- Privacy Protection: Limiting access to your content reduces the risk of your personal information being used for malicious purposes, such as identity theft or stalking.
- Control Your Narrative: You choose who sees your posts, ensuring your content is only shared with people you trust and value.
- Reduce Spam and Unwanted Interactions: Blocking non-friends minimizes the chances of receiving unwanted friend requests, messages, or comments from strangers.
- Peace of Mind: Knowing your profile is more private can provide a greater sense of security and comfort while using the platform.
- Professionalism: If you use Facebook professionally, limiting who can see your personal content can help maintain a professional image.
Step-by-Step Guide to Blocking Non-Friends
Facebook offers several ways to control who can see your content. We’ll explore each method in detail:
1. Adjusting Your Audience for Future Posts
This setting controls who can see your future posts. By default, it’s often set to ‘Friends’ or ‘Public.’ We’ll change it to ‘Friends’ (or a custom list) to block non-friends.
- Log in to Facebook: Go to Facebook.com and log in using your email or phone number and password.
- Navigate to Settings & Privacy: Click the downward-facing arrow in the top-right corner of the Facebook page. A dropdown menu will appear. Select “Settings & Privacy” and then click “Settings.”
- Go to Privacy Settings: In the left-hand menu, click on “Privacy.” This will take you to the Privacy Settings page.
- Who can see your future posts?: Find the option labeled “Who can see your future posts?” This controls the default audience for your new posts.
- Edit the Audience: Click the “Edit” button to the right of the “Who can see your future posts?” option.
- Select “Friends”: A dropdown menu will appear. Choose “Friends” from the options. This ensures that only your Facebook friends can see your future posts.
- Consider “Friends except…” or “Specific friends”: For more granular control, you can choose “Friends except…” to exclude specific friends from seeing your posts, or “Specific friends” to only allow certain friends to see them. This is useful if you have a large friend list and want to share certain posts with a smaller group.
- Close the Settings: The change is saved automatically. You can simply close the settings window or click anywhere outside the dropdown menu.
Important Note: This setting only applies to posts you make after you change the setting. To change the audience of older posts, see the next section.
2. Limiting the Audience of Past Posts
If you’ve been posting with a wider audience in the past, you can limit the audience of all your past posts with a single setting.
- Navigate to Privacy Settings: Follow steps 1-3 from the previous section to access the Privacy Settings page.
- Limit the Audience for Past Posts: Look for the option labeled “Limit the audience for posts you’ve shared with friends of friends or Public?”
- Click “Limit Past Posts”: Click the “Limit Past Posts” button next to this option.
- Confirmation: A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm your decision. Read the warning carefully, as this action cannot be undone.
- Confirm: Click the “Limit Past Posts” button in the pop-up window to confirm.
What this does: This setting changes the audience of all your past public posts and posts shared with “Friends of Friends” to “Friends.” This means that only your current Facebook friends will be able to see these posts.
Important Considerations:
- This change is permanent and cannot be reversed in bulk. You would have to manually change the audience of each post individually if you wanted to revert it.
- This setting does not affect posts where you’ve tagged someone. The tagged person and their friends may still be able to see the post, depending on their privacy settings.
3. Controlling Who Can Send You Friend Requests
Reducing unwanted friend requests is another way to limit interaction with non-friends. You can control who is allowed to send you friend requests.
- Navigate to Privacy Settings: Follow steps 1-3 from the previous sections to access the Privacy Settings page.
- Who can send you friend requests?: Find the option labeled “Who can send you friend requests?”
- Edit the Audience: Click the “Edit” button to the right of the “Who can send you friend requests?” option.
- Select “Friends of Friends”: A dropdown menu will appear. Choose “Friends of Friends” from the options. This means that only people who have mutual friends with you will be able to send you friend requests.
- Close the Settings: The change is saved automatically. You can simply close the settings window.
Why choose “Friends of Friends”?: This setting provides a balance between openness and privacy. It allows people you might know through mutual connections to find you on Facebook, while preventing complete strangers from sending you friend requests.
4. Controlling Who Can Look You Up Using Your Email Address or Phone Number
People can find your Facebook profile by searching for your email address or phone number if you’ve made that information public. You can control who can use this information to find you.
- Navigate to Privacy Settings: Follow steps 1-3 from the previous sections to access the Privacy Settings page.
- Who can look you up using the email address you provided?: Find the option labeled “Who can look you up using the email address you provided?”
- Edit the Audience: Click the “Edit” button to the right of this option.
- Select “Friends”: A dropdown menu will appear. Choose “Friends” from the options. This means that only your Facebook friends can find you using your email address.
- Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?: Find the option labeled “Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?”
- Edit the Audience: Click the “Edit” button to the right of this option.
- Select “Friends”: A dropdown menu will appear. Choose “Friends” from the options. This means that only your Facebook friends can find you using your phone number.
- Consider “Only Me”: For maximum privacy, you can choose “Only Me” for both email and phone number. This will prevent anyone from finding you using this information, even your friends. However, keep in mind that this might make it harder for friends to find you if they don’t already know your name on Facebook.
- Close the Settings: The changes are saved automatically.
5. Reviewing Your Tag Settings
Even if you have strict privacy settings, you can still be exposed if your friends tag you in posts or photos that are public or shared with “Friends of Friends.” Reviewing your tag settings allows you to control how tags affect your privacy.
- Navigate to Profile and Tagging Settings: Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings” as before. In the left-hand menu, click on “Profile and Tagging.”
- Review: What happens when friends tag you in posts?: Look for the section labeled “Reviewing.”
- Who do you want to add to the audience of the post if they aren’t already in it?: Find the option labeled “When you’re tagged in a post, who do you want to add to the audience if they can’t already see it?”
- Select “Only Me” or “Friends”: This setting determines who can see a post you’re tagged in if they weren’t already part of the audience. Choosing “Only Me” means that only you can approve the tag, and the post won’t be visible to anyone else unless you approve it. Choosing “Friends” will allow your friends to see the post.
- Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on Facebook?: Find the option labeled “Review tags people add to your own posts before the tags appear on Facebook?”
- Enable Tag Review: Click the “Edit” button to the right of this option. A dropdown menu will appear. Choose “Enabled” from the options.
How Tag Review Works: When someone tags you in a photo or post, you’ll receive a notification. You can then choose to approve the tag, which will add the post to your timeline and make it visible to your chosen audience. If you decline the tag, the post won’t appear on your timeline.
6. Using the “View As” Feature
Facebook’s “View As” feature allows you to see your profile as a specific person or the public would see it. This is a great way to double-check your privacy settings and ensure that non-friends aren’t seeing more than you intend.
- Go to Your Profile: Click on your name in the top-left corner of the Facebook page to go to your profile.
- Click the Three Dots: On your profile page, click the three dots (…) located next to the “Add Story” button.
- Select “View As”: A dropdown menu will appear. Select “View As.”
- View as Public: By default, you’ll see how your profile appears to the public (non-friends).
- View as Specific Person: You can also type a friend’s name into the search bar to see how your profile appears to that specific person. This is useful for checking if you’ve accidentally limited visibility to someone you didn’t intend to.
What to Look For: While using the “View As” feature, pay attention to the following:
- Profile Picture and Cover Photo: Are these visible to the public? If not, consider changing your cover photo, or setting the audience of your profile picture to friends only.
- Posts on Your Timeline: Can non-friends see your posts? If so, review your audience settings for future and past posts.
- About Section: Is any sensitive information visible to the public, such as your birthday, contact information, or relationship status?
- Photos and Videos: Can non-friends see your photos and videos? Check the privacy settings for your photo albums.
7. Blocking Individual Users
If there are specific individuals you want to prevent from seeing your profile or contacting you, you can block them. This is a more drastic measure than simply adjusting your privacy settings, as it completely cuts off all interaction between you and the blocked person.
- Go to the User’s Profile: Find the profile of the person you want to block. You can do this by searching for their name in the search bar.
- Click the Three Dots: On their profile page, click the three dots (…) located below their cover photo.
- Select “Block”: A dropdown menu will appear. Select “Block.”
- Confirmation: A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm your decision. Read the warning carefully.
- Confirm: Click the “Confirm” button to block the user.
What Happens When You Block Someone:
- They will no longer be able to see your profile, posts, or photos.
- They will no longer be able to send you friend requests or messages.
- You will no longer be able to see their profile, posts, or photos.
- You will no longer be able to send them friend requests or messages.
- If you are both members of the same group, they may still be able to see your posts within the group, depending on the group’s privacy settings.
- Blocking is mutual. They will not be notified that you have blocked them, but they will realize it when they can no longer find your profile.
8. Managing Your Active Status
Your active status indicates when you are online on Facebook. You can control who can see when you are active.
- Navigate to Settings & Privacy: Click the downward-facing arrow in the top-right corner of the Facebook page. A dropdown menu will appear. Select “Settings & Privacy” and then click “Settings.”
- Go to Privacy Settings: In the left-hand menu, click on “Privacy.” This will take you to the Privacy Settings page.
- Active Status: In the left hand menu, scroll down and find “Active Status”
- Edit Active Status: Click on Edit next to “Show when you’re active”
- Turn Off Active Status: Click the button to turn off Active Status
- Confirmation: Choose to turn off active status for all contacts, or only some contacts
Tips for Maintaining Your Facebook Privacy
Adjusting your privacy settings is an ongoing process. Here are some additional tips to help you maintain your Facebook privacy:
- Regularly Review Your Settings: Facebook’s privacy settings can change over time. It’s a good idea to review your settings periodically to ensure they still align with your preferences.
- Be Mindful of What You Share: Think before you post. Avoid sharing sensitive information that could be used against you, such as your address, phone number, or financial details.
- Be Careful When Clicking Links: Avoid clicking on suspicious links, as they could lead to phishing scams or malware.
- Use Strong Passwords: Protect your Facebook account with a strong, unique password.
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication: Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your account by requiring a code from your phone in addition to your password when you log in.
- Report Suspicious Activity: If you notice any suspicious activity on Facebook, such as fake profiles or spam messages, report it to Facebook immediately.
- Educate Yourself: Stay informed about Facebook’s privacy policies and best practices for protecting your personal information online.
Conclusion
By taking the time to adjust your Facebook privacy settings, you can effectively block non-friends from seeing your content and control your online presence. This guide has provided you with the tools and knowledge you need to navigate Facebook’s privacy options and protect your personal information. Remember that privacy is an ongoing process, so be sure to review your settings regularly and stay informed about the latest privacy features and best practices.