How to Hide Your Facebook Friends List from Others

Despite your Facebook allowing access to your entire list of friends by default, you can easily hide your Facebook Friends list from. This is great for helping people find mutual acquaintances, especially if they’ve just signed up to Facebook. However, you may prefer to keep your Friends list private. This tutorial shows you how to be sneakier about your online friendships. You’ll learn how to hide your Facebook Friends list from your online buddies, including how to hide your Friends list from specific users. You’ll also learn how to make your entire Friends list private, which is perfect if you’re worried about online privacy.

Also read:How to Create and Personalize Facebook Stories

How to Hide Your Facebook Friends List on PC

You can change your Facebook privacy settings for your friends list via the desktop or mobile app. Follow the instructions below if using Facebook in your browser on a computer.

1. Head over to Facebook and log in to your account.
2. In the upper-right corner, click on your profile picture.

3. Select “Settings & Privacy -> Settings” from the menu that pops up.

4. Select “Privacy” from the menu on the left.

5. Scroll down until you find the following section: “How people find and contact you -> Who can see your friends list.” Click the “Edit” link to the right.

6. Use the “Who can see your friends list?” drop-down to specify who has access to this information.

Choose from the following options:

• Public – everyone has access to your Friends list.
• Friends – your list will be accessible to your Friends only. It cannot be accessed by other Facebook users.
• Friends except – do you want to share your Facebook Friends list with everyone except a select few users? In this scenario, it may be easier to specify who shouldn’t have access to your Friends list.
• Specific friends – if you only want to share your list with certain people, select “Specific friends” and enter the names of the lucky few.
• Only me – This hides your Friends list from everyone – even those on your Friends list!
• Custom – if you have very specific requirements, this is the most flexible option. You can use “Custom” to enter the names of anyone who should and shouldn’t have access to your Friends list. You can also use “Custom” to restrict or grant access to entire groups, including “Friends of Friends.”

Also read:How to Save Posts to Read Later on Facebook

If you don’t want to go through Settings, there’s an alternative path via your Facebook profile that allows you how to hide your Friends list.

1. Go to your Facebook profile.
2. Find your Friends list on the right, and click on “See all friends.”

3. In the top right next to the “Find Friends” button, cllick on the three horizontal dots.

4. Select “Edit Privacy” from there.

5. A pop-up window will appear showing you your current privacy settings. Hit the button next to “Friends List.”

6. This will bring up the list of options detailed above. Select the desired option.

Also read:Instagram Not Working? Here Are 14 Ways to Fix it

How to Hide Your Facebook Friends List on Mobile

If you have Facebook installed on your phone, then you may prefer to modify these privacy settings via the iOS or Android mobile application.

Note that the following instructions are based on Facebook for Android, so the steps may differ slightly on iOS. Unlike on PC, you can only fiddle with these options via Settings and not directly from your profile.

1. Launch the Facebook mobile app on your mobile.
2. Tap the three-line icon in the upper-right corner.

3. Scroll to “Settings & Privacy” and give it a tap.

4. Select “Settings.”

5. Swipe down until you find the “Audience and visibility” section, then hit “How people find and contact you.”

6. Choose “Who can see your friends list?” to reveal the options detailed above and select your desired option.

Also read:How to Block Someone on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Other Apps

How to Verify that Your Friends List Is Hidden

If you want to ensure the settings changes went into effect, follow the steps below.

1. On PC, go back to “Settings” as shown above.
2. Select “Profile and tagging” from the side menu.

3. On the right, scroll down until you see the “Check what your profile looks like to others” option at the bottom. Click the “View as” button to see what the public can see.
4. If you did everything right, your Friends list should not be visible on the left.

5. If you’re on mobile, go to “Settings” again and press on “Profile and Tagging” in the “Audience and visibility” section.

6. Tap on “Review what other people see on your profile” toward the bottom to check what visitors on your profile will be able to see. Your Friends list should be missing from your profile.

Also read:How to Delete Comments, Likes, and Reactions on Facebook

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there any way that people can still see who my Facebook friends are?

If you hide your Facebook Friends list with the option “Only me,” people who visit your profile (friends, as well as non-friends) won’t be able to see anything in the Friends area on your page. Sometimes, though, visitors to your profile will be able to see “Mutual friends.” In our testing, this is more likely to happen if you’re friends with them and have added them to the “Close friends” list. People can also see your friendship on another profile. For instance, if a friend of yours has set the visibility of their Facebook Friends list to “Public,” a visitor to their profile will see that you are their friend.

How can I create a specific list of people on Facebook?

Creating custom lists of people on Facebook is rather simple and can help you better control who has access to things like Facebook Fiends list, as well as posts and comments. To do that, go to the Friends tab from your Feed and find the “Custom lists” option on the menu on the left. Click on the “Create list” button to start a new list.

Can you hide certain friends from your Facebook Friends list?

Currently, the option to hide certain friends from your Facebook Friends list is not available. What you can do, however, is create a curated list of people who can see your Friends list by using the Custom or Specific Friends options via the app’s privacy settings. Even so, hiding specific people from your list is not possible. If you wish to remove them from view, your only options are to delete or block them.

How can I stop friends/people from seeing my activity on Facebook?

If privacy is essential to you while using Facebook, know that you have a robust set of options you can take advantage of. One of them is the Restricted list, which allows you to create a list of people who won’t be given access to your full activity on the social network. Read on to learn more about creating your own Restricted list.

Image credit: Freepik All screenshots by Alexandra Arici