Social media privacy checklist: 8 apps in about 20 minutes

Most people have accounts on several apps, and each one hides its privacy controls in a different place. This page is a short checklist: for each of eight popular apps, the two to four changes that make the biggest difference, plus a link to our step-by-step guide. If you work through all of them in one sitting, expect it to take roughly 20 minutes.

You don't need to do everything. Start with the apps you use most, and come back to the rest later.

X (Twitter)

X calls a private account "protected". The main controls are in Settings and privacy, then Privacy and safety.

Turn on Protect your posts under Audience and tagging, so only approved followers can read your posts.
Check your current followers: anyone who followed you earlier still sees your posts, so remove or Block people you don't want there.
Switch off Let others find you by your email and Let others find you by your phone if you don't want to be matched through your contact details.
Limit Photo tagging and message requests from people you don't know.

Read the full guide to X privacy.

Instagram

On Instagram, the switch is in the app menu under Who can see your content.

Open Account privacy and turn on Private account. Business and professional profiles have to become personal accounts first.
Go through your Followers list and remove anyone you don't recognise; they aren't notified.
Use Close Friends or Hide your story and live videos from specific people when a Story is meant for a smaller group.
Under Tags and mentions, decide Who can tag you and Who can @mention you.

Read the full guide to Instagram privacy.

Facebook

Facebook has no single private switch, so this one takes a few separate changes in Settings & privacy.

Run Privacy Checkup for a guided first pass.
Set Who can see your future posts? to Friends, then use Limit Past Posts to pull older public posts back. There is no one-click undo.
Change Who can see your friends list? and turn off the option that lets search engines outside Facebook link to your profile.
Turn on both review options under Reviewing in Profile and tagging.

Read the full guide to Facebook privacy settings.

TikTok

Everything here lives under Profile, Menu (☰), Settings and privacy, Privacy.

Switch on Private account, so new followers have to send a request.
Review Suggest your account to others and turn off the groups you don't want to be recommended to.
Open Sync contacts and Facebook friends, stop syncing and remove the data that was already uploaded.
Set Direct messages for people you don't know to Requests or Don't receive.

Read the full guide to TikTok privacy.

Snapchat

Snapchat starts out fairly closed, but a few settings deserve a check. They are under Settings, then App & Privacy.

Set Contact Me to Friends.
In My Privacy & Data, set View My Story to My Friends or Custom. Some accounts may still have an Everyone setting.
On the Map, turn on Ghost Mode if you have ever shared your location.
Adjust Who Can See Me In Find Friends; the change can take up to 72 hours.

Read the full guide to Snapchat privacy.

YouTube

YouTube privacy covers both what you upload and what your activity shows.

In YouTube Studio, under Content, set each video's Visibility to Private or Unlisted. Remember that an unlisted link can be passed on.
On a computer, open Settings, then Privacy, and confirm Keep all my subscriptions private is on.
In the same Privacy section, switch off the activities you'd rather not show.
Pause your history or set Auto-delete from Manage all history in the app or My Activity on the web.

Read the full guide to YouTube privacy.

Telegram needs your number to sign up but doesn't need to show it. Start in Settings > Privacy and Security.

Under Phone Number, set Who Can See My Phone Number to Nobody, then Who Can Find Me By My Number to My Contacts.
Review last seen, Profile Photo and Groups & Channels on the same screen.
In Calls, consider limiting peer-to-peer if you talk to people you don't know well; Telegram says this relays calls through its servers to avoid revealing your IP address.
Add 2-Step Verification and end sessions on devices you don't recognise.

Read the full guide to Telegram privacy.

WhatsApp can't hide your number from people you chat with, but most other details are adjustable in Settings > Privacy.

Choose My Contacts or Nobody for Last seen and online, your profile photo and About.
Under Groups, pick My contacts or My contacts except… so strangers can't drop you into a group.
Turn on Silence unknown callers in Calls, and Protect IP address in calls in Advanced.
Finish with Privacy Checkup and Two-step verification.

Read the full guide to WhatsApp privacy.

Habits that apply to every app

Settings only go so far. These habits protect every account at once.

Unique passwords and 2FA. All of the apps above can be locked down perfectly and still be exposed if someone signs in as you. Give each account its own password, keep them in a password manager, and turn on two-factor authentication or a passkey wherever it is offered. Our guide to password hygiene after credential leaks has a simple routine.

App permissions. Your phone decides what each app can read. Check which apps have access to your contacts, location, photos and microphone, and remove anything an app doesn't need. Contact access is what lets apps suggest your profile to people who have your number, and on most phones you can limit location to while the app is in use.

Location in photos. Photos taken on a phone can carry the place they were taken. Before you post pictures from home, school or work, check whether your camera adds location, and avoid tagging places you visit regularly in real time.

IP address and network. Privacy settings control people: who can see your posts, find your profile or message you. They don't control the network. Every app still receives the IP address you connect from, and the Wi-Fi or mobile network you use can see which services you open. A VPN hides your real IP address from apps and sites, and keeps the local network from seeing which services you open or what you send, which is helpful on public Wi-Fi, but it does not make your accounts anonymous, because you are still signed in as yourself. What is a VPN? explains the rest. To check the address apps see right now, open What is my IP; VPNRice apps are on the download page.

Other networks. Other social apps you use usually have similar controls for audience, discoverability, tagging and messages, so ask the same questions there.

FAQ

How often should I repeat this checklist?

A quick review a few times a year is a good habit, and again after a major app update, since apps sometimes add new settings or rename menus.

Which settings matter most if I only have five minutes?

Turn on the private or protected setting where it exists, remove followers you don't know, and add two-factor authentication to your main accounts.

Will making my accounts private hide them completely?

No. On most apps your name, username and profile photo stay visible, and people can still find you and send a request. Going private limits who sees your posts, not whether your account exists.

Last checked: October 2026. Menu names can differ slightly between app versions and regions.

X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp are trademarks of their respective owners. VPNRice is not affiliated with any of these companies.