If you want to stop other people from sharing your Facebook posts, protect your photos, or make your profile more private, adjusting your Facebook privacy settings is a good place to start.

One important thing to know: Facebook does not provide one universal switch that disables every type of sharing across your entire account. Instead, you can limit who sees your posts, manage whether others can share your posts to their Stories, adjust tagging settings, and control the audience for individual posts. The available options depend on the type of content and your account settings.

1. What Does Turning Off Sharing on Facebook Mean?

Turning off sharing on Facebook can mean several different things. The right setting depends on what you want to prevent.

For example, you might want to stop friends from sharing your posts to their Stories, prevent strangers from seeing your updates, or make certain photos visible only to you.

These are different privacy controls.

Here is a quick overview:

What you want to do	Setting to check
Limit who sees future posts	Future post audience
Stop others sharing eligible posts to Stories	Story-sharing permission, if available
Hide a particular post	Post audience selector
Restrict visibility of older public posts	Limit past posts
Review posts where others tag you	Profile and tagging
Hide personal profile information	Profile details and audience controls

Facebook’s official privacy guidance explains that users can adjust settings for posts, Stories, Reels, profile information, followers, and tagging through the Audience and visibility section of Settings. <Cite refs={[“turn947152search0″,”turn947152search2”]}/>

Important: Making a post private limits its visibility, but it does not guarantee that nobody can copy its text, take a screenshot, photograph the screen, or share information outside Facebook.

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2. Why Turn Off Sharing on Facebook?

There are several reasons you might want more control over your Facebook content.

Protect your personal information

You may share family photos, personal updates, travel pictures, or other information that you do not want circulating beyond your intended audience.

Restricting the audience can reduce who can access that content.

Prevent unwanted resharing

You might be comfortable sharing a post with your friends but not want them to distribute it to a wider audience through Stories or other Facebook features.

Some sharing permissions can be managed separately, depending on the content and current settings.

Keep personal photos private

Photos may reveal your family members, location, activities, or other personal details. Reviewing their audience settings can help you decide who should be able to see them.

Control your online presence

If you use Facebook for personal and professional purposes, you may want to keep some updates limited to friends while making other posts public.

Reduce unwanted attention

Limiting post visibility can help reduce unwanted interactions, although it cannot guarantee that people will not discuss or reproduce information they have already seen.

3. How to Turn Off Sharing on Facebook on Android

If you use Facebook on an Android phone, start by checking the privacy settings for your posts.

Method 1: Review sharing and privacy settings

Follow these steps:

Open the Facebook app on your Android phone.
Tap Menu, usually represented by your profile picture or three horizontal lines.
Select Settings & privacy.
Tap Settings.
Find the Audience and visibility section.
Open Posts to review the audience settings for your posts.
Look for the option that controls who can see your future posts.
Choose Friends, Only me, or another audience option appropriate for your needs.
Review any additional post-sharing controls shown in your account.

Choosing Friends restricts the audience compared with Public, while Only me makes the selected post visible only to you.

The exact choices available depend on the type of post and Facebook’s current interface.

Method 2: Check Story-sharing permissions

If your main goal is to stop other people from sharing your eligible posts to their Facebook Stories:

Open Facebook and go to Settings & privacy → Settings.
Look for Profile and tagging or the relevant sharing section.
Review the options related to sharing your posts to Stories.
If an option such as Allow others to share your posts to their stories appears, switch it off.
Return to your profile and review the setting.

Not every account or type of post will display this control. If it is missing, do not assume that a different setting with a similar name controls every form of sharing.

Method 3: Change the audience of an individual post

If you only want to restrict one update:

Open your Facebook profile.
Find the post you want to protect.
Tap the three-dot menu beside the post.
Select Edit audience or the closest available option.
Choose Friends, Only me, or another supported audience.
Save your changes if prompted.

This is often the simplest approach when you do not want to change the privacy of every post on your account.

4. How to Turn Off Sharing on Facebook on iPhone

The Facebook app on iPhone offers similar privacy controls to Android, although the location of individual menus may differ.

Step-by-step instructions

Open Facebook on your iPhone.
Tap Menu, commonly located at the bottom-right of the screen.
Select Settings & privacy.
Tap Settings.
Scroll to Audience and visibility.
Select Posts.
Review the audience setting for future posts.
Select Friends or Only me if you want to restrict visibility.
Return to Settings and inspect Profile and tagging for additional controls.
If a Story-sharing permission is available, disable it if that matches your goal.

How to stop sharing on a particular iPhone post

If you do not want to change your general settings, you can adjust one post instead:

Go to your Facebook profile.
Locate the post.
Tap the three-dot menu.
Choose the audience or editing option.
Change the audience to Friends or Only me.
Save the change if required.

Check the post’s audience indicator afterward to confirm that the intended privacy option is selected.

What if the setting is missing?

Facebook’s interface changes over time. If you cannot find a specific Story-sharing option, use the Settings search feature if available, or look through the relevant privacy categories.

You can also consult the Facebook Help Center for device-specific guidance.

5. How to Turn Off Sharing on Facebook on a Computer

If you use Facebook on a desktop or laptop, you can review your privacy settings through the website.

Change your future post audience

Open Facebook.com in your browser.
Log in to your account.
Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
Select Settings & privacy.
Click Settings.
Find Audience and visibility.
Open Posts.
Review the setting for who can see your future posts.
Select the appropriate audience from the options available.

If you want to restrict your posts to friends, choose Friends rather than Public. If you want a particular post to be visible only to you, use the individual post’s audience selector and choose Only me.

Check sharing to Stories

While you are in Settings, look for Profile and tagging or any available sharing permissions.

If Facebook provides a setting controlling whether other people can share your posts to their Stories, disable it if desired.

The location and availability of this control can vary. There may not be a universal desktop option to disable every kind of resharing.

Change a post’s audience from your profile

You can also change an existing post directly:

Open your profile.
Find the relevant post.
Click its three-dot menu.
Look for Edit audience or a similar option.
Select the audience you want.
Confirm or save your change if requested.

Facebook’s official instructions explain that users can select an audience when publishing a post and manage posts on their profiles. <Cite refs={[“turn947152search1″,”turn947152search3”]}/>

6. How to Stop People From Sharing Your Posts to Their Stories

One common reason people search for how to turn off sharing on Facebook is that they want to prevent others from resharing their posts to Stories.

This is different from making a post private.

Steps to check the setting

Open Facebook.
Go to Settings & privacy → Settings.
Look for Profile and tagging or the available sharing-related controls.
Search for an option that specifically mentions sharing your posts to Stories.
If the option appears, turn it off.
Review the setting after returning to the menu.

Some versions of Facebook have offered a control worded like Allow others to share your posts to their stories? The exact wording and availability may differ.

What if you cannot find this option?

You can still limit the audience of your posts.

For example, changing a post from Public to Friends limits who can see the original post. Depending on Facebook’s rules and the post type, this may also affect the sharing options available to viewers.

However, do not assume that changing the audience removes every possible sharing option or prevents screenshots.

Does disabling Story sharing prevent screenshots?

No. A setting that controls sharing to Stories does not stop someone from taking a screenshot, copying text, photographing the screen, or reproducing information manually.

If the content is sensitive, the safer approach is to avoid posting it or share it only with people you trust.

7. How to Make Your Facebook Posts Private

If you want to limit sharing because you do not want strangers seeing your posts, changing the audience is a practical first step.

Choose Friends for future posts

To limit future posts to friends:

Open Facebook Settings.
Go to Audience and visibility → Posts.
Find the future-post audience setting.
Select Friends, if available.

From that point forward, your future posts should use the selected default audience unless you choose a different audience for an individual post.

Choose Only me for a specific post

Use Only me if you want a post to remain visible only to you.

Open your profile.
Find the post.
Open the three-dot menu.
Choose the available audience-editing option.
Select Only me.

This option is useful for content you want to keep on your profile without making it visible to other people.

What is the difference between Friends and Only me?

Audience	Who can see the post?
Public	Anyone within the scope of Facebook’s public-content rules
Friends	Your Facebook friends, subject to the post’s other applicable settings
Specific friends or custom audience	The people included in the selected audience
Only me	You

The exact options may vary by content type.

Remember that changing the audience of a post does not automatically make every part of your Facebook profile private. Your profile picture, cover photo, public comments, and other information may have separate visibility rules. <Cite refs={[“turn947152search0″,”turn947152search6”]}/>

8. How to Restrict Sharing on Existing Facebook Posts

Changing your default audience helps with future posts, but it does not necessarily change the audience of everything you have already published.

To restrict an existing post, update that post’s audience directly.

Step-by-step guide

Open Facebook.
Go to your profile.
Find the post you want to restrict.
Open the three-dot menu.
Select Edit audience, if available.
Choose Friends, Only me, or another suitable option.
Save or confirm the change.

What if you cannot edit the audience?

Some posts have limitations based on their content, original audience, or where they were published. If the audience option is unavailable, review the post’s current settings and Facebook’s help guidance.

If necessary, you may be able to remove the post and publish a new version with the desired audience, but consider the consequences before deleting anything.

Will changing the audience affect existing shares?

Changing the original post’s audience restricts access to the original content according to the selected setting. However, it cannot guarantee that copies, screenshots, or independently reproduced content will disappear from elsewhere.

If you are concerned about a sensitive post, review the original post’s audience and any available controls for removing unwanted content.

9. How to Stop Others From Sharing Your Photos

Facebook photos may have different privacy controls depending on whether they are profile pictures, album photos, uploaded photos, or images posted by someone else.

Change the audience of a photo you uploaded

Open your Facebook profile.
Go to Photos.
Open the photo you want to restrict.
Tap or click the three-dot menu, if available.
Look for an audience or privacy option.
Choose the most restrictive appropriate setting offered.
Save the change if prompted.

Some photo types may not provide the same audience options as ordinary posts.

What about profile pictures and cover photos?

Your current profile picture and cover photo are generally public-facing elements of your profile. Previous profile and cover photos may have additional audience controls, depending on the image and settings.

Review Facebook’s privacy troubleshooting guidance if you need to understand how these images appear to other people.

Can you prevent every photo from being copied?

No. Facebook’s privacy controls can limit visibility and certain sharing actions, but they cannot prevent someone who can view an image from capturing or reproducing it.

Avoid uploading images containing sensitive personal information if you are uncomfortable with the possibility that someone might copy them.

10. How to Control Tagging and Timeline Sharing

Another way content may appear on your profile is through posts where other people tag you.

You can review who can add content to your profile and whether tagged posts require your approval before appearing on your timeline.

Turn on profile review

Open Facebook Settings.
Go to Audience and visibility → Profile and tagging.
Find the option related to reviewing posts you’re tagged in before they appear on your profile.
Turn on the review control if available.
Review tagged posts before allowing them to appear on your profile.

Control who can see posts you’re tagged in

Look for the setting that controls who can see posts you’re tagged in on your profile. Choose an audience that suits your privacy preferences.

Facebook notes that the original post’s audience and your tagging settings can both affect who sees a tagged post. <Cite refs={[“turn947152search11″,”turn947152search5”]}/>

Does timeline review stop people from sharing the original post?

No. Timeline review helps control whether tagged content appears on your profile. It does not necessarily prevent the person who created the original post from sharing it or change the audience they selected.

If you want to restrict a post you created, adjust that post’s audience and any applicable sharing permissions separately.

11. How to Limit Sharing of Old Facebook Posts

If you have years of public posts, changing your future-post audience will not automatically make every older post private.

Facebook may offer a Limit past posts control that changes the audience of eligible older posts.

Steps to limit past posts

Open Facebook Settings.
Look under Audience and visibility → Posts or the relevant privacy controls.
Find Limit past posts, if available.
Read the explanation carefully.
Confirm the change if you want to apply it.

The control generally changes the audience of eligible older posts that were shared more broadly, such as Public posts, to Friends. It is not the same as making every old post visible only to you.

Important things to know

The change may affect many posts at once.
It may not be easy to reverse in a single step.
Posts shared by other people may have different controls.
Content copied or shared elsewhere may remain outside your control.

If you need to make an individual old post visible only to you, check that post’s own audience options.

12. How to Check Who Can See Your Facebook Posts

After changing your settings, verify that your content is visible to the audience you intended.

Review your post audience

Open the post and look for the audience indicator near the post’s date or name. It may display Public, Friends, or another audience label.

Use Facebook’s privacy tools

Open Settings & privacy and look for Privacy Checkup, if available. This tool can guide you through key account privacy controls.

Check your profile as a visitor

If Facebook offers a View As option, use it to see how your profile appears to people who are not your friends. This can help you identify public-facing information you may want to review.

Remember that settings are separate

Changing post visibility does not automatically change who can find your profile, see your contact information, view your public comments, or see content posted by someone else.

Review each relevant setting individually.

13. What to Do If You Cannot Find Sharing Settings

If the instructions do not match your Facebook app, try these troubleshooting steps.

Update the Facebook app

Open your device’s official app store and check whether an update is available.

Search Settings

If your Settings page has a search field, search for terms such as:

Posts
Audience
Story sharing
Profile and tagging
Privacy

Try Facebook in a browser

If you cannot find the setting in the app, log in through a supported browser and review the desktop settings.

Confirm the type of content

A post, Reel, Story, photo, Page post, and tagged post may have different controls. Make sure you are looking for the setting that applies to the content you want to protect.

Visit the Facebook Help Center

For account-specific instructions, consult the official Facebook privacy settings guide.

Avoid third-party applications that claim to disable every sharing option. They may not provide the promised functionality and could put your account information at risk.

14. Common Mistakes to Avoid

When trying to turn off sharing on Facebook, avoid these common misunderstandings:

Assuming there is one universal switch: Facebook uses different controls for post audiences, Stories, tagging, and profile visibility.
Changing only future-post settings: Older posts may keep their existing audiences.
Confusing privacy with deletion: Hiding a post from others does not necessarily delete it from Facebook.
Assuming Friends means no copying: Friends may still reproduce content they can view.
Ignoring tagged posts: Other people’s posts may appear on your profile depending on your settings.
Expecting profile review to stop sharing: Review settings control what appears on your profile, not every action other people can take.
Forgetting public profile elements: Some profile information, including your current profile and cover photos, may remain public.
Using unofficial privacy tools: Do not give your login credentials to a third-party service promising to change Facebook’s internal settings.

15. Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I turn off sharing on Facebook completely?

Facebook does not offer a universal setting that disables every kind of sharing across your entire account. You can restrict post audiences, disable eligible Story-sharing permissions where available, manage tagging, and change the audience of individual posts.

2. How do I remove the Share button from my Facebook posts?

The Share button may not be removable through a universal setting. Changing a post’s audience from Public to Friends or Only me can limit who sees it and may affect the sharing options available for that post. Check the individual post’s audience controls.

3. How do I stop friends from sharing my posts to their Stories?

Open Facebook Settings and look for the Story-sharing permission in the relevant privacy or Profile and tagging controls. If a setting that specifically allows others to share your posts to Stories appears, turn it off. If it is unavailable, restrict the audience of the original post instead.

4. Does setting my Facebook posts to Friends prevent all sharing?

No. It limits the audience of the original post, but it does not prevent screenshots, copying, or all forms of reproduction. Other Facebook sharing features may also depend on the post type and current platform settings.

5. How do I stop people from sharing my old Facebook posts?

Open each post’s audience settings and restrict it as needed. You can also check whether Limit past posts is available for eligible older posts. Review the explanation before applying a bulk change.

6. Can I stop people from sharing my Facebook photos?

You can restrict the audience of many photos you upload, depending on their type and current settings. However, you cannot guarantee that someone who can view a photo will not take a screenshot or copy it.

7. Will turning off sharing affect my future posts?

It depends on which setting you change. Changing the default future-post audience affects the audience of future posts, while changing a specific sharing permission may affect a particular sharing method. Always read the setting’s description before confirming it.

16. Conclusion

Learning how to turn off sharing on Facebook starts with identifying what you want to control. If you want to prevent strangers from seeing your posts, change your audience settings. If you want to restrict sharing to Stories, check whether your account offers a dedicated permission. If you want to protect older posts, review their audiences or use the available past-post controls.

You should also review tagging and profile visibility settings to understand how other people’s posts and your public profile information may appear.

Remember that Facebook privacy settings can reduce unwanted access and sharing, but they cannot prevent every screenshot or copy of content that someone has already viewed. For sensitive information, the safest approach is to share it only with an appropriate audience or avoid posting it altogether.

17. Summary and Key Takeaways

Android and iPhone: Open Menu → Settings & privacy → Settings, then review Audience and visibility.
Desktop: Open your profile menu and access Settings and the relevant privacy controls.
Future posts: Choose Friends or another suitable audience instead of Public.
Individual posts: Use the post’s audience selector to restrict visibility.
Story sharing: Turn off a dedicated Story-sharing permission if it is available.
Older posts: Check Limit past posts and review individual post settings.
Tagged content: Use Profile and tagging settings to manage review and visibility.
Photos: Restrict the audience where the photo’s settings permit it.
Privacy limits: No setting can guarantee that viewers will never copy or reproduce your content