How to Stay Private on Pinterest: Settings for Parents and Teens

Pinterest feels like the calm corner of the internet: recipes, room ideas, outfit boards, school project inspiration. That reputation is mostly earned, but Pinterest is still a social network. Profiles can be found, boards can be followed, and people can send messages. If your child (or you) uses it, a few minutes in the settings makes a real difference.

This guide covers the privacy tools Pinterest offers in 2026 and how to use them. Menu labels shift a little between the app and the website, so if a name doesn't match exactly, look for the closest match in the same section.

Why privacy matters on a "low-key" app

Most of what people save on Pinterest feels harmless. The risk is less about one Pin and more about what a whole profile reveals over time: a first name, a hometown in a board title, a school mascot, photos of a bedroom makeover, a "my 13th birthday party" board. Each piece seems innocent. Together they can tell a stranger a lot.

There is also a safety history here. Pinterest tightened its teen protections after reporting showed that adults were collecting images of young girls into boards. That is the reason the defaults for younger teens are now much stricter than they once were.

What Pinterest does by default for teens

Pinterest requires users to be at least 13. For younger teens it has added protections that are worth knowing about:

• Under 16: Pinterest has said these profiles are private and can't be switched to public. They are not discoverable by other users.
• Connecting with friends: A teen with a private profile can share a unique profile link with friends and family so those people can follow them.
• Messaging: Pinterest has described limits so that younger teens can only message with mutual followers who connected through that kind of link.
• 16 and 17: Older teens can choose between a private and public profile.

These protections depend on the birth date entered at sign-up. If your child gave an older age, none of this applies. Checking the age on the account is the first thing to do.

How to make a Pinterest profile private

For anyone 16 or older, including parents, a private profile is the strongest single setting.

1. Open Pinterest and tap your profile picture.
2. Open Settings (the gear or three-line menu, depending on your device).
3. Look for Profile visibility (on some versions it sits under Privacy and data).
4. Turn on Private profile.

With a private profile, your account won't show up in Pinterest search, people need your approval to follow you, and your boards and Pins are visible only to approved followers.

How to hide your profile from search engines

A separate switch controls whether Google and other search engines can list your Pinterest profile. This matters for public profiles, and it is a good extra layer even for private ones.

1. Go to Settings, then Privacy and data.
2. Find Search privacy (on Android it may read "Hide your profile from search engines").
3. Turn it on.

It can take several weeks for search engines to drop a profile that was already indexed. If you are trying to clean up what shows up when someone searches your child's name, our guide on controlling your digital footprint covers the bigger picture.

Use secret boards for anything personal

Even on a public account, not every board needs to be public. Secret boards are visible only to you and the people you invite.

To create a secret board: when you make a new board, switch on Keep this board secret before you tap Create.

To make an existing board secret:

1. Open the board.
2. Tap the three dots or the pencil (edit) icon.
3. Turn on Keep this board secret and save.

Good candidates for secret boards: anything with family photos, birthday or party planning, gift ideas, health topics, or a board that names a school, team or town. A simple rule for teens: if you wouldn't want a stranger to know it, make the board secret.

Clean up the profile itself

Privacy settings help, but the profile still shows whatever was typed into it. Sit down with your teen and check:

• Display name: a first name or nickname is enough. No last name.
• Username: avoid birth years, school names or locations.
• About section: skip the age, grade, town and school.
• Profile photo: a picture of an interest (a sketch, a pet, a landscape) works just as well as a face.
• Board titles: "Lincoln Middle School Spirit Week" tells a stranger more than "Spirit week ideas."
• Linked accounts: check whether Instagram, YouTube or other accounts are connected and displayed on the profile. Remove any you don't want linked.

Messages, comments and who can reach you

Pinterest lets people comment on Pins and send messages. For teens, the defaults for under-16 accounts are already tight. For older teens and adults:

1. Go to Settings, then look for Social permissions (sometimes under Privacy and data).
2. Review who can message you, mention you and comment on your Pins, and choose the narrowest option you're comfortable with.
3. Review your followers list now and then and remove anyone you don't recognize.

Make sure your teen knows how to block and report. On a profile or in a conversation, the three-dot menu has Block and Report options. Blocking stops that person from following, messaging or interacting with their Pins.

Personalization and data settings

Privacy also means what Pinterest itself does with activity. Under Privacy and data you'll find options related to personalized recommendations and ads, including whether Pinterest uses information from other websites you visit. Turning these off doesn't change who sees your boards, but it limits how much your browsing shapes what Pinterest shows and how ads are targeted.

A quick talk that helps more than settings

Settings can't catch everything, so pair them with a short conversation. A few points worth covering:

• Pinterest is a place to collect ideas, not to make friends with strangers.
• If someone they don't know messages them, they don't have to answer. Block, report and tell you.
• Anything uploaded (not just saved) to Pinterest can be copied by others, even from a secret board shared with the wrong person.

If your child is just getting started, our explainer on what Pinterest is and how it works is a good companion to this page, and our guide to talking with kids about online safety has more conversation starters.

Pinterest privacy checklist

• Confirm the birth date on your teen's account is correct.
• Turn on Private profile (16 and older; under-16 profiles are private already).
• Turn on Search privacy to hide the profile from search engines.
• Make personal boards secret.
• Remove last names, school names, towns and ages from the profile and board titles.
• Review messaging and comment permissions and trim the follower list.
• Make sure your teen knows how to block and report, and that they can come to you.