Facebook Friend Lists: Close Friends, Acquaintances, Restricted and Custom Lists

"Friend list" can mean two different things on Facebook. It can mean the list of all your friends shown on your profile, which other people may be able to browse. Or it can mean friend lists in the organizing sense: groups like Close Friends, Acquaintances and Restricted that let you decide who sees what. This guide covers both, because both matter for privacy.

Part 1: Your friends list and who can see it

By default, your list of friends may be visible to many people. That's more revealing than most people realize. A visible friend list:

• Shows who your family members are, including children.
• Helps scammers clone your account and send requests to your friends.
• Lets anyone map your school, workplace and social circle.

How to hide your friends list

1. Go to Settings & privacy, then Settings.
2. Find the audience and visibility settings, then How people find and contact you (or search "friends list" in Settings).
3. Set Who can see your friends list? to Only me or Friends.

One caveat: mutual friends can still see that you're connected, and people can see you in other people's friend lists if those people haven't hidden theirs.

Part 2: Friend lists for organizing who sees what

Facebook has long offered built-in lists, plus lists you create yourself. Facebook has redesigned where these are managed several times, so the exact buttons may differ on your device, but the lists themselves work the same way.

Close Friends

The people you share the most with. Facebook may also use this list to surface their posts more prominently.

Acquaintances

People you're friends with but don't share much with: an old coworker, a parent from your child's class, a distant cousin. You can post to Friends except Acquaintances to leave them out without unfriending. Our guide to using the Acquaintances list to hide updates explains this in detail.

Restricted

The most powerful list for privacy. People on Restricted can only see:

• Your Public posts.
• Posts they're tagged in.

They can't see anything you share with Friends. It's a quiet way to stay connected to a boss, an ex or a relative without sharing your daily life. See how to distance yourself without unfriending for more options like Snooze and Unfollow.

Custom lists

You can create your own lists, such as "Family," "Book club" or "Team parents," and choose them as an audience when you post.

How to add someone to a list

The most reliable path:

1. Go to the person's profile.
2. Tap or click the Friends button.
3. Choose Edit friend list (or a similar option).
4. Tick the list you want: Close Friends, Acquaintances, Restricted, or a custom list.

On a computer, you may also be able to manage lists from the Friends section in the left-hand menu, where you can open a list, add or remove people, or create a new one. If your account doesn't show these options, try the desktop website, or search Facebook Help for "friend lists."

Using lists when you post

1. Start a post.
2. Tap the audience button under your name.
3. Choose Friends except... to leave out a list or people, or Specific friends to include only certain people. Where your account shows custom lists, you can pick a list directly.
4. Post.

Remember that Facebook keeps your last audience choice for the next post. We cover the audience selector step by step in using Facebook lists to target your updates.

Friend lists vs. Favorites

Facebook also has Favorites, which affects what you see, not who sees your posts. Marking someone as a Favorite pushes their posts higher in your Feed. Lists like Restricted and Acquaintances affect what others see from you. Different tools, different jobs.

Friend lists for families

Some practical ways parents use lists:

• A "Family" list for children's photos, so they don't go to every coworker and old classmate.
• Teachers, coaches and school contacts on Acquaintances, so personal posts stay personal.
• Restricted for anyone you feel you can't refuse but don't want seeing your life, such as a former partner's relatives.

For teens, lists solve a real social problem: they often feel they have to accept requests from classmates, teammates and family friends. Showing them the Restricted list and the audience selector lets them say yes without oversharing. Teen Accounts on Facebook also default audience settings, including who can see their friend list, to Friends.

A word on lists and trust

Lists reduce who sees a post, but they aren't a guarantee. Anyone who can see a post can screenshot it. Treat lists as a way to keep things relevant and reasonably private, not as a vault for things you'd be upset to see shared.

When a list isn't the right tool

Lists are about everyday sharing. They aren't the right answer when someone is causing harm:

• If someone is harassing, threatening or pressuring you or your child, block them rather than restricting them. Our guide to blocking someone on Facebook or Instagram covers the steps.
• If a friend's account appears to be hacked or cloned, report it rather than moving it to a list.
• If you find yourself putting most of your friends on Restricted, it may be simpler to set your default audience to a small custom list, or to trim your friend list.

Friend list checklist

• Who can see your friends list: Only me or Friends.
• Coworkers, school contacts and distant connections on Acquaintances.
• Anyone you must stay friends with but don't trust on Restricted.
• A Family custom list for kids' photos.
• Check the audience button before every post.
• Review your lists once or twice a year as relationships change.