What Is Facebook’s Restricted List?

Facebook’s “Restricted list” helps you better control who you share content with. While you’ll still be friends with those you place on the list, their ability to see selected posts will be restricted. Basically, unless your post is tagged as Public, or they are specifically tagged in it (by you or a mutual friend), it won’t be visible to them. This option comes in handy when, for example, you don’t want to mix your work and private life. If you don’t want your colleagues or boss to see what you’re up to after office hours, you can place them on the “Restricted list.” The next time you’re out for drinks with your gang and want to post a group photo, just select the Friends audience when you’re ready to post, and your coworkers won’t have a clue about your activities. People you place on this “Restricted list” won’t be notified that you have done so, and you’ll still be able to reach out to them via Messenger, so think of it as a much lighter alternative to blocking.

How to Add People to Facebook’s Restricted List

Adding people to your “Restricted list” is pretty straightforward, whether you’re doing it from your PC or mobile device. Follow the instructions below to create your own.

Desktop

The person is now on your “Restricted list.”

Mobile

On mobile, follow these steps to restrict someone.

How to View and Manage Your Restricted List

If you want to see your “Restricted list” and manage contacts from there, follow the instructions below.

Desktop

Mobile

It’s not possible to access your Restricted list from the mobile app. You can, however, remove someone from your Restricted list by following the steps outlined in the previous section and unchecking the Restricted option in “Edit Friends List.” Alternatively, you can assign the contact to a different list.

How to Create a Post that Your Restricted Contacts Can’t See

Now that you know how to add people to the “Restricted list,” let’s take a look at how to make a post that won’t be visible to them.

Desktop & Mobile

The same steps apply to mobile, so if you are looking to create a new post using your smartphone, change the audience as explained above.

How to Change the Audience of an Older Post

If you changed your mind about a post and don’t want to hide it from prying eyes anymore, it’s possible to change the audience even if it’s an older post. Follow these steps.

Desktop

Mobile

Alternatives to Restricting People on Facebook

If you want to hide the occasional post from certain people, know that it’s possible to do so without restricting them and keeping them out of the loop completely.

1. Use the “Friends except” Option When Posting

For example, when selecting or editing the audience for a post, you can opt for “Friends except,” which displays the post to everyone in your friends list except the people you pick.

2. Hide Posts or Remove Tags

Another option at your disposal is to quickly hide the post in question from your timeline. However, by doing this, none of your friends will be able to see the post. It will, however, appear on the page of the person who posted and tagged you in it. You can hide a post from your timeline by following these instructions. Do note that it will still appear in your friends’ newsfeeds.

Desktop

Mobile

How to Change Who Sees Your Past and Future Posts

While most of us don’t object to adding coworkers on Facebook, some prefer keeping business and personal spheres completely separate. But even if you haven’t added your boss on Facebook, you might still be paranoid that they might be watching what you post. You can make sure that is not the case by changing who sees your past and future posts.

Desktop

Mobile

Can You Tell If Someone Placed You on Their Restricted List?

While Facebook doesn’t alert people that they were placed on someone’s “Restricted List,” there are clues to look for that may indicate you’ve been restricted. If you want to know, here’s what you should do.

Check the person’s profile for an empty space at the top. The gap may be where a private post should be, but since you’ve been restricted, you will only experience a blank space. Obviously, seeing an empty space may also be due to a glitch of some kind, so be sure to refresh their profile a few times before drawing any definitive conclusions.Additionally, if you can’t see any new recent posts and you know they are frequent users, it may be a sign that you have been restricted.Ask a common Facebook friend to check their profile and report what they see. If someone they aren’t friends with checks their profile, they will only be able to view their public posts, just like you.

To make sure no one tags you in photos or posts without your knowledge, you will need to head to “Settings -> Privacy shortcuts -> View more privacy settings” (like shown above). Next, select “Profile and Tagging” from the menu on the left and toggle on the two options in the “Reviewing” section.

2. How can I create a custom list on Facebook?

Facebook’s Restricted list is a default option, but what if you want to create your very own list? You can. On your PC, head to “Friends -> Custom Lists -> Create List.” Add the names of the people you want to include. Whenever you have something specific you want to share that is targeting this group only, you can use this list and automatically exclude all your other friends.

3. Can people in my Restricted list on Facebook see my Stories?

Then cannot if you only share them with Friends. People in your Restricted list can’t see anything on your profile unless it’s tagged as Public or they are tagged in it. To make sure you aren’t sharing a Story as Public, tap on the Gear icon in the Story creation screen, then select Friends from the options that appear.