Technology

Simple guide to hiding friends on Facebook using your phone and computer

Hiding your friends on Facebook is a great way to control who can see the information on your profile, increasing your privacy and security. If you're not sure how to hide your friends on Facebook, you can follow the guide below.

Administrator

19 November, 2023

By default, when using Facebook your friend list will be displayed publicly. However, in case you do not want strangers or even people in your friend list to see that information, you can hide your friends. In this article, FPT Shop will guide you in detail on 2 ways to hide friends on Facebook using phone and computer. Let’s follow along.

What is Mutual Friends on Facebook?

Before learning how to hide friends on Facebook, let’s find out what mutual friends on Facebook are. Mutual friends on Facebook are a list of people that you and another person are both connected with on the platform.

In simple terms, mutual friends are people who are friends with one or more people in your friend list. This feature is created to increase the connection between social media users and help suggest information and friend suggestions.

Benefits of Hiding Friends on Facebook

By default, your friend list on Facebook is displayed publicly. This means that both people who have friended you on Facebook and strangers can view this friend list. However, this can sometimes affect your privacy and even lead to annoyance.

At this time, hiding friends on Facebook is one of the effective ways to increase privacy and security for your Facebook account. You can limit the audience for viewing your friend list on Facebook. In addition, this also helps to avoid bad actors with intentions to access your friends.

For example, scammers, if they can see your friend list on Facebook, will copy information and photos from your profile to create a fake account. Then, they will send friend requests from cloned accounts to people in your friend list. After tricking many of your friends into friending the fake cloned account, they can use that cloned account to impersonate you and do bad things like borrowing money. By the time you realize, it might be too late.

How to Hide Friends on Facebook using a Computer

Facebook can be used on multiple devices and different platforms. Therefore, you can also hide Facebook friends on any device you are using. First, FPT Shop will guide you through the steps to hide Facebook friends on a computer.

How to Hide Friends on Facebook from the default friend list

To hide friends on Facebook from the default friend list, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Open a web browser on your computer > Access Facebook and log in to the account you want to hide friends.

On the Facebook interface, click on the profile picture at the top left corner to access your profile page.

Step 2: Click on the Friends section > Click on the three dots > Select Edit privacy.

Step 3: As mentioned above, the default friend list is in Public mode.

In this section, there are 6 options, including:

Public mode: Anyone on or off Facebook can view your friend list.
Friends mode: Only people who have friended you on Facebook can view your friend list.
Friends except, …: In this mode, anyone who has friended you can view your friend list except for certain individuals that you limit.
Specific friends mode: Only the friends you choose can view your friend list.
Only me mode: Besides yourself, no one else can view your friend list.
Custom mode: You can simultaneously select the people who can view and the people who cannot view your friend list.

At this time, you will click on the Public text and switch to the Only me mode > Click Done to complete.

How to Hide Friends on Facebook via the activity log page

The second method to hide friends on Facebook using a computer is through the activity log page. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Access Facebook on your computer > Click on the profile picture at the top right corner of the screen > Select Settings & Privacy.

Step 2: Next, select Settings.

Step 3: Scroll down to the How people find and contact you section, in the line Who can see your friend list? currently set to public. Now, you will click on Edit right next to change it.

Step 4: Select Only me. That’s it.

This section clearly states “Your friends control who can see their friendships on their own Timelines. If people can see their friendships on other Timelines, they can see that information in News Feed, search, and other places on Facebook. By setting this option to Only me, you can be the only one who can view your entire friend list on the timeline. Others will only be able to see mutual friends.”

See more:

Guide to remove nickname on Facebook for phones and computers in the simplest way
How to verify Facebook account and notes when performing

How to Hide Friends on Facebook using a Phone

If you are using a smartphone and want to hide friends on Facebook using a phone, you can also do it easily following the instructions below.

How to Hide Friends on Facebook using an iPhone

For iPhone users, follow these steps.

Step 1: Open the Facebook app on your iPhone and log in to your account. Then, click on the Menu (three horizontal lines) icon in the bottom right corner of the screen > Select Settings & Privacy > Select Privacy Shortcuts.

Step 2: Select See More Privacy Settings.

Step 3: Select How people find and contact you. Tap the arrow in the line Who can see your friend list?, choose Only me mode.

With just 3 simple steps, you can hide friends on Facebook and not allow anyone to view them.

How to Hide Friends on Facebook using an Android Phone

Hiding friends on Facebook on an Android phone is not much different from an iPhone. You can do the following:

Step 1: Access the Facebook app > Tap on the three horizontal lines icon located in the top right corner of the screen > Select Settings & Privacy > Select Settings.

Step 2: Next, scroll down and select How people find and contact you.

Step 3: Pay attention to the line Who can see your friend list? currently set to public > You reset it and switch to the Only me mode.

Notes when Hiding Friends on Facebook

When hiding friends on Facebook, depending on the situation, you will set different modes. By default, Public mode allows everyone on or off Facebook to view your friend list.

Instead of switching to the Only me mode, where nobody else can view your friend list, you can choose the Friends mode. At this time, only people who have friended you on Facebook can view your friend list, and strangers who have not friended you will not be able to see it.

Of course, after switching to the Friends or Only me mode, you can still reset the mode to Public following the same steps.

Frequently Asked Questions when Hiding Friends on Facebook

There will be many questions surrounding the issue of hiding friends on Facebook. FPT Shop will summarize and answer some of the most frequently asked questions.

Why can’t I see someone else’s friend list on Facebook?

If you cannot access someone else’s friend list when visiting their profile, it may be due to two reasons:

The person has set privacy settings for their friend list: If you are not friends with that Facebook account, you will see their friend list as empty. This is because they have set the privacy mode so that only people on their friend list can view it.

The person has hidden their friend list: When wanting to keep the information about relationships on Facebook private, many people have hidden their Facebook friends as FPT Shop just instructed above. In this case, if you haven’t friended that account, you will only see the list of mutual followers on their Facebook account without any friend list. If you have friended that account, you can only see the list of mutual friends and followers but cannot view their entire friend list.

Can you hide mutual friends on Facebook?

When you hide friends on Facebook, people who have mutual friends with you can still see who those mutual friends are. Currently, Facebook does not support the feature to hide the mutual friends list for each individual but only allows you to set privacy for your entire friend list.

Conclusion

The article has provided detailed guidance on the methods to hide friends on Facebook using a phone and computer. Each step is accompanied by illustrated images on the latest Facebook interface. Hopefully, this sharing will help you easily perform it.