How to Set Up Facebook Privacy Settings

Configure Facebook privacy settings to control who sees your posts, personal information, and activity. Step-by-step guide for maximum privacy protection.

Access Privacy Settings. Click the down arrow in the top-right corner of Facebook. Select Settings & Privacy, then click Privacy. This opens the main privacy control panel where you'll configure all visibility settings.
Set Future Post Visibility. Click 'Who can see your future posts?' and select your preferred audience. Choose Friends for maximum privacy, Public for open sharing, or Custom to create specific audience lists. This setting affects all new posts unless you change it for individual posts.
Limit Past Posts. Click 'Limit the audience for posts you've shared with friends of friends or Public?' then click 'Limit Past Posts.' Confirm by clicking 'Confirm' in the popup. This immediately restricts all previous public posts to friends only.
Control Friend Requests. Navigate to 'Who can send you friend requests?' and select 'Friends of friends' to limit requests from complete strangers. For maximum privacy, you can also edit 'Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?' and set both to 'Friends.'
Configure Profile Visibility. Click 'Timeline and Tagging' in the left sidebar. Set 'Who can post on your timeline?' to 'Only me' or 'Friends.' Change 'Who can see what others post on your timeline?' to 'Friends' to prevent public posts on your profile.
Restrict Search Engine Indexing. In Privacy settings, scroll to 'Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?' and click 'Edit.' Uncheck the box to prevent Google and other search engines from displaying your Facebook profile in search results.
Block Unwanted Contact. Click 'Blocking' in the left sidebar. Add names, email addresses, or phone numbers to block specific people. Use 'Block messages from' to prevent messages from non-friends. Enable all app blocking options to prevent unwanted app invitations.