Mastering Birthday Stealth: A Facebook Privacy Guide

Want to maintain a lower profile on Facebook, especially around your birthday? Hiding your birthday is a simple process. You can choose to hide your year of birth, the specific day and month, or both from your profile visibility.

A Quick Guide: Hiding Your Birthday on Facebook

Here’s a step-by-step rundown on how to control who sees your birthday on the world’s largest social media platform:

1. Log in to Facebook: Access your Facebook account through your web browser or the mobile app.
2. Navigate to your Profile: Click on your name at the top of the page or in the left-hand menu to go to your profile.
3. Edit Your “About” Section: Click the “About” tab below your cover photo.
4. Go to “Contact and Basic Info”: In the left-hand column, find and click on “Contact and Basic Info”.
5. Edit Your Birthday Settings: Hover over the “Birthday” section. An “Edit” button should appear. Click it.
6. Adjust the Privacy Settings: You’ll see two dropdown menus next to your birthday. The first controls who sees your month and day, and the second controls who sees your year.
   • To hide your month and day: Click the dropdown menu next to your month and day. Choose “Only me” to make your birthday invisible to everyone but you. Alternatively, choose “Friends” to allow only your friends to see your birthday. You can also select “Custom” to choose specific people or lists of people who can or cannot see your birthday.
   • To hide your year: Click the dropdown menu next to your year. Choose “Only me” to hide your age completely. Choosing “Friends” will allow your friends to see your age. Again, you have the “Custom” option for fine-grained control.
7. Save Your Changes: Once you’ve set your desired privacy levels, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save.”

That’s it! Your birthday information will now be visible only to the audience you’ve selected.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here’s a comprehensive list of common questions and detailed answers regarding birthday privacy on Facebook:

Q1: What happens if I hide my entire birthday?

Hiding your entire birthday (both day/month and year) means that nobody on Facebook, except you, will see it displayed on your profile or receive a birthday notification. Your friends will not get a reminder from Facebook on your birthday, and it won’t appear in their upcoming birthdays list.

Q2: If I hide my birthday year, will people still know my age?

Hiding your birthday year effectively hides your age. Facebook will not calculate or display your age based on the information you provide. However, if you’ve mentioned your age in posts, comments, or other sections of your profile, people might still be able to deduce it.

Q3: Can someone still see my birthday if they search for it?

No. Even if someone knows your birthday, they won’t be able to find it by directly searching for it on Facebook if you’ve hidden it using the privacy settings described above. Facebook’s search functionality respects your privacy settings.

Q4: How can I check what my profile looks like to someone else?

Facebook offers a “View As” feature. Go to your profile page, click the three dots next to “Edit Profile,” and select “View As.” You can then choose to view your profile as a specific friend or as a public user (someone who is not your friend). This allows you to confirm that your birthday settings are working as intended.

Q5: Will hiding my birthday prevent people from posting on my timeline on my birthday?

Not necessarily. Hiding your birthday only prevents Facebook from displaying your birthday information and sending out notifications. People who remember your birthday independently may still post on your timeline. To prevent this, you can adjust your timeline settings to review posts before they appear or disable the ability for others to post on your timeline entirely.

Q6: Can businesses or advertisers still target me based on my birthday even if it’s hidden?

This is a complex question. While you’ve hidden your birthday from public view, Facebook may still use the information internally for advertising purposes. The extent to which this occurs is difficult to determine precisely. However, you can limit Facebook’s ability to target you based on interests and demographics through your ad preferences settings. This is located in the settings menu, under “Ads”.

Q7: How do I change my birthday on Facebook?

The process is the same as hiding it, but instead of changing the privacy settings, you change the actual date. Go to your “Contact and Basic Info” section, hover over the “Birthday” section, click “Edit,” and then select the correct month, day, and year. Remember to save your changes.

Q8: What’s the difference between hiding my birthday and deleting it?

You cannot completely delete your birthday from Facebook. Facebook requires you to have a birthday associated with your account. Hiding your birthday simply controls who can see it. The information is still stored on Facebook’s servers.

Q9: If I change my privacy settings back to “Public” later, will everyone get a late notification?

No. Facebook will not send out late birthday notifications if you change your privacy settings back to “Public” after your birthday has passed. The notifications are triggered on the actual day itself.

Q10: Does hiding my birthday affect my Facebook account in any other way?

Hiding your birthday primarily affects its visibility and the automatic birthday reminders sent to your friends. It doesn’t impact other features of your Facebook account, such as your ability to post, comment, or use Facebook Marketplace.

Q11: I’ve hidden my birthday, but people are still wishing me happy birthday! Why?

There are several possibilities:

• They remember your birthday: Some people simply remember your birthday independently of Facebook.
• They saw it elsewhere: Your birthday might be listed on other social media platforms or websites.
• Shared Information: You may have accidentally shared this information in a post, comment, or group discussion.
• Another User’s Account: If you are a co-admin on a business account, other users with access may still have visibility to your birthday via that other account.

Q12: Can I hide my birthday on the Facebook mobile app?

Yes, the process is very similar on the mobile app:

1. Open the Facebook app.
2. Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines).
3. Scroll down and tap “Settings & Privacy,” then tap “Settings.”
4. Scroll down to the “Audience and Visibility” section and tap “Profile Information.”
5. Scroll down to the “Birthday” section and tap “Edit.”
6. Adjust the privacy settings for your month and day and your year.
7. Tap “Save.”

By following these steps, you can control your birthday visibility directly from the Facebook mobile app.

By understanding and implementing these privacy settings, you can confidently manage your online presence and enjoy Facebook on your own terms. Remember, privacy is a journey, not a destination. Stay informed and periodically review your settings to ensure they align with your evolving preferences.