Who can see my Facebook profile and posts?

It depends on the part of your profile. Your name, profile picture, cover photo, gender, username, user ID and networks are always public. For posts and most profile details you choose the audience — and you can check the public view with View as.

At a glance

Always publicName, profile picture, cover photo, gender, username, user ID and networks — plus age range, language and country.
You choose the audiencePosts, details in About, stories and reels, and what friends post on your profile.
Someone else decidesPosts you’re tagged in — the person who posted chooses their audience.

5 steps
6 Facebook Help sources
Sources verified November 2026

Illustration — not the real app. If you lock your profile, only friends see your full-size profile and cover photos. On your own profile, “View as” shows the public view.

FbSpy is independent and not affiliated with Facebook or Meta. We help you with your own account only.

settings path

Check and change who sees your profile

1
Profile Options View asOpen your profile and choose View as to see it the way people who aren’t your friends see it. Leave with Exit view as.
2
Settings and privacy Settings Audience and visibilityPick an option such as posts or stories to adjust who can see them. Under Posts, “Who can see your future posts?” sets the default audience for new posts.
3
Change one post with its audience selectorClick the audience selector next to the post’s date and choose Public, Friends or Only me. This changes only that post.
4
About Options Edit for profile detailsDetails such as places you’ve lived or your family and relationships have their own audience selector.
5
Settings Posts Limit past postsChanges past posts that were visible to more people than your friends to Friends. Posts with a custom audience, such as Close Friends, don’t change, and people you tagged stay in the audience.

Who decides each part of your profile

Part of your profile — who decides — where to change it

Name, gender, username, user ID, profile picture, cover photo, networks
Who decides
Always public

Where to change it
Can’t be hidden
Age range, language, country
Who decides
Public

Where to change it
Can’t be hidden
Your posts
Who decides
You, post by post

Where to change it
Audience selector on the post; default in Audience and visibility
Details in About
Who decides
You, detail by detail

Where to change it
AboutOptionsEdit
What friends post on your profile
Who decides
You

Where to change it
Profile and taggingWho can see what others post on your profile?
Posts you’re tagged in by others
Who decides
The person who posted

Where to change it
Not your setting — the person who posted chooses
Stories and reels
Who decides
You, separately from posts

Where to change it
Their own audience setting

Why someone can still see a post

Changing your profile doesn’t control every place your content appears. Facebook Help points out these cases:

A post or photo you hide on your profile is still visible to its audience in other places, such as Feed and search.
If you tag someone, the tagged person’s friends may also see the post.
Posts and comments in a public group are public.
Comments on public posts are public, and other people can make information you shared public.
When you post on someone else’s profile, that person controls who can see it.
If someone tags you, their post keeps the audience they chose, even if timeline review keeps it off your profile.

What a change won’t do

There are 2 ways to change old posts — one post at a time, or all of them with Limit past posts — and they behave differently.

A new audience on 1 post changes only that post. Your next post goes back to your default audience.
A change on one device updates the post on all your devices.
Limit past posts can’t be reversed in 1 click: to change posts back, you edit each one.
It doesn’t change posts shared with a custom audience, such as Close Friends.
People you tagged stay in the audience of that post.

Someone at home with a phone in hand while a talk show plays on TV

Public can travel beyond Facebook

Public information can be seen by anyone, including people who aren’t your friends, people off Facebook and media outlets — a public comment on a TV show, for example, may appear on the show itself. It can also appear when someone searches on Facebook or on another search engine. If a post should stay among friends, choose its audience before you share it.

Questions

01Can I change the audience of one old post?

Yes. Open the post, click the audience selector next to its date and choose a new audience. Only that post changes.

02What does View as show?

Your profile as people who aren’t your friends see it. It’s a preview and doesn’t change anything.

03If I change an audience on my phone, does it change on my computer too?

Yes. A change on one device updates the post on all your devices.

04Can I hide my profile picture or name?

No. Your name, profile picture, cover photo, gender, username and user ID are part of your public profile, which anyone can see.

05Who controls a post I’m tagged in?

The person who posted it. You can use timeline review to approve or dismiss it before it appears on your profile.

06Can I undo Limit past posts?

Not in one click. To change posts back, you change the audience of each post.

Continue with your account

Sources for this guide

See the public view of your profilefacebook.com/help Control who can see what’s on your profilefacebook.com/help Choose who can see your postfacebook.com/help Choose who can see your previous postsfacebook.com/help Control who can see posts on your profilefacebook.com/help Public information on Facebookfacebook.com/help

Facts on this page come from the Facebook Help pages listed here, checked on 4 November 2026.