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Question from Mandy M: Rick, I have a problem that’s been bugging me for a long time.
When I joined Facebook I put in a fake birth date because I was too young to open an account at the time.
Now I want to change it to show my real birthday. How do I do that?
Rick’s answer: It’s pretty easy to change your birth date on Facebook, Mandy. Just follow the instructions below for the device you’re using:
If you’re using Facebook in a web browser on a laptop or desktop PC…
1 – Log in to your Facebook account and open your Timeline page.
2 – Click the About link.
3 – Click the Contact and Basic Info link in the left-hand column.
4 – Scroll down to the “Birth Date” section and make your changes as required.
Note: While you’re here you can optionally hide your birth date from everyone but yourself, and I strongly recommend that you do that.
Your birth date is one of the most important pieces of information for a scammer to have in order to steal your identity so hiding it from everyone but yourself makes sense.
If you’re using the Facebook app on a mobile device…
1 – Open the Facebook app and log in to your account.
2 – Open your Timeline page.
3 – Tap Edit Public Details.
4 – Scroll down and tap Edit Your About Info.
5 – Scroll down to the “Basic Info” section and tap the Edit link.
6 – Make your changes to the birth date fields as required.
Note: While you’re here you can optionally tap the privacy level icons on the right and hide your birth date from everyone but yourself, and I strongly recommend that you do that.
Your birth date is one of the most important pieces of information for a scammer to have in order to steal your identity so hiding it from everyone but yourself makes sense.
7 – Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and tap Save.
That’s all there is to it. The birth date on your Facebook profile should now be correct.
I hope this helps Mandy. Good luck!
Update from Mandy: Worked like a charm. Thanks Rick!
Bonus tip This post explains how to prevent your Facebook account from being cloned by hiding your friends list from the public.
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