You can easily change who can see your existing Facebook posts directly from your profile. This is often referred to as editing the privacy setting or audience of a post.
Here's how to change the audience for a post you've already shared on Facebook:
Steps to Change Your Facebook Post's Audience
Follow these simple steps to adjust the privacy settings for any post on your timeline:
-
Access Your Profile: Tap the
Menuicon (often represented by three horizontal lines or your profile picture) located in the top right corner of the Facebook app or website. Then, tap on your name to go to your profile. -
Locate the Post: Scroll down your profile feed to find the specific post whose audience you want to change.
-
Open Edit Options: Tap the
three dots(•••) icon located in the top right corner of the individual post itself. -
Select Change Audience: From the options that appear in the menu, tap on Change Audience.
-
Choose Your New Audience: A list of audience options will be displayed. Select who you want to be able to see this post. Common options include:
- Public: Anyone on or off Facebook can see your post.
- Friends: Only your Facebook friends can see the post.
- Friends except...: Show to friends, but hide from specific people.
- Specific friends: Only show the post to certain friends.
- Only Me: Only you can see the post.
- Custom: Define a specific list of people to include or exclude.
Once you select a new audience, the setting is applied immediately to that post.
Understanding Audience Options
Choosing the right audience is key to managing your privacy on Facebook. Here's a quick look at the main options:
| Audience Option | Who Can See Your Post? |
|---|---|
| Public | Anyone (on or off Facebook) |
| Friends | Only your Facebook friends |
| Only Me | Only you |
| Specific Lists | Defined groups of friends (e.g., Family) |
| Custom | You define who can see or not see |
Changing the audience of a post allows you to refine your sharing after the fact, giving you greater control over your content's visibility.
This process focuses specifically on altering who can view the post, not on editing the post's content (like text, photos, or videos). If you need to edit the content, you would tap the three dots and choose an option like "Edit Post" instead of "Change Audience".
