The cover photo on your profile forms a big part of the visual experience for users. Not only does this explain why the cover photo is so large, stretching from one side of your profile to the other, but it also explains why your current cover photo is always public.
If current cover photos were private, it would impact the very layout of the Facebook screen and would have a detrimental impact on each user’s experience.
So, straight away we can tell you that your existing / current cover photo cannot be made private.
However, you can set each of your former cover photos to private, so that users who you aren’t friends with can only view your current cover photo – thus limiting their access to more photos of you and your lifestyle.
In this article, we’re letting you know how to change the visibility settings on old cover photos, exercising your rights to lockdown your profile and make your content private to those who you don’t know.
2 Ways to View Old Cover Photos
There are two ways that users can view their old cover photos.
- Click on your existing cover photo at the top of your profile page and select ‘See Cover Photo’. You can then scroll through old photos by tapping the arrow icon on the right hand side of the photo
- Click on the ‘Photos’ header on your feed and then select ‘Albums’. Inside your Albums, look for the one labelled ‘Cover Photos’. This is not an album that you make, but rather is automatically produced by Facebook as a place to store all the cover photos that you upload
How to Change Audience Visibility of Old Cover Photos
Regardless of which process you follow to access old cover photos, the steps you need to follow to change audience visibility remain largely the same.
Open the cover photo that you want to edit in full screen mode, then click on the three dots icon in the top right hand corner of the screen. Select ‘Edit Privacy’.
The menu that appears gives you several options, including making your cover photo visible to Friends online, to Specific Friends, and to you only. If you opt for ‘Only Me’, nobody will be able to vie the photo – making this the best option for privatising your cover photo.
NOTE: You will have to follow this process with each of your cover photos individually.
The Benefits of Making Photos Private
Photos and visual content make up a large bulk of the Facebook experience for users. Every profile has a profile picture and a cover photo, with users able to upload full albums as well as single photo posts and updates for their friends and followers.
Making photos private is just one way that users can protect themselves online – lowering the risk of identity theft and of users creating fake profiles using existing photos and content.
While your current cover photo must remain public as per Facebook’s regulations, making all your older and outdated cover photos private minimises the exposure of your photos to people who you don’t know.
We hope this helps you to understand the set-up around cover photos and gives you some insight into how best to secure your content and protect your privacy.
