How do i block my friends list on facebook from the public

How to Hide your Friends List on Facebook

by Elizabeth Harper on March 31, 2022
in Facebook, Computers and Software, Computer Safety & Support, Tips & How-Tos, Privacy :: 77 comments

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It can be tough to keep your personal information private online, but just a few clicks can keep your Facebook information from prying eyes. If you want to keep strangers (or even friends) from trawling through your Friends list, it's simple — as long as you know where to look. Here's how you can hide your Friends list on Facebook.

Configure your Facebook Friends list from your PC

The instructions (and your options) are a little different whether you're viewing Facebook on a web browser. While you can access the basic options from either, the website will let you completely customize who can see your Friends list. Here's how to do it:

Open Facebook from your web browser.
Click the triangle in the upper right to open the menu, then select "Settings & privacy."
Select "Settings."
Click "Privacy" in the left-hand column.
In the "How People Can Find and Contact You" section, select "Who can see your friends list?" Click it.
In the drop-down menu, select who you would like to see your Friends list. Select one option from this list:
- Public: Anyone can see your Friends list
- Friends: Only your Friends can see your Friends list
- Friends except: All Friends except the Friends you selected
- Specific friends: Only Friends you've selected
- Only Me: Only you can see your Friends list
- Custom: You can select exactly who can and can't see your Friends list. When you click Custom, you can enter specific lists or names under "Share with" to let them see your Friends list or "Don't share with" to prevent them from seeing your Friends list. When you're done, click "Save changes" to save your custom settings
Click "Close" on the right to save your settings

Configure your Facebook Friends list from your phone or tablet

Setup on mobile is similar but offers different customization options. Instead of creating a completely custom list of people who can view your Friends list, mobile offers a few extra pre-configured options. Here's how to change the visibility of your Friends list from your iPhone or Android device:

Open the Facebook app.
Tap the menu icon (it looks like three horizontal lines) which is in the upper right for Android or in the lower right for iPhone.
Tap "Settings & Privacy."
Tap "Settings."
Under "Audience and Visibility," tap "How People Find and Contact You."
Tap "Who can see your friends list?" You'll see a few options and can click More > See All for a full list of options. Select one option from this list:
- Public: Anyone can see your Friends list
- Friends: Only your Friends can see your Friends list
- Only you: Only you can see your Friends list
- Friends except: All Friends except the Friends you selected
- Specific friends: Only Friends you've selected
- Specific lists: Next you'll see groups of people listed, like close Friends or Friends in your area. Exactly what shows up here will vary but will include lists of people you're associated with. If you'd like to select more than one list, you can do so using the custom option on the website.
If you've selected Friends Except or Specific Friends, you need to click Done once you've selected the people you want to have access to your Friends list.
Click the back button in the upper left to save your options and return to settings

While this will hide your Friends list, there are a few ways people can still uncover a few of your Friends. When people visit your profile, they may see Friends you have in common. Plus, if your Friends have public Friends lists, you'll be visible there. Changing your own Facebook privacy settings will help you lock down your privacy, but if your Friends haven't done the same, they may be able to piece together some clues with a simple search.

Updated on 3/31/2022 with new screenshots and instructions for the current Facebook interface

[Image credit: Screenshots via Techlicious, Smartmockups]

Elizabeth Harper is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering consumer technology and entertainment. In addition to writing for Techlicious, she's Editorial Director of Blizzard Watch and is published on sites all over the web including Time, CBS, Engadget, The Daily Dot and DealNews.

Discussion

How to Hide Friends List on Facebook From Certain People

You can hide your friends list on Facebook by going to your profile's Privacy settings.
By default, your friends list is public, and anyone with a Facebook account can see who is on it.
You can hide your friends list so that only your friends, or no one at all, can see it.

By default, your Facebook profile information, posts, and even your friends are available for all to see. It's often convenient for your friends list to be public, because it can help people find and connect with you.

If you prefer, you can restrict who can see your entire friends list using Facebook's privacy settings. You might not want everyone to see it, especially if you want to mask the identity of some friends from others. Or perhaps you just value your privacy and don't want everyone to know who you're connected to online.

Here's how to hide your friends list on Facebook.

How to hide your friends on Facebook via web browser

1. Open Facebook in a web browser.

2. Click your profile picture in the top right corner.

3. In the dropdown menu, click Settings & privacy.

4. Click Settings.

Go to your Facebook account’s settings. Stefan Ionescu/Insider

5. In the left side menu, click Privacy.

Click “Privacy” in the left side menu. Stefan Ionescu/Insider

6. In the section called How people can find and contact you, click Edit next to Who can see your friends list?

Click “Edit.” Stefan Ionescu/Insider

7. Click the dropdown to reveal a list of options. You can choose: Public, Friends, Friends except, Specific friends, Only me, or Custom.

Choose the privacy setting for your friends list. Stefan Ionescu/Insider

Quick tip: If you click Custom, you can choose to enter specific names. For example, you can share your friends list with all of your friends except for Bob Smith. After adding a specific person, click Save Changes.

How to hide your friends on Facebook via a mobile device

1. Open the Facebook app on your iPhone or Android device.

2. Tap the three horizontal lines (this is the hamburger menu). On an iPhone, this is in the bottom right corner of the screen; on an Android, it's in the top right corner.

Tap the hamburger menu in the Facebook app. Stefan Ionescu/Insider

3. Tap Settings & Privacy.

4. Tap Settings in the dropdown menu.

Tap “Settings.” Stefan Ionescu/Insider

5. In the Audience and visibility section, tap How people can find and contact you.

6. Tap Who can see your friends list?

7. Choose who you want to be able to see your friends list. You can choose: Public, Friends, Friends except, Specific friends, or Only me.

Quick tip: If you choose Friends except, you can block specific people from seeing your friends list.

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How do I control who can see my Facebook friends list?

Help Center

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Facebook Names

We're updating the mobile version of Facebook.com. More

By default, the Friends section of your profile is public, that is, everyone can see the list of your friends.

How do I specify who can see my friends list?

Classic Mobile Browser

Click the icon in the upper right corner of the Facebook window.

Scroll down and click Settings.

Scroll to the Audience & Visibility section and select How can I find and contact you.

Click Who can see your friends list?

Select the audience of people (for example, Friends) to whom you want to grant access to the friends list.

New version for mobile browser

Click the icon in the upper right corner of the Facebook window.

Select Settings.

Scroll down to the Privacy section and click Privacy Settings.

Click Who can see your friends list? See How can I find and contact you.

Select the audience of people (for example, Friends) to whom you want to grant access to the friends list.

What is worth remembering?

You can only access your friends list. Your friends can also manage access to their friend lists.

For example, if you select Only me, only you will see the full list of friends on your profile. However, if your friend has made their list public, other people will see you on their profile.

If a person sees your friendship information on another profile, they will also be able to see it in their Feed, search results, and other places on Facebook.

People can see your mutual friends on your profile.

Was the article helpful?

How to make a list of friends on Facebook

FaceBook to make friends of friends . In the MySpace days, people displayed their friends on their profiles almost like trophies. However, in this day and age, things are a little different. In addition to the growing privacy concerns, there's also the good old question of keeping your belongings to yourself.

Control the privacy of your friends list via browser

To hide your friends list using a computer, open your preferred browser and sign in to your Facebook account. Now go to the top right side of the screen. Here you will see an arrow pointing down. Click on it and a drop down menu will appear. Select "Settings" from this menu.

On the next screen, you will see a panel with various links on the left side of the screen. On this panel, select Privacy. On the privacy page, you'll see a section called How people find and contact you. Here, select Who can see your friends list? Click this entry. After the body of the text, you will see the option Public (default). Click here and you will see a drop down list.

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You have several options here. If you select "Friends", only your friends will be able to see your friends list. If you select Friends other than. .., you will be prompted to select friends you don't want to see in your friends list. Selecting specific friends will allow you to select the friends you want to share your friends list with. Selecting Only me will prevent all Facebook users from seeing your friends list.

You can also select Custom for more advanced settings. In the "Share with" section, you can allow the use of "Friends", "Friends of Friends" and individual friends. In the "Don't share with" section, you can enter the names of the people you want to prevent from seeing your friends list.

Control your friend list privacy via mobile app

If you want to set up your device using your phone or tablet, you need the Facebook mobile app. Launch the app and tap "hamburger menu". On the next screen, navigate to Settings & Privacy. Under Settings & Privacy, select Settings.

Then scroll down and tap Privacy Settings under Privacy. Then go to "How can people find and contact you" and then "Who can see your friends list"? Here you will get similar options when accessed via the desktop. The Public, Friends, Friends except…, Concrete Friends and Only Me options are all present here. Unfortunately, the Custom option is not available.

Pathways around your personal friends list

You should be aware that people can still see if you're friends with someone even if you've selected "Only me" in your privacy settings. If your friend's friends list is public, anyone can go to their profile and find your profile in the list.

If they see that you're friends with someone through their profile, they can also access that information from their news feed, search, and many other options on Facebook. Yes, this includes the shared view of friends.

Using audience selection for messages

In addition to keeping your friends list private, you can set an audience for each message. Whether you're using the desktop browser or the Facebook mobile app, you can always choose an audience for your posts before posting. To do this, simply click or tap Public on the posting screen and choose who sees the post in question.

However, you can change the audience of a post or posts that you have previously shared on Facebook. This is also possible. First, find your post on your timeline. You'll find the privacy settings for your posts next to the posting date and time. You can also find them in a menu of three dots for each. From here you will be able to allow or prevent some people from seeing it.

Facebook Live Privacy

Naturally, you can limit your audience when you make Facebook Live. It is also very easy to implement. You can make Facebook live video for everyone or select people. You can even make Facebook Live just for yourself. You can also broadcast live on Pages you manage and groups you are a member of.

The rules are simple. You can access these options from the Facebook Live screen you are using. It's all pretty intuitive, and you shouldn't have any trouble picking the perfect privacy settings for Facebook Live. Keep in mind, however, that you cannot stream to a Facebook page you manage from the Facebook mobile app.