How To: Limited Profile on Facebook

I'm so tired of people using privacy issues as an excuse to limit their Facebook enjoyment (or not join at all). It turns out that it's okay to add your boss, your students, even your mother. It's just a matter of controlling what they have access to on your profile. I'm going to show you how to make it so that certain people only see exactly what you're willing to show.

If all the the text and pictures confuse you, scroll to the bottom for bullet points.

First, click on your friends tab on the top left of the page, and click on "Edit Friends button " on the top right. The next page will have a "Create a List" button in the same place. Click it.

When you click on the "Create a List" button, a space will pop up for you to name a new list. You can either make an inclusive list (your friends who all love designer hand bag sample sales) or an exclusive list (I'd suggest "limited profile", but feel free to get more specific like "work" or "family" or "stalkers"). Just remember that (last time I checked) you can only include 20 people on a Facebook message, so if you're planning to message this list, you may want to break it into multiple lists if you have more than 20 people in mind.

Let's focus on an exclusive list.

When you've named your list, Facebook will ask you to add people to this list. I'm going to assume that you've had your mother as a pending request for the past 2 days and are panicking because you know she's calling you this afternoon! So let's skip the names (Facebook will still save the name of your list, and we'll add names soon) and go directly to what the list can and cannot see.

On the top right, click on the "Account" menu and select "Privacy Settings".

It will take you to the "Choose Your Privacy Settings" page (which I will subsequently refer to as the "Privacy Settings" page). You want to click "Custom" on the left column and then click the "Customize Settings" link.

If you don't have a "Custom" option on the left, just click "customize settings".

What will come up is the "Customize Settings" page. The different tabs let you customize what people can and can't see. One should be very strategic about what one presents to what people. Do you want the people you put on Limited Profile to know that they are on Limited Profile (because they can't see anything)?

I'm going to assume that your poor mother who has been waiting for you to accept her friend request for a full 48 hours wouldn't have the best reaction to your Sunday-morning status updates that involve more hangovers than hallelujahs and more hims than hymns, so let's click on the drop-down menu next to "Posts by Me" first and select "Custom".

Select the group you do want to see your posts (I've selected "Friends Only"). Then select the group you want to exclude from your posts for "Hide from These People". Here is where you start typing the name of your list. Facebook should finish the name of the list for you. Your window should look something like this:

Go through each category, customizing for "Limited Profile" each time in "Hide from These People" for the things you want to hide from your Limited Profile list.

Now, status updates can be incriminating, but the pictures are what really get you in trouble. I mean, what's the first thing you click on when you see someone's Facebook profile for the first time (and if you say "favorite books" or "religious views" I will reach through this computer screen and crack your skull)!

If you scroll down on the "Customize Settings" page, you'll see a link to "Edit Privacy Settings for existing photo albums and videos".

This is to control who sees photos you yourself have posted. When you click on the link, it will bring up a page like this.

As you can see, the drop-down menus are identical to those on the "Customize Settings" page. Use them to control who sees your more scandalous pictures.

Even more importantly, you'll want to customize who sees the photos you're tagged in (because you don't really have control over who tags you in photos and when). Go back to the "Customize Settings" page, and just under the "Edit Privacy Settings for existing photo albums and videos" link, you'll see "Photos and Videos You're Tagged In". Click on the "Edit Settings" button.

A pop-up window will open with a drop-down menu, which works exactly like the ones we discussed above.

I'd like to reiterate the note above. The new Facebook profiles show a row of photos of you. People will only be able to see what your settings allow them to see, so if it's only photos from select albums, that's what will show up when they look at your profile.

Once you've selected your privacy settings for each element of your profile, go back to your homepage to add your mother! After you accept the friend request, there'll be a prompt: "Add to friend list". Click on this drop-down menu and select "Limited Profile" (or whatever you've named this exclusive list).

To confirm that you've added her to the list, go to the "Friends" page (click "Friends" at the top left of the homepage), click "Edit Friends" and click "Limited Profile" near the top left of the page. Your mother's picture and smiling face should be on the list. If not, type in her name into the "type friend's name to add..." box.

Now would be a good time to start adding people to this list (perhaps opening up another window with your mother's profile and scrolling through your mutual friends would be a good start). Anyone you add to this list will have the same access to your profile.

To double check, go back to the "Privacy Settings" and go to the "Customize Settings" link. At the top right of the page, click on "Preview My Profile".

At the top of the screen, you'll see a box: "preview how your profile appears to a specific person". When you type your mom's name (or any other person's name on your Limited Profile list), you should see what she sees when she clicks on your profile.

Note the difference between how a friend on no list sees me and how a friend on Limited Profile sees me.

On the other hand, friend lists can be used for good rather than evil. If you have recent vacay photos that you only want your family to see, you can create a list and make that album visible to family only. You can do the same with individual notes. And, as I stated earlier, you an set up lists of people to message in groups (rather than typing their names out every time).

Lastly, did you know that any random person can find you on Facebook via a search engine like Google or Bing? That is, unless you change your settings...

On the "Privacy Settings" page, click the "edit your settings" link under the "Apps and Websites" heading.

At the very bottom of the page, next to "Public Search", click "Edit Settings".

The "Public Search window will have a check box. Leaving it checked lets people find you via search engines. Unchecking it will disable this functionality, but keep in mind Facebook's warning: "since some search engines cache information, some of your profile information may be available for a period of time after you turn public search off."

To see a preview of what your profile will look like when accessed via a search engine, click "see preview".

As far as I know, this view of your profile is only customizable via your other privacy settings (i.e., if you didn't select "friends only", it will likely show up via a search engine).

Don't be afraid of Facebook. It's specifically designed to keep you in contact with people and communicate with them on the level that you want to. You can even post nude pictures and expose them to only a select few people. Just be very careful about your settings and always double check with the "See how a friend sees your profile" blank.

Please give me feedback on this. Was it helpful? Was it clear? Did I just waste a few hours on blurring screenshots? Please let me know. And feel free to direct friends to this post.


Click here to check out my guide to online dating and hookups.



Here are the steps in bullet points.

To hide posts:

• Friends page

• “Make a new list”

• Name list (Limited Profile)

• “Privacy” a the top right

• on the "choose your privacy settings" page, click "custom" on the left and then click the "customize settings"link on the bottom

• On the "customize settings" page, select the drop-down menu next to "Posts by Me" and click "custom"

• In the pop-up window, select who you want to see your posts in the first drop-down menu and from whom you want to hide your posts in the second drop-down menu (Limited Profile).

• “Save Settings”

To hide your own photo albums:

• Navigate to "Customize Settings" page and select "Edit privacy settings for existing photo albums and videos"
• For each album, choose your settings via the drop-down menus below them (the work just like the ones discussed above)


To hide pictures others tag you in:
• Navigate to the "Customize Settings" page and next to the " Photos and Videos You're Tagged In", click the "Edit Settings" button.
• In the pop-up window, use the drop-down menu to set your privacy settings as discussed above.


To add people to your Limited Profile List
• If you have a pending request, go to your homepage and accept the request.
• You'll be prompted to add this person to a list. Add the person to your new Limited Profile list.
• To add existing friends to the list, go to the home page and click on "Friends" on the top left.
• Click "Edit Friends"
• Click "Limited Profile"
• Type friends' names into the blank to add them.


To see how your profile looks with your new settings:

• Navigate to the "Customize Settings" page (via the "Privacy Settings" page).
• Click "Preview My Profile" on the top right.
• Type in the name of a specific person in the blank at the top of the page to see how your profile looks to that person.


To disable public search (i.e., the ability to find your profile through search engines)
• Navigate to "Privacy Settings" page.
• Under "Apps and Websites" at the bottom, click "Edit Your Settings".
• At the bottom of the page, next to "Public Search", click "Edit Settings".
• Un-check the box to disable public search
• If you want to keep public search enabled, click "See Preview" to see how your profile will look when found via a search engine.