Facebook is one of the world’s most widely used social media platforms and it has a host of social media management tools dedicated to it. It has over 2.45 billion monthly active users. With so many people on the platform, protecting your privacy is a big concern. Just blocking ads isn’t enough, sometimes you need to lock your Facebook profile from unwanted visitors as well.

What a “locked profile” essentially means that the user has chosen to show a limited section of their profile to the public. Only the people who are friends with the user on Facebook can see more of their profile. A locked profile doesn’t mean that people will no longer be able to search for you. They can search for you and open your profile page. However, their access to various sections of your profile will be extremely limited. 

When someone locks their profile, only their friends will see the following:

  • Photos and posts on their timeline.
  • Their full size profile picture or cover photo.
  • Their Stories.
  • New posts and photos.

In addition:

  • Any posts they’ve shared in the past to Public will change to Friends.
  • Timeline review and tag review will be turned on.
  • Only a portion of their About info will be visible to everyone on their profile.

Here’s how you can lock your Facebook profile:

The steps described here are specific for the desktop version of Facebook, but a somewhat similar approach might work on the mobile app as well.

Step #1: Open up facebook on your device and go to the settings menu and  then the help section.

Step #2: Use the search bar in the help section to search for the keyword “lock profile “.

Two help articles would pop up, just click on the link named: How do locked profiles work?

You’re almost there.

Right below the yes or no option, you would get the facebook profile lock link.

Click the link and complete the whole process of locking your profile.

One thing must be remembered by all Facebook users, the option to lock profiles is not available for everyone. However, there are many other ways to protect your privacy on Facebook. You can control the privacy settings of your profile through any of these multiple methods:

  • Use Privacy Checkup.
  • Choose who you share posts, photos and other information with.
  • Edit basic info and choose who can see it.
  • Change your story privacy settings.
  • Turn on Timeline Review.
  • Turn on tag review.
  • Turn on Profile Guard.
  • Control Who Can Friend And Follow You.
  • Control who can look you up using your email or mobile phone number.

How to lock Facebook profile: FAQs

Can everybody lock their Facebook profile?

Because of Facebook’s constant updates, the lock feature might not be available to everyone. Some users might get it, some might not. You can simply go to your settings and privacy and then settings, Timeline and tagging using the Facebook App or website set the options to friends only. Go back to the Public Posts on the left side panel and set the option to only me or friends. 

How to lock my Facebook Profile in 2020?

Yes, you can lock your Facebook profile in 2020 using several different ways. You can access the Privacy Settings, Timelines & Tagging, and as Public posts on the Facebook website and Android or iOS (iPhone & iPad) Apps. You will need to set all the options to “set everything to private”, secure your login, take control of tagging, curate your friend’s list, understand friend requests, turn off face recognition, reexamine your apps, hide your location with a VPN, & edit your legacy.