How do I fully lock down my Facebook so it’s truly private?

General
1

I’m getting random friend requests and people I don’t know are liking my old posts. I thought my Facebook was already private, but clearly some stuff is still visible. Can someone walk me through all the settings I need to change so my profile, photos, and past posts are only visible to friends I choose?

2

Yeah, Facebook privacy is like whack-a-mole. Here is the full lockdown checklist.

Do this on the app or desktop. Wording is close but sometimes slightly different.

  1. Run Facebook’s privacy checkup
    Settings & privacy > Privacy Checkup
    Go through all sections:
    • Who can see what you share
    • How people find and contact you
    • Your data settings

Set everything to Friends or Only me where possible.

  1. Lock your profile (if option exists for you)
    Profile > three dots > Lock profile
    If you see it, use it. It forces:
    • Public posts to Friends
    • Profile info limited
    • Story privacy tighter

If you do not see it, continue with manual steps.

  1. Lock down friend requests
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > How people find and contact you
    Set:
    • Who can send you friend requests: Friends of friends
    • Who can look you up with email: Only me
    • Who can look you up with phone number: Only me
    • Do you want search engines outside Facebook to link to your profile: No

This cuts randoms hard.

  1. Default post audience
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Posts
    • Future posts: Friends
    • Limit the audience for posts you have shared with Friends of friends or Public: Tap “Limit past posts” and confirm
    This is big. It rewrites all old public/FoF posts to Friends.

  2. Check old posts manually
    Go to your profile > three dots > Activity log
    Check:
    • Your posts
    • Posts you are tagged in
    For sensitive stuff:
    • Change audience to Only me
    • Or delete
    • Or remove tag

People might be liking old public posts you forgot about.

  1. Lock profile info
    Profile > Edit details / Edit profile
    Tap each section:
    • Work, education, city, relationship, family, etc
    Set audience to Friends or Only me
    Also go to Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Profile information
    Repeat the same.

  2. Friends list visibility
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > How people find and contact you
    • Who can see your friends list: Only me
    This stops strangers from mapping your network.

  3. Timeline and tagging
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Profile and tagging
    Set:
    • Who can post on your profile: Only me
    • Who can see what others post on your profile: Friends or Only me
    • Review posts you are tagged in before they appear on your profile: On
    • Review tags people add to your posts: On

  4. Story privacy
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Stories
    Set:
    • Story audience: Friends or Custom
    • Hide story from: Add specific people if needed
    Also disable “Allow others to share your story” if you see that.

  5. Reels and public content
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Reels
    • Set default audience to Friends
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Followers and public content
    • Who can follow you: Friends
    • Who can see your public content: Friends
    Turn off public comments, public likes, etc if listed.

  6. Face recognition
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Face recognition
    • Face recognition: No
    Stops auto suggestion on other people’s photos.

  7. Ads and off-Facebook tracking
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Permissions > Off-Facebook activity
    • Clear history
    • Disconnect future activity
    Also in Ad preferences, reduce data usage and set “Ads based on your data from partners” to Off if available.

  8. Apps and websites
    Settings & privacy > Settings > Security and login or Apps and websites
    • Remove old games, quiz apps, logins you do not need
    Some of these keep data and partial access.

  9. Check from a non-friend view
    Use “View As”:
    Go to your profile > three dots > View As
    Look at:
    • About
    • Photos
    • Friends
    • Posts
    If something shows that should be private, tap it and change audience.

  10. Lock Messenger info
    In Messenger:
    • Settings > Phone number: remove if you do not want search by number
    • Story audience in Messenger: set to Friends

Bonus habits:
• Do not accept unknown friend requests
• Avoid public comments on big pages if you want low visibility
• Every few months run Privacy Checkup again, Facebook loves to sneak in new stuff

If you still get random friend requests after this, it is mostly bots scraping suggested friends. With “Friends of friends” set and everything else locked, they see less, but they still try. The key is their access to your posts and info stays blocked.

3

Couple of extra angles to add on top of what @espritlibre already laid out (their checklist is solid, but FB is sneakier than that).

  1. Mobile vs desktop mismatch
    Some settings only really “stick” when changed on desktop. I’ve had:
  • Post audience set to Friends in the app
  • Desktop still showed a few posts set to Public
    So: do a full pass on desktop too, especially:
  • Settings > Audience and visibility > Posts
  • Reels, Stories, Followers
  1. Watch “Public” via profile picture & cover photo
    Even when you’re locked down:
  • Profile picture and cover photo often default to Public
  • The image and the album can have separate audiences
    Click the picture itself > 3 dots > Edit audience.
    Also check the “Profile Pictures” and “Cover Photos” albums and set those to Friends or Only me. People liking old stuff are often on those.
  1. Turn off “Public” as an option when you post
    FB likes to “helpfully” change your audience if you interact with public stuff.
  • Create a fake throwaway test post
  • Change audience to Public
  • Then back to Friends
    Then go to Posts settings and confirm the default is still Friends. If FB keeps switching it, stop posting from third‑party apps or tools that might be forcing Public.
  1. Check groups & pages you interact with
    Your profile can be private while your activity is not.
  • Public groups and pages: any comment there shows your name and profile pic to everyone, which then leads to random friend requests.
    If you want to be nearly invisible, avoid commenting on:
  • Viral posts
  • Big public pages
  • Public groups
    Or at least accept that any comment there is a “public appearance.”
  1. Lock down “Likes” and “Following”
    Go to your profile > More > Likes (or Manage sections) and see what’s exposed.
    On desktop: Settings > Audience and visibility > Followers & public content
  • Limit who can see the people, pages, and lists you follow.
    If your page likes are public, strangers can find you through niche interests and start poking around.
  1. Search yourself logged out
    Use a different browser / incognito / not logged in:
  • Search your name in Google and FB
  • Click your profile like a stalker would
    You’ll often catch stuff “View As” misses, like:
  • Old comment threads
  • Public event attendance
    If you see your name tied to public events, open the event and uncheck “Show on timeline” or adjust the audience.
  1. Events & check‑ins
    Old check‑ins are a huge leak almost nobody remembers:
  • Activity log > Filters > Check‑ins / Location
    Either delete or set to Only me.
    Same for:
  • Old events you were “Interested” or “Going” on that are public.
  1. Reconsider “Friends of friends” for friend requests
    Here I’ll disagree slightly with @espritlibre.
    “Friends of friends” can still be a huge pool, especially if you have even one person who accepts everyone.
    If you truly want minimal noise:
  • Set “Who can send you friend requests” to Friends of friends
  • Then prune your current friends list
    Anyone adding randoms blows a hole in your privacy.
  1. Use lists for “semi‑friends”
    For coworkers / distant relatives / people you don’t fully trust:
  • Create a “Limited” or “Acquaintances” list
  • Put them there
  • When posting, use Friends except: and exclude that list
    This way you stay “socially polite” but they see almost nothing useful.
  1. Accept that bots will still knock
    Even with everything locked:
  • Bots hit suggested friends
  • People will still see your name if you appear on old public posts, group comments, or if a friend has poor privacy
    Goal is not zero requests, it’s zero visibility of your real content.
    If you’re still getting likes on really old posts, it’s almost always:
  • Old public post you missed
  • Public photo album
  • Public life event (relationship status, job change, etc.)

If you want to go nuclear:

  • Set all audiences to Only me
  • Unfriend anyone you don’t absolutely need
  • Stop posting and just lurk
    At that point your account is basically a login to Messenger & group access, not a social profile.
4

A couple of angles nobody has really hammered yet: what Facebook leaks about you outside your profile and how much of the “randoms” problem comes from friends’ behavior, not just your own settings.

I mostly agree with @waldgeist and @espritlibre, though I’d push things a bit further in a few places and dial them back in others.

1. Your friends are often the privacy hole

You can have everything set to “Friends” and still leak via:

  • A friend with public posts who:
    • Tags you
    • Comments with your full name
    • Shares your photos you allowed them to download
  • A friend with totally open friends list, which makes “Friends of friends” huge

If you really want a “hard lock”:

  1. Audit your current friends

    • Remove anyone you do not know in real life
    • Remove people who add every random they meet
    • Remove old classmates / coworkers who love public oversharing

  2. Use the “Restricted” list for people you must keep but do not fully trust

    • Put them on Restricted
    • They only see your public posts (which should be none or very few)

This part is annoying socially, but if you skip it, “Friends of friends” stays massive.

2. Public content outside your profile

Random likes on ancient stuff often come from places other than your own timeline.

Check these manually:

  • Public groups

    • Go to Groups > Your groups
    • Look for public or “anyone can see posts”
    • Either leave them or understand anything you post there is visible to the world

  • Old app posts

    • In Activity log, filter by “Apps” or “Games”
    • Delete all those “X just scored 12,900” posts and quiz shares
    • Some of them are still public even if your default is Friends now

  • Marketplace

    • Old sale listings can be visible beyond your friends
    • Check anything you ever listed, especially with photos of you or your home
    • Remove old listings rather than just marking as sold

This is where I slightly disagree with the “just run Privacy Checkup” idea: that tool is helpful but it misses groups, apps and marketplace stuff.

3. Tighten how “discoverable” you are

You already got the basics (email / phone search to “Only me”), but a few more knobs matter:

  • Username & vanity URL

    • If your username is literally “firstname.lastname”, anyone who knows your name can guess it
    • Consider changing to something less obvious if you want obscurity

  • Location hints

    • Remove your city from your profile or set it to Only me
    • Stop using check-ins entirely if you really want privacy
    • Delete visible past check-ins in Activity log

  • Nicknames and “other names”

    • If you added maiden name, previous name, or nicknames, lock them to Only me
    • That field is a gold mine for people trying to locate you

4. “Nuclear” content strategy

FB’s settings are messy, so one way to “win” is to reduce how much new stuff exists.

Options:

  • Use Facebook basically as:

    • Login for Messenger
    • Access for a couple of groups
    • Nothing else

  • Practical setup:

    • Default post audience: Only me
    • Do not post photos of yourself or your home to FB at all
    • Use private messengers or another platform for sharing with family
    • Comment rarely on public pages

Whenever you must post something visible:

  • Use “Specific friends” rather than “Friends”
  • Or “Friends except [list]” to hide from weaker links

That way, even if FB suddenly decides to “helpfully” tweak an audience, it affects only small circles.

5. Profile picture strategy

Facebook really wants your profile and cover photos to be public. You can fight this, but it takes a couple more tricks:

  • Use a neutral picture that reveals nothing

    • No clear face, no kids, no house, no license plates
    • Something generic is fine if you are going for privacy, not networking

  • Set:

    • The current profile picture’s audience to Friends or Only me
    • The “Profile Pictures” album to Friends
    • Same for “Cover Photos”

If you care more about safety than being recognizable, you do not actually need a face picture at all.

6. Stop being bait for recommendation systems

A lot of random friend requests come from “People you may know” style features on both sides.

To reduce this:

  • Turn off search engine linking (already covered)
  • Avoid:
    • Liking public pages tied to your school / employer / local community
    • Joining big public groups about your city, profession or niche interests
    • Commenting on viral posts from huge pages

A boring, low-activity account that rarely appears in public spaces gets shown to far fewer strangers.

7. Sanity checks that are better than “View As”

“View As” is useful but not perfect.

Do these two:

  1. Log out and stalk yourself

    • Use incognito or another browser
    • Search your name in Facebook
    • Open your profile like a stranger
    • Click “Photos,” “About,” “Friends” and scroll

  2. Google yourself

    • Check if old public posts or comments still appear in search results
    • If a specific post shows, open it and lock it down or delete it

That combination usually reveals stuff the in-app tools gloss over.

8. Subtle tradeoffs: total lockdown vs usability

Total lockdown has pros and cons.

Pros

  • Almost no one can see your content except carefully chosen people
  • Your old posts are much less likely to be resurfaced to strangers
  • Bots and randoms can still send requests, but they gain nothing by doing so

Cons

  • Friends might find it harder to locate you if you change username or hide city
  • Networking, job searching, and social visibility are basically gone
  • People might misinterpret limited profile visibility as you ignoring them

So decide which matters more: minimal footprint or convenience.

9. Quick checklist on top of what is already listed

You said you want truly private. After doing what @waldgeist and @espritlibre listed, I would additionally:

  • Purge friends you do not know well
  • Put “must-keep but not trusted” contacts on Restricted
  • Change default posting to Only me, then use custom audiences per post
  • Use a neutral profile picture and lock the “Profile Pictures” and “Cover Photos” albums
  • Leave public groups you do not absolutely need
  • Avoid comments on large public pages
  • Log out and search for yourself to see what is still showing

Do that, and at that point your Facebook is basically a private shell: people can knock, but they cannot see through the windows.