How to make friends list private on facebook?

Facebook allows you to choose whether your friends list is public or private. By default, your friends list is public, meaning anyone can see who you are friends with on Facebook. If you want more control over who can view your friends list, you can make it private. Here’s how to make your friends list private on Facebook.

Why Make Facebook Friends List Private?

There are a few key reasons you may want to make your Facebook friends list private:

Privacy – If you don’t want random people or acquaintances seeing who you are friends with, making your list private gives you more control.

Prevent stalking – Some people “friend stalk” to find out information about others. A private list prevents this.
Limit spam – Spammers sometimes scrape friends lists for potential targets. A private list helps avoid this.
Control image – You may not want employers, co-workers or others making judgments based on your friends.

While a public friends list has some benefits like making it easier to find friends in common, for many the privacy tradeoff is worth it.

How to Make Facebook Friends List Private

Making your Facebook friends list private is simple to do through the desktop site or mobile app with just a few clicks. Here are step-by-step instructions:

On Desktop

Open Facebook and click on the arrow in the top right corner.

Select “Settings & Privacy” from the dropdown menu.
Click on “Settings” in the left sidebar.
Click on “Privacy” in the left sidebar.

Under “How people find and contact you,” click on “Who can see your friends list.”
Select “Only Me” from the dropdown menu.
Click “Confirm” to save the setting.

That’s it! Your friends list is now private. Only you can see who you are friends with on Facebook.

On Mobile

Open the Facebook app and tap the three-line “hamburger” menu icon.
Scroll down and choose “Settings & Privacy.”

Tap on “Settings.”
Tap on “Privacy.”
Tap on “Who can see your friends list.”

Select “Only Me.”
Tap “Confirm” to save.

You have now successfully made your Facebook friends list private on mobile. The process is very similar to desktop.

Things to Know About Private Friends Lists

Here are some key things to keep in mind when making your friends list private on Facebook:

Applies to all friends – The setting makes your entire friends list private, not individual friends.
List remains visible to you – You can still see your full friends list even when it’s private.

Others can’t friend stalk – No one else, including friends of friends, can browse your friends.
Limited profile views – Friends of friends can only see limited profile info when visiting your profile.
Mutual friend finder affected – Tools to find mutual friends don’t work as well with a private list.

FB dating impacted – Facebook Dating users see fewer friend recommendations if your list is private.

In most cases, the benefits of a private friends list outweigh the minor drawbacks. But it’s helpful to understand how the setting works.

How Friends React to a Private List

When you make your friends list private, how does it impact your friends on Facebook? Here’s what they will see:

No notification – Friends are not notified when you make the change.
Can’t browse your friends – Friends can no longer browse or search your friends list.
Limited profile views – Visiting your profile only shows limited info and no longer shows mutual friends.

Mutual friends hidden – Any areas showing mutual friends will be blank.
Tagging still works – Friends can still tag you in posts and photos.

Essentially, the only change your friends will notice is they can no longer browse your friends list. All other Facebook features work normally.

Making Specific Friends Private

While you can’t hide individual friends from your main friends list, you can control whether specific friends see when you are online or have read their messages:

Online presence – Toggle this for individual friends under their name in your friends list.
Read receipts – Disable read receipts for messages from certain friends.

Unfollow – Stop seeing posts from friends without unfriending them.
Lists – Organize friends into lists and control privacy of each list.
Groups – Add friends to Groups and make Groups private or invisible.

While not exactly making specific friends private, these controls allow you to limit what certain friends see.

Troubleshooting Problems

In some cases, you may run into issues when trying to make your Facebook friends list private. Here is how to troubleshoot common problems:

Missing privacy settings – Ensure your Facebook app and browser are updated to the latest version. Older versions may not show the updated privacy settings.

Changes not saving – Try clearing your browser cookies and cache and reloading Facebook if your changes don’t save properly.
Can still see friends – It may take some time for Facebook to update your friends’ views of your profile and friends list after making changes. Give it some time.
Friends reporting issues – Ask friends reporting problems to try reloading your profile or clearing their browser cache to ensure they have the latest version.

Mobile differences – The mobile app sometimes has fewer options than desktop site. Use desktop site if needed.

In most cases, privacy settings like a private friends list work as expected. But if you encounter issues, these tips should help troubleshoot.

Other Facebook Privacy Settings

In addition to your friends list privacy, be sure to review these other key Facebook privacy and security settings:

Profile privacy – Control who can view your profile and posts.
Limit old posts visibility – Restrict who sees your past Facebook posts.
Review tagged posts – Approve tags people add before they appear on your profile.

Ad preferences – Limit how Facebook uses your data for ad targeting.
App settings – Remove app permissions and restrict API access.
Login notifications – Require notifications about unrecognized logins.

Two-factor authentication – Add an extra layer of security at login.

Facebook’s privacy settings let you tailor exactly what people see about you and your profile. Take time to review them fully to protect your privacy.

Conclusion

Making your Facebook friends list private is an easy but important way to gain more control over your privacy. The process only takes a few clicks either on desktop or mobile. Just navigate to your Privacy Settings, find the “Who can see your friends list” option, and choose “Only Me.” Remember that the setting makes your entire list private – you can’t hide individual friends.

While a private list prevents random friend stalking and scraping, it can also slightly limit some Facebook features. But for most people, the privacy benefits outweigh any minor drawbacks. Take some time to review all of Facebook’s privacy options to customize exactly what people can see about your profile and activity.