Protect your facebook account
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Facebook can reveal a lot more about you than many people realize. Public profile details, friend lists, posts, location clues, and account connections can all be used by scammers, impostors, and criminals. That is why it is important to review your Facebook privacy and security settings regularly and limit the amount of information strangers can see or use.
The exact layout of Facebook’s menus can change over time, but most of the settings below can now be found under Settings & Privacy, Privacy Checkup, Audience and visibility, and Accounts Center.
Start with Facebook’s Privacy Checkup
One of the easiest places to begin is
Facebook’s Privacy Checkup. It walks you through important settings related to who can see what you share, how people can find you, and how to better secure your account.
Review who can see your posts and profile details
Scammers often collect personal details from social media to make phishing and impersonation attempts more convincing. Review who can see your future posts, past posts, profile details, friend list, and other personal information.
- Set your future posts to Friends, Only Me, or another limited audience instead of Public.
- Review and limit the audience for past posts if older content is still public.
- Check the visibility of profile details in your About section, including contact information, birthday, hometown, workplace, family details, and other identifying information.
- Review your timeline and tagged content to make sure it is not more public than you intended.
Review how people can find and contact you
Limit how easy it is for strangers to find your profile and reach you.
- Review who can send you friend requests.
- Review who can look you up using your email address or phone number.
- Turn off the setting that allows search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile if you do not want your profile appearing in search results.
Be careful with friend requests
Do not accept friend requests from people you do not know. Fake accounts are often used to gather personal information, view your content, build trust, or set up future scams. A larger friends list can also mean a larger audience for information you never intended to share widely.
Turn on two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication is one of the strongest ways to protect your account from unauthorized access. Even if someone learns your password, it makes it much harder for them to log in.
- Go to Settings and then Accounts Center.
- Open Password and security.
- Turn on two-factor authentication for Facebook.
- Use a stronger verification method when available, such as an authenticator app, and keep your recovery options current.
Review where you’re logged in
Check your recent logins and devices. If you see a browser, device, or location you do not recognize, sign out of that session and change your password.
Use a strong, unique password
Do not reuse your Facebook password on other sites. If another account is compromised and you reused the same password, that can lead directly to your Facebook account being taken over. Use a strong, unique password or passphrase and consider a password manager if needed.
Review connected apps and websites
If you have used Facebook to log in to other apps, games, or websites, review those connections and remove any you do not trust or no longer use. Third-party connections can expose data or create added security risk.
Review activity off Meta technologies
Facebook allows you to review a summary of activity that businesses and organizations share with Meta about your interactions with them. You can review this activity, disconnect past activity from your account, and manage future activity settings.
- Review the businesses and websites connected to your activity.
- Disconnect past activity if you want less connection between that activity and your account.
- Manage future activity if you want to limit this kind of data sharing going forward.
Limit location sharing
Location data can reveal where you live, work, travel, and spend time. Review location permissions on both your device and in Facebook-related settings. If you do not need Facebook to use precise location, consider restricting that access.
Think before you click links or open messages
Do not click suspicious links, even if they appear to come from a friend. A compromised Facebook account can be used to send malicious links through Messenger, posts, or email. If something looks odd, confirm with the person another way before clicking.
Clean up your friends list
Review your friends list from time to time and remove people you do not know, no longer trust, or are not comfortable sharing information with. Old or questionable connections increase your privacy risk.
Watch what you post
Avoid sharing details that could make you easier to target, such as your full birth date, home address, travel plans, financial problems, family names, pet names, or answers to common security questions. Even harmless-looking personal details can be used in scams, impersonation, or account recovery attacks.
Keep your Facebook account secure
Helpful Facebook Resources
