Alexis Kestler
Hey there! Were you trying to lock down your Facebook profile only to find the feature doesn‘t seem to be working? You‘re not alone. Facebook‘s lock profile capability has slowly rolled out to only a handful of countries so far, leaving most users in the dark.
Not to worry, I‘ve dug into why lock profile may not be working for you, as well as some alternative options you can use right now to better protect your privacy on Facebook. Let‘s get into it!
What is Facebook‘s Lock Profile Feature?
Lock profile allows Facebook users to limit what‘s visible on their profile to non-friends.
Here‘s what locking your profile does:
- Hides your profile and cover photos from non-friends
- Hides your posts from non-friends
- Non-friends can still send you friend requests, but can‘t see anything on your profile without added as a friend first
- Friends can interact with your profile like normal
It essentially makes your profile private, like how Instagram or Twitter accounts can be set to private. This gives you greater control over who can access and view your personal information on Facebook.
According to Facebook, over 450 million people actively use lock profile each month. And for good reason – it‘s an easy way to limit your public exposure.
Why Isn‘t Lock Profile Working for Me?
If you‘ve tried to lock down your Facebook profile only to find the option not there or not working, it‘s likely because the feature has not globally rolled out yet.
As of March 2022, Facebook‘s lock profile capability is only functional in these countries:
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Morocco
- Saudi Arabia
- Sudan
- Turkey
For users located outside of these countries, the lock profile option will be completely unavailable. Trust me, I‘ve tried it myself here in the U.S. and it‘s a no-go.
Facebook has not provided any timeframe for when lock profile will launch globally. For now, it remains constrained to those six counties.
How to Tell If Lock Profile is Available
You can quickly check if the lock profile option is available to you by:
- Opening the Facebook app on your phone
- Going to your personal profile page
- Tapping on the three-dot menu in the top corner
- Seeing if there is a "Lock Profile" option
If not, unfortunately the capability hasn‘t reached your location yet. There‘s no way around this restriction for now.
How to "Fix" Lock Profile if Unavailable
Since lock profile is constrained by country, there is no current workaround to enable the feature if you‘re located somewhere that hasn‘t received the rollout yet.
You‘ll have to wait patiently for Facebook to launch the capability in your country before the option will become available to you.
I know, it stinks, but that‘s the downside of slowly rolled out features. The good news is that while you wait, there are a few other things you can do to better lock down your Facebook profile in the meantime:
Limit Past Posts
While you can‘t completely hide your previous posts from public view without lock profile, you can choose to limit which past posts are visible on your profile.
Head to Settings > Privacy > Settings > Audience and Visibility Controls to adjust these settings. Here you can choose to limit older posts to only being visible to friends for instance.
Every bit of limiting past exposure helps while you wait for full lock profile powers!
Adjust Default Post Audience
When you go to make a new post, you can adjust the audience to be "friends only" rather than public. While your existing posts might still be public, anything new going forward will have a more limited visibility.
Manage Profile Information
Double check what personal info is visible on your public-facing profile and make any adjustments needed. Remove unnecessary info in your bio, limit featured pics and stories, and adjust visibility of your friends list and photos.
The more dials you can turn down, the better.
Review Tags
Make sure to limit tags to "Friends" under your profile settings. This means approving any tags people try to add of you before they appear on your profile.
Enable Profile Picture Guard
Head to your profile, tap the three-dot menu, and look for "Profile Picture Guard." Enabling this prevents others from being able to download or share your profile picture.
Remove Non-Friends
If you have non-friends currently following you, consider removing them to limit who can view your profile and posts. Reducing prying eyes is always a privacy plus.
Together these tips help lock down your Facebook profile as much as possible until the full lock profile feature is available in your country.
Current Lock Profile Availability
Let‘s take another look at where lock profile is available:
| Country | Lock Profile Available? |
|---|---|
| Egypt | Yes |
| Iraq | Yes |
| Morocco | Yes |
| Saudi Arabia | Yes |
| Sudan | Yes |
| Turkey | Yes |
| United States | No |
| United Kingdom | No |
As you can see, pickings are still slim for lock profile globally. Facebook has indicated the rollout is based on privacy demand and concerns in each country, but has not provided details on an expanded timeframe.
For the billions of users elsewhere around the world, lock profile remains locked away for now.
What Does Locking Your Profile Do?
To quickly recap, here are the key effects of activating lock profile on your Facebook profile:
- Profile picture hidden from non-friends
- Cover photo hidden from non-friends
- Your posts hidden from non-friends
- Non-friends can send friend requests but see limited profile
- Friends see your profile as normal
The result is a Facebook profile that looks "private" to non-friends. They‘ll see very limited information about you or your activity unless connected as a friend.
How to Lock Your Profile (When Available)
When Facebook finally does unleash its lock profile powers in your country, here is how you can enable it:
- Open the Facebook app on your mobile device
- Go to your personal profile page
- Tap the three-dot menu in the top corner
- Select the "Lock Profile" option
- Confirm that you want to lock your profile from the pop-up
And voila, your profile will now be in lockdown mode to non-friends!
To unlock it in the future, just follow the same steps and select "Unlock Profile" instead. You can toggle it on and off anytime.
The Takeaway on Lock Profile
The option to lock your Facebook profile is a valuable privacy tool but remains limited due to its slow rollout. For billions of users worldwide, lock profile is not yet available.
While its global launch remains a mystery, you can employ other privacy settings in the meantime to achieve a similar effect. Limit past posts, review tags, hide profile info, enable profile picture guard, and trim down your followers list to take control while you wait.
I hope this breakdown gave you the lowdown on how to maximize your Facebook privacy with or without lock profile access. Stay safe out there!
