How to Keep Your Facebook Profile Off Google and Other Search Engines

Search your own name on Google and there's a good chance your Facebook profile appears near the top. For many people that's fine. For others, such as parents who'd rather keep a low profile, people leaving an abusive relationship, teachers, or anyone who just values privacy, it's an easy door to close. Facebook has a setting that tells outside search engines not to link to your profile. Here's how to use it, and why it's only part of the picture.

What the setting does

Facebook's setting asks whether you want search engines outside of Facebook, such as Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo, to link to your profile. When you turn it off:

• Search engines are told not to link to your Facebook profile in their results.
• Over time, existing results pointing to your profile should drop out as search engines recrawl.

What it doesn't do:

• It doesn't hide you from Facebook's own search. People on Facebook can still find your profile.
• It doesn't hide things you've shared publicly, such as Public posts, comments on public Pages and posts in public groups. Those can still appear in search engines.
• It doesn't hide your name, profile picture or cover photo, which are always public on Facebook.

Think of it as removing the signpost from Google to your front door, not locking the door.

How to turn it off

1. Open Facebook and go to Settings & privacy, then Settings.
2. Find the audience and visibility settings and select How people find and contact you (the exact label may vary by device).
3. Look for Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?
4. Switch it off (or select No) and confirm.

If you can't find it, type "search engines" into the search bar at the top of Facebook's Settings. Facebook also sometimes includes this option in Privacy Checkup, under the "How people can find you on Facebook" card; see our 5-minute Facebook Privacy Checkup.

Speeding up removal from Google

Search engines don't update instantly. After turning the setting off:

• Wait for a recrawl. Most results drop out on their own over days to weeks.
• Use Google's tools for outdated content. If a search result still shows details that are no longer on your profile, Google offers a way to request a refresh of outdated content, explained on its Search help pages.
• Remove personal contact details. If a result shows your phone number, email or home address, Google's Results about you tool lets you request removal from Google Search and can alert you when new results with your contact details appear.

Close the other doors too

The search engine setting works best alongside a few others in the same section:

Then reduce what's visible if someone does find your profile:

1. Limit past posts to change old Public posts to Friends in one step.
2. Restrict intro details like hometown, city, school and workplace.
3. Choose a profile picture and cover photo you're comfortable being fully public. Some people use a photo that isn't a clear face, or a landscape.
4. Check public activity: comments on public Pages and posts in public groups are visible regardless of your profile settings.
5. Use View as on your profile to see exactly what a stranger sees.

Why parents might want this

• Your children's names and photos. If your profile is easy to find and your posts are public, so are your kids' first names, schools and faces.
• Safety and custody situations. If you need to keep your location or contacts private from someone, closing search engine access is one of several important steps. Combine it with blocking, restricted friend lists and careful tagging.
• Professional separation. Teachers, coaches and others who work with children often prefer their personal Facebook isn't the first result for their name.

Teens benefit from the same habits. Talk with your teen about how a name search works, and consider setting a Google Alert for their name so you both know what shows up publicly. For the bigger picture, our guide to controlling your digital footprint covers other places a family's information can surface.

What about people-search sites?

Turning off search engine linking doesn't affect people-search and data-broker websites, which compile names, addresses, relatives and phone numbers from public records and other sources. Those sites often rank highly when someone searches your name. Most offer an opt-out process, usually through a link labeled something like "do not sell" or "remove my information" at the bottom of the site. It's tedious but worthwhile, especially if you're concerned about someone finding your home address. Google's Results about you tool can help with the search-result side, but removal from the site itself has to be requested from that site.

Search-privacy checklist

• Search engine linking off.
• Lookup by email and phone limited to Only me or Friends.
• Friend list hidden from the public.
• Old posts limited to Friends.
• Profile and cover photos chosen with "public" in mind.
• Public comments and group posts reviewed.
• Google's Results about you set up if your contact details appear in search.
• Search your own name every few months to see what others see.