Question from Bridgette: I hate how Facebook shows our birthdates to the entire world.
Can you tell me how to remove my birthdate from both the Facebook website and app?
I’ve repeatedly searched FB Help but cannot find anything anywhere that explains how to do it.
If you can help, you would be my hero!! Thanks much.
Rick’s answer: I agree with completely about Facebook displaying users’ birthdays, Bridgette. It’s simply a wide-open invitation for scammers to steal your identity.
Unfortunately, Facebook won’t allow you to completely remove your birth date from their files. At the present time you can only “hide” it by preventing everyone but yourself (and Facebook personnel) from seeing it.
Note: You could simply change your birth date to a fake one, but that won’t really accomplish anything because Facebook will always maintain a record of the birth date you entered when you first signed up for your account.
In order to prevent your birthdate from showing up on your profile, all you have to do is change it’s privacy setting to “Only Me”. Just follow the instructions below for the device you use to access Facebook.
If you use Facebook in a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer:
1 – Log into your Facebook account.
2 – Visit your Timeline page.
3 – Click on the About link.
4 – In the left-hand column, click Contact and Basic Info.
5 – Scroll down to the “Basic Information” section and change the privacy level of the birthday entries to Only me.
If you use the Facebook app on a mobile device:
1 – Log into your Facebook account.
2 – Visit your Timeline screen.
3 – Tap the three horizontal dots.
4 – Tap Edit.
5 – Scroll down and tap Edit your About info.
6 – Scroll down to the “Basic Info” section and change the privacy level of the Birthday entry to Only me.
That’s all there is to it. From now on, both your birthdate and your age will be hidden everywhere on Facebook to everyone except you, but your friends will still receive a notification about your birthday on the morning of its arrival.
I hope this helps, Bridgette. Good luck!
Bonus tip: Facebook isn’t the only place online where safety, security and privacy is important. Most everything you do online comes with its own set of security risks.
A fantastic book titled “Step-by-Step Cyber Security for Beginners” will give you the info and tools you need to remain safe online. Click here to check it out.