In recent years, many of us have begun to take our privacy more seriously – and there are few things less private than firing a tweet out into the open internet.
Whether you’re looking to keep your hot takes confined to a circle of friends or want to keep your latest fanfic posts on the down low, making your profile private might be the right thing to do.
Once you go private, you will have to approve any new followers manually, and accounts that don’t follow you already will be unable to view your tweets.
It’s worth noting, though, that anyone who already follows your account will continue being able to view your tweets after it has been set to private.
If this sounds like the right thing for you, here’s how it’s done.
How to set your Twitter account to private on desktop
If you’re on a laptop or desktop computer, it’s easy to set your profile to private from your favourite browser. Just follow the steps below:
- Go to Twitter.com
- On the left-hand side, click More
- Click Settings and privacy in the pop-up box
- Choose Privacy and safety, then Audience and tagging
- Check the box next to Protect your tweets
- Click Protect to confirm
All done! Your tweets will now be hidden from those that don’t follow you, and new followers will require approval.
How to set your Twitter account to private on iOS and Android
On the Twitter mobile app, the process is just as simple. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open the Twitter app
- Tap your profile image at the top left
- Tap Settings & support in the side menu
- Choose Settings and privacy in the drop-down menu
- Select Privacy and safety, the Audience and tagging
- Tap the toggle next to Protect your tweets to activate it
Unlike on desktop, there’s nothing to click to confirm, you can simply go back to Twitter once it’s activated.
How to approve new followers on a private account
On desktop:
- Go the menu on the left-hand side
- Click More at the bottom of your screen
- Click Follower requests in the pop-up menu
- Accept or Decline as you see fit
On mobile:
- Tap your profile icon at the top left
- Tap Follower requests in the side menu
- Press the checkmark or X symbol to approve or decline