25 Facebook Hidden Features You Probably Didn’t Know About
Revealing the hidden features on Facebook most people don’t know about, from downloading your data and limiting past posts to dark mode, secret conversations, custom colors, nearby friends alerts, and more pro tips.
Facebook has become an indispensable part of our lives. With over 3 billion monthly active users, it’s the biggest social media platform that connects friends, families, coworkers, communities, causes, and businesses. We all use it daily to share life moments, catch up on news, express opinions, get inspired, or just be entertained.
But beyond the News Feed and basic features we’re all familiar with, Facebook packs in a ton of hidden functionalities and tools most people don’t even know exist! As a long-time Facebook power user myself, I’ve discovered many gems over the years that make using Facebook a lot more fun, interesting, and productive.
In this post, I’ll walk you through 25 awesome hidden features on Facebook to help you become a pro user yourself!
1. Download Your Facebook Data
Facebook collects tons of personal data on you including every post, photo, video, message, search — you name it. While this makes Facebook highly personalized, it also raises privacy concerns. Lucky for us, Facebook allows you to download all your Facebook data for your records. Just go to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information and request a download. It may take a few days but you’ll get a zip file with your data. Definitely worth doing once a year!
2. Manage Who Can See Your Previous Posts
Over time, you may have posted things on Facebook you no longer want certain people seeing today. Instead of tediously deleting posts one by one, you can manage the privacy of previous posts in bulk with this trick. Go to Settings > Privacy > Limit Past Posts, then choose who you want to see your posts moving forward like friends, family, or only you. Much easier!
3. See How Much Time You Spend on Facebook
It’s easy to lose track of time mindlessly scrolling Facebook. To get a reality check, go to Settings > Your Time on Facebook to see your daily average time spent, set reminders to take a break, and even limit your time on Facebook if needed. I’m guilty of spending way too much time here so this feature has helped me cut back!
4. See What You Were Doing in Previous Years on Facebook
Feeling nostalgic? Your Facebook memories are preserved! Just go to the shortcut facebook.com/memories to take a trip down memory lane and see what you were posting, watching, and doing on Facebook on this day in previous years. It’s an entertaining way to reminisce. You can also post any fun memories to your timeline to share with friends!
5. Use Secret Conversations
Want to have private chats with someone that won’t show up in your regular Messenger inbox? Start a Secret Conversation that has end-to-end encryption. Just tap the user’s name in an existing message thread, tap Secret Conversation, and confirm. You can control disappearing messages and alerts here too. Useful for sharing confidential stuff!
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6. Customize Text, Background and Link Colors
Tired of Facebook Blue? You can customize your Facebook theme colors to make your feed more aesthetically pleasing. Go to Settings > Theme > Custom and play around with text, background, and link colors. I like using a bold red and gray theme with yellow links for a professional look. The customizations really make Facebook your own.
7. Get Alerts When Friends Are Nearby
Turn on Nearby Friends in Settings > Location to let Facebook alert you when friends are nearby in real life! It uses your mobile locations (with consent) so you can coordinate hangouts on the fly. I once got an alert that two buddies were down the street and we spontaneously met up for drinks! Super handy.
8. Use Facebook in Dark Mode
Go easy on your eyes with Facebook’s Dark Mode for night-time scrolling. Just go to Settings > Dark Mode and toggle it on. Your bright, blue Facebook app will turn into a sleek dark interface. Way more comfortable if you like browsing Facebook in bed like me! The contrast is also better for reading text.
9. Watch Facebook Videos on Your TV
You can watch Facebook videos from your phone on a bigger screen easily. If you have a smart TV, game console, or streaming device, just download the Facebook Watch app and connect to your Facebook account to view videos. You can also cast videos directly from your phone to your TV with Chromecast. Beats squinting at videos on your tiny phone!
10. Control Tags of Yourself by Others
Ever been tagged in an unflattering photo on Facebook that you wish you could remove? While you can’t delete other’s posts, you can control tags of yourself. In Settings > Timeline and Tagging, you can review posts you’re tagged in and even remove the tag. You can also enable tag review so you must approve tags before they appear on your profile.
11. View Facebook in Chronological Order Again
Remember when Facebook was simply chronological posts from friends and family? While algorithmic feeds are now the norm, you can view new posts in chronological order again with this backdoor trick. Go to any page and add “?sk=h_chr” at the end of the URL — ta-da! Feeds nostalgically like old-school Facebook now.
12. Turn Off Article Comments
Facebook comments on public posts can sometimes turn ugly. You can avoid negativity in your public articles by turning off comments. Just click the three dots above the post, select Turn Off Commenting, and confirm. People can still react and share your article but won’t be able to comment. Keeps your feed happy!
13. See Who Views Your Profile
Ever wonder who’s creeping your Facebook profile? Enable visitor analytics to find out! Go to Settings > General > Manage Posts > Visibility of Your Posts. Here you can view and control who can see your posts, but also see a list of profile visitors if you enable analytics. I was surprised to find old friends looking me up!
14. React With Any Emoji
Facebook’s classic reactions are great but sometimes you want more options. Just know you can react to any post with ANY emoji! Just hold down the Like button and you’ll get a picker for hundreds more emoji like hearts, genies, celebrations, and more. Much more expressive than the standard reactions.
15. Broadcast Live Video With Friends
Go live with friends for more interactive video broadcasts! Just start a Live Video, then click the camera icon to add someone. They’ll get a request to join your live video as a simultaneous broadcaster from their own camera. Makes your live videos way more engaging with multiple people!
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16. Control Future Activity Reminders
Are those “Rediscover this memory” reminders annoying? Prevent Facebook from resurfacing past posts in the future. Go to Settings > Your Activity > Manage Future Activity > Manage Future Reminders, then toggle them off. You can also remove past reminders and snooze them for 30 days. Cleans up your feed.
17. Use Avatars For Comments
Tired of the same blue Facebook avatar for your comments? Express yourself with custom and AR avatars! Tap your profile pic when commenting, then tap Avatars to access tons of free options, or make an AR avatar selfie. People will now see your unique avatar in comments, reactions, messages and more!
18. Add Music to Profile Videos
Make your Facebook profile video more epic by adding background music or audio! Just select Add Music when you upload or edit your profile video. Search for a song, select the portion you want, trim your clip, and post. Be sure to only use music you have rights to though or it may be removed.
19. Turn Off Automatic Hashtag Creation
Find those automatically generated hashtags on your posts annoying. Stop Facebook from adding hashtags when you post. Go to Settings > Language and Region > English (US) > Personal Preferences > Auto-Generated Hashtags > Disable. Your posts will now be published hashtag-free. Much cleaner!
20. View Your Saved Posts and Videos
Ever want to reference something you saved on Facebook ages ago but can’t find it? Your saved content is stored for you. Go to Menu > Saved to peruse all your bookmarked posts, videos, photos, and other content in one place. You can manage, organize, and search your collections here. Super helpful!
21. Control Location Settings
Be careful what location info you share on Facebook! Go to Settings > Location to manage if Facebook uses your location for things like location tags, nearby friends, weather, and more. Toggle permissions off for anything you’re not comfortable with. You can even clear your location history if needed!
22. Disable Automatic Photo Tag Suggestions
Find Facebook’s suggestions to tag you in photos annoying. Disable them in Settings > Face Recognition. Turn off the automatic labeling feature here so Facebook won’t suggest your name as a tag when friends upload pictures you’re in. You can still get tagged normally.
23. Add Cover Photos to Your Groups
Make your Facebook Groups look more polished with cover photos! Group admins can customize their group’s looks by adding a header cover photo above the profile picture and details. Just select Update Cover Photo on the desktop or Change Cover on mobile. Lets you brand your group!
24. Share Posts to Your Story
You can cross-post content to both your timeline and personal Facebook Story if you want to. When sharing a post, use the arrow to also share to your story. Your friends and followers will see it on your profile at the top! Useful for amplifying content you want to stand out.
25. See Star Ratings for Pages
How do you know which Facebook business pages are legit and worth following? Check their star rating! Search for the page, click on it, then look for the stars icon under the cover photo. This shows the page’s average rating from users. A quick way to evaluate if a brand is trustworthy.
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Final Thoughts
I hope these pro-Facebook tips help you become a platform master! What I love is most of these handy hidden features are accessible right in the settings — it just takes discovering them. Facebook may seem simple on the surface, but it packs in a ton of customizable tools allowing you to tailor your experience.
While it can take some time to set up your preferences, it’s worthwhile to have a Facebook that caters to you. Try out these pro tips to take control of your feed, privacy, aesthetics, time management, and more. And who knows, you may even uncover more hidden gems along the way to share!
FAQs
What are some of the best hidden features on Facebook?
Some of the best hidden Facebook features include downloading your data, limiting who can see your past posts, seeing your Facebook memories, customizing colors, enabling dark mode, watching videos on TV, controlling tags about you, seeing profile visits, using any emoji reaction, going live with friends, and viewing posts chronologically.
How do I access hidden menus on Facebook?
You can access many hidden menus and settings on Facebook by going to the Settings menu and exploring options like Privacy, Security, Your Time on Facebook, Language, and more. Advanced features are tucked away in these detailed controls.
What are some hidden privacy tricks on Facebook?
Hidden Facebook privacy tricks include limiting past posts, reviewing tags people add before they appear on your profile, preventing notifications of profile visitors, disabling automatic tagging suggestions, and checking post visibility settings to control who sees your content.
How do I customize Facebook to my preferences?
To customize Facebook, go to Settings and play around with options like Dark Mode, Notifications, Language, Theme Colors, Navigation, and Enable/Disable various features to tailor Facebook’s interface, aesthetics, and functionality to your personal preferences.
What are some ways to better manage my time on Facebook?
To manage your time better, go to Settings > Your Time on Facebook to view your average daily time spent, set usage reminders and limits, and enable downtime to restrict notifications during set hours. The goal is to develop more intentional browsing habits.
