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Use these amazing Facebook tips and tricks to get more out of
Facebook. We’ll show you how to enjoy using Facebook again on your
computer, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Master Facebook privacy settings so you only share photos with people
you want, build a better Facebook news feed, secure your Facebook
account and take control of apps that share information to your Facebook
page. We can even help you stop seeing annoying Facebook ads that don’t
apply to you.
You don’t need to read the online Facebook manual or search through
the annoying Facebook help pages to learn how to see the updates you
want, avoid horrible candy crush notifications, turn off auto-play video
and more. We’ll also show you important contacts to set up so that your
Facebook account is safe.
All the Facebook tips and tricks you need to get more out of Facebook.
In short, you can use these Facebook tips and tricks to become a
master of Facebook so that you share just the right information with
just the right people no matter what apps you use and where you use
Facebook.
All of these Facebook tips are free to use. You don’t need to pay for
any other apps or spend lots of time messing around with services that
claim to make Facebook better.
Get started with tips for Facebook beginners and then learn more with advanced features that will help you leverage Facebook in ways you didn’t know were possible.
See Every Post From Friends & Make News Feed Better
We start with a two-in-one tip. If you only read one of our Facebook
tips and tricks you need to follow this one. It will help you see every
update from your Facebook friends and it will also help make your
Facebook news feed better.
On Facebook go to your Profile page and Click on Friends. Any friend
that is not part of close Friends or Acquaintances will show without a
star. Click on a user with a check mark and add them to one of the
groups. Repeat for as many friends as you need, until they are
classified.
On your main Facebook page you can now see Close Friends
and Acquaintances listed on the left side. Click on one of these to see
every post that these friends share on Facebook. This will include a lot
of things you probably don’t care about.
Comment on and like the updates that you care about and very soon
your Facebook news feed will improve to show you the updates you want to
see. This takes some time, but it is the best Facebook tip for
building a better news feed on your computer, iPhone, Android or iPad.
Stop Annoying Facebook Game Requests
There’s almost nothing more annoying than your iPhone buzzing in your
pocket to tell you that a friend wants you to play Candy Crush or
whatever other Facebook game is going crazy now. You can stop these
Facebook game notifications and requests with a simple trick.
Turn off annoying Facebook game invites and notifications.
On iPhone go to Facebook -> More -> Settings ->
Notifications -> Mobile Push -> Uncheck Application Requests and
Application Invites.
On Android go to Facebook -> Tap on the Three Lines in the upper right -> App Settings -> Uncheck Application Requests.
That’s all there is to turning off those annoying Facebook game requests on iPhone or Android.
Tell Facebook What You Don’t Want to See
When you see an ad or a post that you don’t like in your Facebook
feed you can tell Facebook you don’t want to see it anymore. This works
on ads, on updates from friends and pretty much anything that appears in
the news feed.
Tell Facebook what you don’t want to see.
Tap or Click on the Down icon on the upper right of a post on
iPhone, Android or on the web. Tap on the I don’t want to see this
option.
Tell Facebook if you want to see less from that person, from that webpage, from that advertiser or if you want to report that post.
After you start doing this you’ll notice that your Facebook feed will improve, though it isn’t perfect.
Unfollow Someone Without Unfriending
If you want to stop seeing updates from a friend, but you don’t want
to unfriend them you can unfollow their updates. This means you won’t
see their Facebook posts, but you can still message each other and it
looks like you are still friends.
Unfollow someone without unfriending them.
Go to their profile page on the web and then clock on Following to
unfollow. On iPhone or Android tap on the arrow in the upper right
corner of any update and choose to unfollow the person.
Save Posts for Later
When you see an important post that you want to read later or maybe a
recipe that you want to keep you don’t need to share it with everyone
just so that you can find it later.
Save Facebook posts to watch or read later.
Tap or click on the arrow in the upper right corner of the post and choose to save the post. It will now show up in a Saved section under your News Feed when you go to the Facebook home page.
Stop Notifications After Commenting
Sometimes you jump into a thread with a comment and get sick of
seeing all the replies about a birthday, wedding, new job or a heated
political debate.
Stop notifications of new comments.
When you get a notification on your computer you can click the small X
on that notification to turn off notifications for that thread for
good.
Turn Off Facebook Notifications on Your Phone
The best way to use Facebook on the iPhone or Android is with
notifications turned off. You can leave Messenger notifications on so
you still get urgent messages, but with Facebook Notifications off you
won’t have to deal with annoying alerts while you ant to work or relax.
When you open the app you’ll still see the notifications in the small
Facebook globe icon, but they won’t interrupt your day and your
productivity.
Stop Facebook notifications without deleting the app.
On the iPhone it is easiest to just turn off Facebook notifications in the iPhone settings. Go to Settings -> Notifications -> Tap on Facebook -> Turn off the Allow Notifications option.
On Android Go to Facebook -> Tap on the Three Lines in the upper right -> App Settings -> Uncheck Notifications.
Now Facebook Notifications won’t bother you while you are doing work or relaxing.
Create a Shared Facebook Photo Album
You can create a Shared Facebook Album that friends can easily use to
upload their photos to a group album. This is a great way to collect
all the photos from a trip, a party or other event.
From the main Facebook post option on the web choose Create Album and upload a photo to get started. On iPhone or Android you need to upload a photo then tap on the small book icon to create a new album.
On the web you can choose to Make a Shared Album from the main options on the left side of the screen.
On iPhone or Android you need to save the album and then find it in More
-> Photos -> Open the Album -> Tap Edit -> Tap Allow
Contributors -> Tap Add Contributors -> Pick Friends who can add
to the album.
This is easier to manage on a computer, so it is a good idea to set it up before a trip.
Share a Facebook album so others can add to it or make an album private.
Make a Private Facebook Album
You can make any Facebook album private to only you or to only a select group of people. To do this open the album on any device or the web and choose Edit. Under Privacy control who can see this.
If you go with Only Me, then it is a private photo album, but you can
also restrict to a group of friends or family or with specific people.
Control Who Can See Your Posts
If you want to make sure you mom can’t see all of your Facebook posts
or if you want to accept your boss’ friend request without letting them
see your crazy updates you can hide the update from a specific person
or a list.
When you are about to post on Facebook click or tap on the Public option -> Choose Custom -> Enter a list or person not to share this with. Keep in mind that someone else could take a screenshot and show it to them.
You can also add users to the Restricted Friend list that Facebook
creates and then they will only be able to see things you share
publicly.
Block Annoying Facebook Users
If someone on Facebook is annoying you or harassing you, you can
block them. If they are harassing you, you should also report them.
Go to their profile page and click or tap on the three dots to the right. Choose Block to no longer allow this person to contact you or bother you.
Make Free Calls to Facebook Friends
If you use Facebook Messenger on your iPhone or Android you can use
it to make free calls to friends on Facebook. Both users need Facebook
Messenger installed for this to work.
Make free calls in Facebook Messenger.
Open Facebook Messenger and find the contact you want to call. Open the chat window and then tap on the small phone icon in the upper right to start a call. This uses WiFi or cellular data but doesn’t use minutes.
Turn Off Facebook Sounds
Recently the Facebook app on iPhone, iPad and Android started to play
annoying sounds when you use the app. You don’t need to put up with
them, but you will need to turn them off on each device that you use.
- How to Turn Off Sounds in the Facebook iPhone App
- How to Turn Off Sounds in the Facebook Android App
Use the guides above to turn off annoying Facebook sounds on iPhone, iPad and Android.
Always Watch HD Facebook Videos
You can make the Facebook videos that you watch look better on your
computer by telling it to show the HD version by default if one exists.
This is great for laptops that you always connect to WiFi, where the
screen is likely huge and just asking for an HD video.
Go to Settings -> Videos -> Video Default Quality -> HD if Available.
This only available on the Facebook website, so you cannot change this on the iPhone or Android apps.
Take control of Facebook videos.
Stop Facebook Auto Play Videos
Facebook automatically plays video on the iPhone, iPad, Android and
the web. You can turn this off or at least choose the options you want
so that you don’t use data or see annoying videos playing automatically.
On the web go to Settings -> Videos -> Auto-play Videos – > Off.
On iPhone go to Settings -> Videos & Photos -> Auto-play -> Never Play Videos Automatically.
On Android go to Settings -> App Settings – > Video Auto-play -> Off.
If you prefer, you can choose to only use WiFi on iPhone or Android so that you don’t use your cellular data to load them.
Upload HD Videos to Facebook from iPhone
Upload HD videos to Facebook by default.
On the iPhone you need to tell the Facebook app that you want to
upload HD videos. You can change the settings so that you upload HD
videos to Facebook by default.
On iPhone go to Settings -> Videos & Photos ->Choose Upload HD.
Now you will upload better looking videos to Facebook. This uses more
data if you do it when not connected to WiFi, so pay attention to your
limits.
Sync Contacts to Facebook
On iPhone and Android you can sync your contacts to Facebook to
update contact information and photos on your device with the data they
put on Facebook.
Sync your contacts with Facebook.
On iPhone go to Settings -> Facebook -> Contacts -> On. If you aren’t already connected to Facebook in this area you will need to sign in.
On Android Open the Facebook App -> Tap on the three bars
in the upper right -> App Settings -> Scroll to the Bottom ->
Sync Contacts -> Choose what to Sync.
This is a handy Facebook tip for keeping all of your contact
information up to date and getting details about your Facebook friends.
Post to Facebook By Email Text
If you can’t use Facebook at work or in another location, but you can
send an email you can still post to Facebook by email. You need to
login to Facebook on the web, go to Settings -> Mobile -> and look at the email address it shows.
Post to Facebook by email.
You can email a photo or video to this address and it will post to
your Facebook account. The subject is the caption for the photo or
video.
If you send an email without a photo or video the subject will post
to Facebook as your status. Do not share this email address with anyone.
You need to set up Facebook texts for this to work.
Post to Facebook By Text
Send a text to post on Facebook.
Once you set up Facebook texts you can post to Facebook with a text
message. This isn’t something you might use every day, but it is handy
when you are in an area with poor data service or after a disaster where
you might only be able to send a text.
To set up Facebook texts go to Settings -> Mobile ->
Add a Phone -> Choose your country and carrier -> Click Next and
Text F to FBOOK to get a confirmation code -> Enter this online to
confirm.
Now you can text a status update to Facebook and or send photos to your Facebook wall. Here are more details on how Facebook texts work.
Secure Your Facebook Account
You can protect your Facebook account from a hacker by using your phone or the Facebook app. On your computer go to Settings -> Security -> Login Approvals -> On.
Secure Facebook easily.
When you try to login from an unknown computer Facebook will text you
a one time use code to enter or will show you a code in the Facebook
app. Without one of these you can’t login and neither can someone who
wants to steal your account.
Turn Off Facebook Birthday Notifications
If you don’t want a notification for Facebook birthdays you can quickly turn this off in the settings. On your computer go to Facebook -> Notifications -> Birthdays -> Edit -> Off.
You’ll still see birthdays in your news feed and on the sides of the
Facebook website, but you won’t get a notification for them on the web
or on your mobile device.
Download Facebook Photos in Full Resolution & Albums
If you right click to download your Facebook photos you will end up
with a lower resolution version that isn’t good for printing or editing.
You can click on an individual photo and then on Options -> Download to save a high-resolution copy that you can print or edit.
Download Facebook photos at full resolution.
You can download a Facebook Albums to your computer, but you need to
use a tool to do this. You’ll need to use Chrome for your browser and
install the Download FB Album mod extension.
Download All Your Facebook Data
You can also download all of your Facebook data that includes photos, videos, posts, messages and more. To do this go to Facebook -> Settings -> Download a copy of your Facebook data.
Download a copy of your Facebook data.
On the next screen click on Start My Archive and then enter your password if prompted. On the next pop up click on Start My Archive. Facebook will prepare the download and send you an email when it is ready for you to download.
Set Trusted Contacts
You can choose trusted contacts on Facebook that can help you login
to the service if you have trouble with a password at some point in the
future. Go to Settings -> Trusted Contacts -> Choose
trusted contacts -> Choose Trusted Contacts again -> Enter the
names of several you trust and click Confirm.
Facebook will Notify users that you added them as a trusted contact.
If you are locked out you can have this friend give you a code that can
get you back in to Facebook.
Set a Legacy Contact
Notify and choose permissions for your Facebook Legacy Contact.
Death isn’t a fun topic, but Facebook now lets you create a Legacy
Contact who can manage parts of your page after you die. This lets the
person share details with friends and family and create a place where
people can remember you. Read this guide to learn how to pick a Facebook Legacy Contact and what all they can do with your account.
Use Facebook Emoji
Facebook includes a long list of emoji and emoticons that users can
use in messages, status updates, comments and basically any place there
is text on Facebook. You can use the emoji keyboard on your iPhone or
Android, but you can also type out Facebook emoticon short codes in Facebook.
| Facebook Emoticon | Short Code | Name |
|---|---|---|
 |
(y) | Like |
 |
O:) | Angel |
 |
3:) | Devil |
 |
8-) | Glasses |
 |
<3 | Heart |
 |
:* | Kiss |
 |
:v | Pac Man |
 |
<(“) | Penguin |
 |
:|] | Robot |
 |
(^^^) | Shark |
 |
:-o | Gasp |
 |
:p | Tongue Out |
 |
^_^ | Kiki |
 |
8-| | Sunglasses |
 |
:poop: | Poop |
 |
:3 | Goofy Face / Cat |
The list of Facebook emoticons above includes the short code that you
need to type in to Facebook to make the emoji. You can also copy and
paste the short code from this list.
Log Out of Facebook Remotely
If you forget to log out of Facebook when you leave a school computer
lab, work or if you lose your iPhone or Android you can log out of
Facebook remotely.
Log out of Facebook remotely.
Facebook calls this ending activity, but it is basically the same as
logging out. It is a nice way to stop someone from using your Facebook
account when you are no longer at a computer you didn’t log out of.
On Facebook go to Settings -> Security -> Where You’re
Logged In -> Find the location or device you want to stop -> Click
End Activity.
You can see the locations by device type, browser type and other
breakdowns. Don’t be surprised if you see yourself logged in to multiple
locations.
Add Facebook Milestones
Facebook lets you add information about yourself that show up as life
events on your profile. You may also hear them called Facebook
milestones.
Go back and add important milestones to Facebook.
On the website, click Edit Profile. Then click on Life Events.
Now you can choose the events you want to add. The list is long
including first kiss, weight loss, new hobby, overcoming an illness,
getting married, having a child, getting a pet, learning a language,
getting a piercing — the list goes on and on.
After you pick the event you can add the information about the event,
choose the date and add photos, locations and tag other people in the
life event.
Stop Others From Tagging You on Facebook
Facebook lets you choose to allow a tagged photo to go live with your
tag in the settings. This won’t stop a friend from tagging you, but it
will let you keep that tag private and give you the option to not have
the tag go public.
Stop others from tagging you on Facebook.
Go to Setting -> Timeline and Tagging -> How can I
manage tags people add and tagging suggestions -> Review tags people
add to your own posts before the tags appear on Facebook? -> Enabled.
You will get a notification so you can approve or decline the tag.
You can’t remove the photo with this option, so it will stay up on
Facebook.
Use Your Maiden Name or Nickname on Facebook
You can add your maiden name or a nickname to Facebook so that it is
easier for others to find you. The list includes maiden names,
nicknames, former names, father’s name, birth name, name with title and
alternate spellings. These can help people find you on Facebook.
Add a maiden name or a nickname to Facebook.
On the website, click Edit Profile. Then Details About You -> Other Names -> Choose the name type, to show at top of profile and enter the name. Click save.
Delete Your Facebook Account
If you are done with Facebook, you can delete your Facebook account.
You can do this from your computer or from the iPhone, iPad or Android
devices.
You can delete your Facebook account, but it is really just deactivated.
Follow this guide to delete your Facebook Account. Before you leave you should download your data and Facebook will try to convince you to stay.
After you finish these steps your Facebook account your account will
no longer be active. Facebook will let you log back in and activate your
account at any time.
