Social Media Privacy Guide
Choose who can see your posts, find your account, and contact you. Start with the platforms you use, then check how your profile looks to someone outside your audience.
Review post audiences, tagged content, contact details, app access, and location sharing separately. A private account setting does not make every detail invisible. Settings can vary by account type, age, device, and region; the official guides below cover current options.
Facebook: review audiences and tagged posts
Start with Meta’s Privacy Checkup guidance. It covers who can see your profile information and posts. Use the audience selector when you publish, and review existing posts separately.
- Check the audience for your phone number, email, friends list, and future posts.
- Review old public photos and posts rather than changing only your default audience.
- Use profile and tag review to decide which tagged posts appear on your profile. This does not remove the original post from someone else’s account.
- Review apps and websites connected to your account. Remove access you no longer use.
Instagram: posts, stories, and tags
Decide whether you want a public or private account, then review followers and story audiences. Check Instagram’s account privacy help for the options available to your account.
- Remove followers you no longer want in your audience.
- Review story sharing, message requests, tags, and mentions as separate controls.
- Check photos you are tagged in and location details in posts. Removing an app’s location permission does not remove locations from old posts.
- Remove unnecessary contact details from your bio and review connected apps.
X: protect posts and check discoverability
In the app, open Settings and privacy → Privacy and safety → Audience and tagging, then enable Protect your posts if you want to approve followers. See X’s instructions. Making the account public again also makes previously protected posts public.
- Review pending and existing followers before changing your audience.
- Check who can send message requests and who can find you using contact details.
- Review photo tags, location details, and connected apps separately.
LinkedIn: control the public version of your profile
On desktop, open Me → View Profile → Public profile & URL. Turn off public visibility or hide specific sections. On mobile, use Settings → Visibility → Edit your public profile. LinkedIn’s public-profile guide explains these controls.
- Check the public profile preview for contact details, work history, and other information you want to limit.
- Review connection visibility and communication preferences separately from the public profile.
- Allow time for search results to update: LinkedIn says search tools may take weeks or months to reflect a change.
TikTok: review each way people can use your videos
Use TikTok’s privacy settings guides for account privacy, comments, messages, Duet, Stitch, downloads, and suggested accounts. Available choices vary, including by age.
- Choose a public or private account, then review the audience for individual posts.
- Check comments, messages, Duet, Stitch, and downloads separately.
- Review suggested-account and contact-sync settings if you want to limit how people discover you.
- Check location permissions and location information already attached to posts.
YouTube: subscriptions, playlists, and history
On a computer, open your profile picture → Settings → Privacy, then choose Keep all my subscriptions private. YouTube’s subscription guide notes that subscriber-only chats and comments can still reveal that you subscribe.
- Review playlist visibility and the audience of videos you uploaded.
- Check watch and search history in your Google Account. These are separate from what visitors can see on your channel.
- Review old public comments and channel contact details.
Finish with a public-view check
Open your profile while signed out where the platform allows it. Record what remains visible, the changes you made, and anything you still need to remove. Review old photos for addresses, documents, school names, and other details in the background.
Keep separate usernames for accounts you do not want linked. Use unique passwords and multifactor authentication, and remove app access you no longer need. Review the settings again after a rebrand, a change in audience, or a new connected app.
For accounts you forgot about, search your old usernames. Use the digital footprint checklist to record findings, or the account deletion directory for a service’s closure route.