Change these Facebook settings to cut distractions and improve your privacy
Facebook can help you stay connected with friends and family. But it can also become overwhelming with notifications, automatic videos and repetitive messages. To keep your peace of mind, learn how to disable certain Facebook settings and notifications to avoid annoyances and potential privacy concerns.
Disable Notifications
Facebook sends notifications for many activities and updates. To turn off notifications, follow these simple steps.
On your browser, click your profile picture at the top right corner of the screen. Select Settings & Privacy, and then click Settings. On the left-hand side, select Notifications. From there, you can customize your notification preferences by choosing how you want to be notified, and what you want to be notified about. Tricia Goss/Don’t Waste Your Money Stop Automatic Videos
Facebook auto-plays videos whenever you scroll through your news feed, which can be frustrating when you are trying to concentrate on something else. To turn off automatic videos, follow these simple steps.
On your browser, go to your profile picture, select Settings & Privacy and choose Settings. From the left-hand menu, select Videos. Click the drop-down menu next to Auto-Play Videos and select Off. Tricia Goss/Don’t Waste Your Money Disable Location Sharing
Facebooks Location History allows the platform to track your precise whereabouts through your devices location services. However, if youre uncomfortable with Facebook keeping a record of your location history, you can disable this feature.
On an iPhone, select Location Services on the home screen and toggle it off.
On an Android device, open Settings and then tap on Apps. Next, scroll down the list of apps and select Facebook. Next, tap Permissions followed by Location and choose your preferred location permission.
Disable Off-Facebook Activity
Facebook launched the Off-Facebook Activity tool that lets you manage how the platform sees and tracks your activity across the internet. For example, you can clear the history of apps and websites you use that have shared your data, and you can disconnect data tracking going forward.
On your browser, click your profile picture, select Settings & Privacy and choose Settings. From the left-hand menu, select Privacy. Click on Your Facebook Information and choose View next to Off-Facebook Activity. Select Clear previous activity and then click Clear to confirm. You can also choose Manage Future Activity to select settings. Tricia Goss/Don’t Wate Your Money
Managing Facebook settings and notifications can help you clear clutter and avoid unnecessary distractions. By following these simple steps, you can customize your Facebook experience and have more control over your data and privacy.
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Turning off a few settings could go a long way towards avoiding notification overwhelm.