5 hidden Facebook tricks you need to start using

January 3, 2018

Facebook could be a boon or a bane, it depends on how you look at it, but with more than 1 billion active users, people are finding it to be the former. We could all agree that it is definitely an important tool for many people to connect with friends, family, acquaintances and to some extent, the world in general. If you use Facebook a lot, here are five hidden features that you need to start using.

1. Access that secret message folder

From time to time, you may get some Messenger messages from non-friends or non-friends of friends that Facebook screens out for you. These may include spam messages but they may also include legitimate messages from people who you don’t have any immediate connection with. It is good practice to check these filtered messages occasionally.

To access this folder on the desktop, go to https://www.facebook.com/messages/ and on the upper left corner, click on the cog icon then click on “Message Requests. On the next section click “See Filtered Requests.”. This will reveal all the messages that Facebook dutifully hid from you. There might be a few in there that you really wanted to see!

For the mobile Facebook version, click here to check out this guide.

 

2. Scope out all public photos of you

It is great that Facebook asks for your permission first when someone tags you in a photo but there might be public photos that you may have missed or tags that you want to delete.

To review these photos, the best way is to check your Activity Log on the desktop version of Facebook. (To access your Activity Log, just click the “View Activity Log” button located on the bottom right side of your desktop cover photo.) In the Activity Log page, click on “Photos” on the left side column, then “Photos of You.”

From here, there are multiple tweaks you could do with the right-hand corner drop-down arrows. To see all your visible public photos, select “Public” on the “Shared with:” arrow and select “Visible” on the ” On Timeline” arrow then scroll down to review. You could then hide photos from your Timeline or report/remove tags by clicking the pencil icon.

3. Log out of Facebook remotely

There may be times when you logged in to Facebook using a friend’s or a public computer and you may have forgotten to sign out.  This may spell trouble for you since it is one big security no-no. Thankfully, Facebook has a way of logging you out of all your sessions remotely.

On the desktop version of Facebook, click the little drop-down arrow on the upper-right corner then select “Settings.” Next, click “Security and Login”. Here look for the “Where You’re Logged In” section. In this section, find the device you want to log off from by clicking the three vertical dots on the left side then select “Log Off.”

If you are not sure which device you were on, just scroll down through the list of devices then select “Log Out of All Sessions.” This will log you out of all your sessions, even your authorized devices, so keep in mind that you will have to re-authorize your devices again.

For mobile Facebook users, click here to see here’s our full guide.

 4. Prevent others from posting on your Timeline

Sometimes, you just want some peace and quiet and you don’t want your friends putting chatter on your Facebook “wall.” Maybe your birthday is a secret and you don’t want anyone greeting you on your Facebook Timeline for everyone to see.

To do this on desktop Facebook, go to your “Settings” page again then choose “Timeline and Tagging” on the left column. To prevent anyone from posting stuff on your Timeline just click “Edit” on the “Who can post on your timeline” section and set it to “Only Me.” This will prevent your friends from embarrassing you any further.

You could also turn off automatic post tagging in this section. This will let you review the posts your friends tag you in before they appear on your Timeline.

For more Timeline and Tagging tips, check this article out.

5. Hide notifications for certain posts

Here’s an easy tweak. If you were tagged in a friend’s post, you will get notifications each time someone likes or comments on that post, even from non-friends. If it gets a bit overwhelming and you don’t particularly care for what everyone else has to say, you could turn off notifications for any post.

To do this, just go to the post then click on the little arrow pointer on the upper right corner of the post’s header then select “Turn off notifications for this post.” This works for both the desktop and mobile version of Facebook. Ah, the sweet sound of silence.

There are a lot of Facebook tricks and tips out there, so make sure you check back on our site regularly for more.

Facebook launches new security feature you need to use now

Looking to beef up your account security and avoid getting scammed? Facebook is constantly adding new security features to help its users avoid hackers, scams, and false stories.

Check out some of the new features that can help protect you from online scams.

 

Tags: computer, devices, Facebook, hackers, security, settings