How to Hide Your Facebook Friends List

Make your Friends list visible to some friends or just you

What to Know

  • Web browser: Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy and select Edit next to Who can see your friends list.
  • Mobile: Go to Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Audience and Visibility > How People Find and Contact You.
  • If you set your Friends list visibility to only yourself, people can still see mutual friends on your profile. Everything else is hidden.

It's possible to hide your Friends list on Facebook in case you don't want other users to see everyone else you're friends with. You can hide your Friends list from the general public, from specific friends, or from everyone. This article covers Facebook.com and the Facebook mobile app for iOS and Android.

How to Hide Your Facebook Friends List

To customize your Facebook privacy settings for your Friends list on Facebook.com:

  1. Log in to Facebook.com, select the down arrow in the upper-right corner, and then select Settings & Privacy from the drop-down list.

    Down arrow and Settings & Privacy highlighted on Facebook.com
  2. Select Settings.

    Settings highlighted on Facebook.com
  3. Select Privacy in the left menu.

    Privacy settings highlighted on Facebook.com
  4. In the How People Find and Contact You section, look for Who can see your friends list and select the Edit link to the right of it.

    Edit next to Who can see your friends list on Facebook.com
  5. Select the drop-down menu to choose your new privacy setting.

    If you set up custom Friends lists on Facebook, select See All to choose a custom list.

    Who can see your friends list options highlighted on Facebook.com
  6. To see how your profile looks to a public user (someone who's not your friend), navigate to your profile, select the three dots in the lower-right corner of your cover photo, and then select View As.

    View As on Facebook profile

If you don't want your profile to show up in public searches, block people from searching for you on Facebook.

How to Hide Your Friends List in the Facebook App

The steps for changing your Friends list settings on the mobile app are similar:

  1. Tap Menu (three horizontal lines).

  2. Tap Settings & Privacy.

  3. Tap Settings.

    Menu, Settings & Privacy, and Settings highlighted in Facebook
  4. Scroll down to the Audience and Visibility section and tap How People Find and Contact You.

  5. Tap Who can see your friends list.

  6. Tap one of the options to set your privacy preferences.

    If you set up custom Friends lists on Facebook, select See All to choose a custom list.

    How People Find and Contact You, Who can see your friends list, and a checkmark in the Facebook ap

What Happens When You Hide Facebook Friends?

If you decide to set your Friends list visibility to only yourself (Only me), both friends and non-friends can still see mutual friends you may have under the Friends section on your profile. Only mutual friends are shown. The rest are hidden.

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