How To Access Facebook Account Settings

Facebook isn't known for amazing privacy practices, so you may want to take things into your ain hands.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Facebook's parent company may now be known as Meta, but the social network yet has many of the same old problems around information privacy, hate speech and misinformation. So, as an early new year's resolution, yous may go far a goal to practice regular privacy check ups. I suggest doing one every couple of months (it'due south helpful to set a reminder in your calendar app). Doing and then will help you lot keep up with the abiding changes Facebook makes and will assistance you lot go on tabs on random apps you grant access to your information.

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Facebook, after all, is one of the largest online hoarders of our personal information. Because of that, our private info is a prime target for would-be bad actors. Accessing your information doesn't always mean gaining straight access to your account due to a poor password. Instead, as we learned a few years ago from theCambridge Analytica scandal, approval a rogue app tin practice merely as much harm.

Read more:Don't just deactivate your Facebook account. Delete it permanently

So while I take your attention and you're thinking most it, accept a few minutes tosecure your Facebook account. I recommend going through the steps outlined beneath on a computer -- not your phone. Information technology makes information technology easier to read all the pertinent information while y'all make adjustments. Keep reading to learn how to set a stiff password, limit how others can search for you and preclude Facebook from keeping your location history.

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Employ a strong countersign and two-cistron authentication

The showtime things you should practice to secure your Facebook account are to create a stiff password and enable ii-factor authentication. This might seem obvious, but the importance can't be overstated. Y'all'll also want to make certain you're not using the same password for crucial accounts like your cyberbanking app. Use a password manager to help create and, most importantly, call back your unique passwords (these are our tiptop picks for best password manager). Become to the Security page and change your password.

new-password-2fa — Strong passwords and ii-factor authentication are incredibly important.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

One time you have a new password, plough on two-factor hallmark. With 2FA enabled, you'll need to enter your secure password and a randomly generated code whenever you sign in to your account. (Yous actually should be using 2FA on every account and service that supports it.)

Read more:Best password manager to employ for 2022

Most password managers have the ability to store your ii-factor authentication codes, besides. However, you tin can always utilize Google Authenticator to shop and provide access to your codes if needed.

Become through Privacy Settings and Tools

Facebook has a dedicated Privacy section for your business relationship. In this section, yous tin practise things like set the default privacy setting for future posts, command who tin can send you friend requests and decide what information people can use to search for your account.

Go through each and every pick on the privacy settings and tools page and adjust each one to your liking. I advise setting your hereafter posts to "Friends" and limiting the phone number and email address search options to "Friends" or "Only Me" to ensure that anyone with just a slice of your personal info can't find your business relationship.

Remove past posts from the public eye

edit-previous-post-audience — There'due south no telling what kind of personal information you shared several years agone on Facebook. Limit past posts to forestall that information from being public.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

The way we use social networks has changed quite a bit, particularly as nosotros become more aware of just how Facebook, and those on Facebook, can use our personal information.

Thankfully, you can limit your by posts from being visible to anyone who might stumble across your profile.

Go to the Privacy section and find Limit the audience for posts you've shared with friends of friends or Public? and click on it. Next, click the button labeledLimit Terminal Posts. Facebook volition then convert annihilation yous've e'er shared publicly or with friends of friends to being visible by only your friends, thus limiting who can see information technology.

It's an all-or-nada setting. Meaning, you can't pick and cull which posts you desire to alter via this setting. If you lot want to do that, you lot'll have to manually go through your timeline and make those changes individually.

Inspect devices with access to your business relationship

remove-devices-from-facebook-account — You may end up surprised at how many devices have access to your Facebook account.
Screenshot past Jason Cipriani/CNET

Over the years, we've all signed into our Facebook accounts on different phones, computers, tablets and various other devices. Facebook keeps a log of the devices that have access to your account, and makes it easy to revoke access to a rogue device or one you forgot to log out of.

View a listing of all those devices under the Where You lot're Logged In section of the Security and Login page. If you have several devices, click on Run across More to view the unabridged list. To remove a device from the list, click on the iii-dot icon to the right of the device'south name and then Log Out. You'll be asked whether or not you lot want all posts that came from that device to be removed from your account as well; a user-friendly feature should someone have gained access to your account and posted without your permission.

Alternatively, yous can sign out of every device linked to your account by clicking Meet More than > Log Out Of All Sessions at the bottom of the list. I found a couple of devices from 2022 that still had admission to my account while writing this commodity -- yikes. I logged out of all devices to start with a clean slate as a result. The few seconds I'll spend logging back in each time I apply a device that was revoked is well worth the peace of mind.

Don't forget to look through apps with admission

remove-apps-from-facebook-account — Keeping tabs on the apps with access to your Facebook account is just plainly smart.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

In that aforementioned vein, we've all granted countless apps access to our Facebook account. Over time, some apps are abandoned by developers and ultimately become a security take a chance. Should someone gain access to the app's database of users, they could -- in theory -- gain access to some features and information stored in your Facebook business relationship.

Visit the Apps and Websites folio to view the Agile apps that have admission to your account. If you accept an expired app, similar I practise in the screenshot above, or apps you no longer desire to retain admission to your Facebook business relationship, click the Remove button to the correct of the app's proper noun.

Don't let Facebook track your location.

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Plough off, delete Location History on your telephone

Facebook uses its access to location data from your phone to create a map of your location history. You can delete your location history here, or if yous'd rather Facebook not store your location history at all, you can plow off location history on that same page.

On an Android phone, open the Facebook app and then tap on the three-line icon. Under Settings & Privacy select Privacy Shortcuts followed by Manage your location settings on the Privacy carte. Next, select Location History > View your Location History and enter your business relationship password when asked. Finally, tap on the iii-dot icon in the elevation-correct corner and select Delete all Location History.

The procedure is similar on an iPhone. Open up the Facebook app and tap on the three-line icon, thenSettings & Privacy then select Privacy Shortcuts followed by Manage your location settings on the Privacy card. Select Location History>View your Location History and enter your business relationship password when asked. Finally, tap on the three-dot icon in the top-right corner and select Delete all Location History.

Non sure you even want to use Facebook anymore? You can delete your account, only information technology takes some planning on your function. If you just tin't get abroad from Facebook, for any reason, here are tips tokeep your information secure and some of the best VPN services to try.

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