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💬 Social Media & Staying Connected Guide

The Facebook Privacy Checkup

Published August 2026 · Last verified August 2026

The 20-Minute Checkup, In OrderA short, calm order that locks down the account without hunting menus.1Open Privacy CheckupFacebook's own guided walk-through2Set who sees your postsFriends, not Public, is a safe default3Lock down profile detailsHide birthday, phone, and email4Use a strong, unique passwordNot one you use anywhere else5Turn on two-factor loginA code stops a stranger getting inTwo-factor login is the single biggest lock you can add.Illustration - Facebook moves its menus often. Steps are the general order.
Five things to do, in order, to lock down your account.
Who Can See What You PostEvery post has an audience - know what each one means.PublicAnyone, anywhereSearch engines tooUse sparinglyFriendsOnly people youhave acceptedA safe defaultOnly MeJust youGood for savingprivate notesSet Friends as your default and choose Public only on purpose.Illustration - wording varies as Facebook updates. Concept stays the same.
What each audience setting really means.

Facebook is a fine way to keep up with family, but out of the box it shares more about you than most folks would choose. The good news is you can fix that in about twenty minutes, once, and mostly leave it. This little book is a guided tour through the settings that actually matter, in the order I check them on a house call. No jargon. No judgment. No rushing.

Bill Davis
Bill's Home Tech · Atwater, Ohio
Want the full deep-dive?
The Facebook Privacy Checkup Guide
PDF · plain English · no ads · made by Bill
Cost
Free — no purchase needed
Time
About 20–30 minutes
Difficulty
Beginner-friendly · one step at a time
Bill's hotline
(330) 200-8042

Facebook is a fine way to keep up with family, but out of the box it shares more about you than most folks would choose. The good news is you can fix that in about twenty minutes, once, and mostly leave it. This little book is a guided tour through the settings that actually matter, in the order I check them on a house call. No jargon. No judgment. No rushing.

What's inside this guide

The printable PDF walks through 18 short chapters, in plain language. It also includes an everyday cheat sheet, a plain-English word list and at-a-glance pictures.

  1. Finding The Settings Menu
  2. Start With Privacy Checkup
  3. Who Can See What You Share
  4. Locking Down Profile Details
  5. Hide Your Friends List
  6. A Strong, One-Of-A-Kind Password
  7. Turn On Two-Factor Login
  8. Login Alerts And Active Devices
  9. How People Can Find You
  10. Tags And Your Timeline
  11. Cleaning Up Old Public Posts
  12. Turning Down The Ad Tracking
  13. Off-Facebook Activity
  14. Message Requests And Strangers
  15. Taking A Break Or Leaving
  16. Photos Of Family And Grandkids
  17. The Mistakes I See Most
  18. Keeping It Locked Down For Good

Get the printable guide

Everything above is a quick summary. The full, printable guide — the same words, laid out to read and keep by the computer — is a free PDF.

Download the printable PDF →

Last verified August 2026. Information accurate as of October 18, 2026.

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Any prices or outside products mentioned in this guide can change over time — the details here were last checked August 2026 and this page is accurate as of October 18, 2026; please confirm current pricing before you buy. See how often we review our guides →