How long have been using Facebook? One year? Five
years? 10 years? Even if it's only been a few months, you might have
some embarrassing information lurking in your history that you don't
even remember posting. Do you want your new squeeze, a co-worker, family
member or even a potential employer stumbling on it?
Fortunately, Facebook has an easy way to review your
history and remove posts that really shouldn't be in there. It's called
the Activity Log.
The Activity Log
To get started, sign in to your Facebook account.
Then click the down arrow in the upper-right corner and select Activity
Log. You can also click your name in the top bar to go to your Facebook
page and then click the "View Activity Log" button on the right side of
the cover photo area.
The Activity Log might seem a little overwhelming at
first with thousands of entries to scroll through, but Facebook has a
few tools to make things easier.
In the left-hand column, you'll see a huge list of
filters. These show you just the posts in your Timeline about those
topics. For example, if you only want to look at things you've posted in
the past, select "Your Posts." You can also just look at "Photos,"
things you've "Liked" and "Comments" you've made on posts, photos and
videos.
Click the "More" link to see more filters like
"Videos," "Groups" and "Location History." Location History is
especially helpful if in the past you were a little too free with
telling people where you were. After all, an increasing number of burglars use social media to target their victims.
One thing you probably didn't know Facebook tracks is
your search history. Everything and everybody who you've searched for
on Facebook is visible to anyone who gets access to your account.
To see your search history, look in the left column
of the Activity Log and click "More" under "Photos, Likes and Comments."
Then click "Search" near the bottom of the list. You can delete
individual entries by clicking the "circle with a slash" icon and
selecting "Delete." You can also click "Clear Searches" at the top to
wipe everything at once. I have a full walkthrough of the process on my site.
Of course, there's no way to stop Facebook from
recording your search history. You'll need to keep coming back to delete
your history if you don't want it recorded, or just stop searching on
Facebook.
At the very bottom, you can also see what apps you've
installed and what posts they've made on your Timeline. At the top of
the log, you can also change the settings on who can see the posts that
the apps make.
But that's not everything you need to do.
Limit Past Posts
Even if you're OK with your Facebook friends seeing
some embarrassing posts, you might have posted something in the distant
past that you wouldn't want strangers to see. Unfortunately, your
privacy settings back then might not have been set correctly. Make sure your privacy settings are set correctly now before you keep reading.
Changing every past post manually from "Everyone" to
"Friends" could take days. Fortunately, Facebook has a quicker option.
At the top of the page, click the upside-down triangle and select
Settings.
Then click the "Privacy" link in the left-hand
column. Under "Who can see my stuff?" click the "Limit Past Posts" link.
Next, click the "Limit Old Posts" button to change the privacy setting
of every post in your profile to "Friends."
Note that if you have posts that you want everyone to
see, this will change those as well. You'll need to go change those
posts back to "Everyone" manually.
Next, go to your Facebook page and to the upper
right, click the three dots next to the "View Activity Log" button and
select "View as..." This lets you see your Facebook page the way a
stranger would, or any Facebook user you select. That way, you can
quickly spot problem posts and change their privacy settings or remove
them.
"View as..." is especially handy if you've set up
custom lists. Lists let you choose specific friends who can see certain
posts. Learn how to make lists and control exactly who sees what.
While you're tweaking old Facebook settings, take
some time to review information you've added to your account in the
past. Facebook asks for a lot of details about your life, like home
address, that you probably shouldn't give it. Find out what these details are and how to remove them if you have them in your account.
