How to hide your contacts on facebook

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 :: 76 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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Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

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

Help Center

Account Management

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.

Configuring access to your friends list

Classic version for mobile browser

Click the icon in the upper right corner of the Facebook window. nine0003

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. nine0003

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.

Notes

You can only access your own 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. nine0003

If your friend has made their list public, information about your friendship may appear in News Feed, search results, and other places on Facebook.

People can see your mutual friends on your profile.

Was the article helpful?

How to hide your friends on Facebook

There are many ways to hide your friends and followers information.

On computer

Please note that the interface may differ slightly depending on the operating system. Sign in to Facebook and log in with your username and password. Without leaving the news feed, click on the button with the image of three horizontal stripes at the top right of the page.

A context window will open on the left side of the screen. Scroll down to "Settings".

After clicking, a context menu will appear with a list of possible settings. What to do next:

Click on the "Privacy" line.
Another window will open - select "Who can see my friends".
On the right opposite, the line "Edit" will be displayed - click on it.

The privacy selection and editing options are displayed. From the available ones you can choose:

available to everyone;
friends;
friends except;
certain friends;
only me;
user settings.

Public - the list is open to all Facebook users, the list of friends is visible to everyone, friends can see each other. Friends - the list is available for viewing only to persons who are added as friends. That is, they are only visible to each other.

Friends, except - the ability to set restrictions for a specific person or group of people. It is possible to hide the list both from one person and from several. Specific friends - here you can set privacy or visibility for any of your friends. nine0003

Only me - the owner of the account sees the list of friends. Friends don't see each other. User settings - the ability to make your own settings. Different options for choosing settings for each specific case.

On the phone

You can perform the same operations on your smartphone as on your computer. Log in to your account and click on the menu icon located at the top right.

In the context window that opens, click on the settings line.

Now scroll down to the Audience & Visibility section and select Followers & Public Content.

After clicking on this line, the section "Who can see the people, Pages and lists that you follow?" will be displayed. Here you need to select a constraint.

Choices:

Only me.
Available to all.
Friends of friends.
Friends.

If you want to completely hide the list of friends - select "Only me". If you want to set viewing restrictions, any of the remaining three points is suitable. nine0003

How to see your hidden friends

The list of friends for the account owner is available in normal mode and regardless of privacy settings. Log in to your profile and click on the icon at the top of the screen, which shows silhouettes of people.

In the context menu that opens, click on the "Your Friends" item.

A list of all friends will appear. For example, in this case, all friends are hidden and available only to the user. nine0003

They are displayed as a normal list.

Important! This method is not suitable for the Lite version of the application.

How to see your hidden friends from other Facebook users

There is no exact way that is guaranteed to show hidden friends from other users. You can use two methods that are partially suitable:

view the general friendship of your followers;

General friendship. The method only works for checking friends. You need to sign in to your friend's account.

Click on the "All" icon next to the list of friends.

Mutual friends will be displayed here, including hidden ones. This method is suitable for Facebook and Facebook Lite apps. You can try to view hidden friends through the "View Friendship" option. To do this, enter the page to a friend and click on the three dots next to the profile picture. nine0003

The "View Friendship" item will be displayed - click on it.

A window will appear showing hidden shared friends and shared posts, if any.

Important! The method is not suitable for the Facebook Lite mobile app.

Create another account. The method is considered incorrect from the point of view of the Facebook administration and such accounts are periodically blocked. Thus, you can add friends to your hidden followers and track his friendship with other users. nine0003

Note! The method will work if the friend does not have restrictions on viewing the corresponding list.

Are there third party services?

Until recently, we used the Facebook Scanner program. When entering a nickname or profile ID, the service scanned the account and provided a full range of information - friends, including hidden ones, preferences, comments posted on the pages of other users, and much more. Now the program is blocked because it is a violation of the privacy rules of the social network. nine0003

How to hide one Facebook friend from another

There are several easy ways to do this:

Change the privacy settings for both friends to "Only me".
Learn more