Facebook offers a multitude of configuration options. It‘s not always easy to keep track of all the various settings offered and to select the best settings for your purposes. Our checklist is meant to assist you to protect your account and all your published information in the best possible way.
We have tried to draw up as universally applicable a set of instructions for private users as possible. Nevertheless, the individual configuration options and settings may differ in specific cases. This checklist refers to the Facebook settings available as at 05 August 2024 as displayed in a desktop computer browser.
As a rule, the settings described here are automatically adopted in the Facebook app. Depending on your smartphone and operating system though, there may be some additional settings in the app which are not discussed here.
To display the Facebook account settings, click the arrow icon in the page header, and select the «Settings & Privacy» and then «Settings» entry from the menu.
Accounts Center – Profiles
Here you can find all your accounts regarding Instagram, Facebook and Horizon.
Accounts Center – Connected experiences
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Sharing across profiles | Depending on your requirements |
| Loggings in with accounts | Specify, which accounts can log in to other accounts |
Accounts Center – Password and security
| Category | Sub-category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Login & recovery | Change password | Manage your passwords outside of Facebook, for instance using a password manager. |
| Two-factor authentication | Activate | |
| Saved login | Details oft he saved logins | |
| Security checks | Where you’re logged in | List is automatically created by Facebook |
| Login alerts | Activate for all accounts | |
| Recent emails | Emails received | |
| Security Checkup | Check your accounts for security here |
Accounts Center – Personal details
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Contact Info | Use a free address without any indication of your identity (e.g. ferrari397@gmail.com). Optionally, you can also register a mobile number, which will then be required for log-in confirmations as necessary. |
| Birthday | Shows the registered date of birth |
| Identity confirmation | Not required in Switzerland |
| Account ownership and control | Depending on your requirements |
Accounts Center – Your information and permissions
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Access your information | You will be redirected to your Facebook account to view your information there. |
| Download your information | You can request a copy of all your information at any time. |
| Transfer a copy of your information | You can transfer a copy of information you created or shared on Facebook or Instagram to another service. |
| Search history | Depending on your requirments |
| Your activity off Meta technologies | Don't link any activities with Meta if at all possible. |
| Manage contacts | Don't synchronise any lists of contacts with Instagram if at all possible. |
| Manage cookies | Depending on your requirements |
Accounts Center – Ad preferences
Depending on your requirements
Accounts Center – Meta Pay
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Meta Pay | Required for certain games and activities. Encryption and security are of good quality in accordance with common standards. |
Accounts Center – Show that your profile is verified
You can obtain additional premium benefits such as additional support and increased account protection with a Meta Verified subscription. This can be set depending on your requirements.
Accounts Center – Accounts
Add or remove accounts from this Accounts Center.
Tools and resources
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Privacy Checkup | This is where you can check your privacy. |
| Supervision | Depending on your requirements |
| Default audience settings | Customised |
Preferences
Depending on your requirements
Audience and visibility - Profile details
Here you can change your profile picture, create a profile, enter gender information, and make account suggestions settings.
Audience and visibility - How people find and contact you
| Category | Sub-category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Your friends | Who can send you friend requests? | Friends of friends |
| Who can see your friends list? | Only me | |
| Who can Facebook suggest your profile to based on your phone number or email address? | People with your email address | Friends |
| People with your phone number | Friends | |
| Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link your profile? | Don't activate |
Audience and visibility - Posts
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Who can see your future posts? | Friends |
| Limit who can see past posts | Limit Past Posts |
Audience and visibility - Stories
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Who can see your stories? | Friends |
| Allow others to share your public stories to their own story? | Dont' activate |
| Allow people to share your stories if you mention them? | Dont' activate |
| Archiving your stories | Dont' activate |
Audience and visibility - Reels
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Allow others to share your reels to their stories? | Dont' activate |
| Who can see your reels? | Friends |
Audience and visibility - Followers and public content
| Category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Who can follow me | Friends |
| Who can see your followers on your timeline | Only me |
| Who can see the people, Pages and lists you follow? | Only me |
| Who can comment on your public posts? | Friends |
| Public post notifications | Only me |
| Public profile info | Friends |
| Show most relevant comments first | Don't activate |
| Off-Facebook previews | Activate |
| Hide comments containing certain words from your profile | Depending on your requirements |
Audience and visibility - Profile and Tagging
| Category | Sub-category | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Viewing and sharing | Who can post on your profile? | Only me |
| Who can see what others post on your profile? | Only me | |
| Hide comments containing certain words from your profile | Depending on your requirements | |
| Tagging | Who can see posts you're tagged in on your profile? | Only me |
| When you're tagged in a post, who do you want to add to the audience of the post if they can't already see it? | Only me | |
| Reviewing | Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on Facebook? | Acitvate |
| Review posts you're tagged on before the post appears on your profile? | Activate |
Audience and visibility - Blocking
Depending on your requirements
Payment - Ads payments
Depending on your requirements
Your activity and permissions - Activity log
This is where you can track your activities and permissions.
Your activity and permissions - Apps and websites
This is where you can see all apps and websites linked to your Facebook account.
Your activity and permissions - Business integrations
Depending on your requirements
Your activity and permissions - Information use for Facebook experiences
Depending on your requirements
Your activity and permissions - Learn how to manage your information
This is where you can manage all your information in detail.
Your information
This is where you can access all your information, download it, transfer a copy, check on activities outside of Facebook or reactivate a page.
Community Standards and Legal Policies
This is where you will find information on terms and conditions of use, privacy policy, cookie policy and community standards.
