To make a post shareable on Facebook, change the audience of your own profile post to Public. On desktop, select the audience icon beside the post’s date or time; on mobile, open Options and select Edit Privacy. Photos controlled by an album, reels, and group posts have separate audience controls.
The short version
- Existing posts: Change the post’s audience to Public using its audience icon or Edit Privacy.
- New posts: Select Public beneath your name before publishing.
- Future posts: Set your default audience separately if you want future profile posts to be public.
- Sharing limits: Sharing a post does not give recipients access beyond its original audience.
| Post or option | What to use | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Existing profile post on desktop | Audience icon, then Public | Your own profile posts |
| Existing profile post on mobile | Edit Privacy, then Public | Android, iPhone, iPad, Lite, and mobile browser |
| New profile post | Audience control below your name | Post composer |
| Default post audience | Posts settings for future posts | Desktop, Android, and iPhone |
| Audience review | Privacy Checkup | Main profile on desktop |
| Individual photo | Edit post audience | Your photos with individual controls on desktop |
| Photo album | Edit album | Your albums with editable privacy on desktop |
| Published reel | Audience control or Edit Privacy | Desktop and Android |
| Default reel audience | Reels settings for future reels | Desktop and Android |
| Facebook Page post | Publish from your Page | Android app with Facebook access |
| Restricted Page post | Privacy settings for limited distribution | Meta Business Suite on desktop |
| Page country and age restrictions | Followers and public content | Desktop with full control of the Page |
| Public group post | Publish in a public group | Groups where you can participate |
| Private group conversion | Privacy in group settings | Administrators of groups offering conversion |
| Private group highlight | Review and approve selected content | Eligible private groups on mobile |
| Post sharing menu | Share and an available destination | Eligible posts on desktop |
| Feed post to story | Share, then the story destination shown | Eligible Feed posts on desktop |
| External link from a post | Share the linked resource separately | Posts containing external links |
Make an existing profile post public
Setting a post to Public exposes its content to people beyond your friends. On the Facebook website, click your profile picture, then your name, and find the post you want others to share. Click the audience icon beside its date or time, then select Public.
In the Android, iPhone, iPad, or Facebook Lite app, open your profile and find your post. Open Options, select Edit Privacy, then choose Public. On iPhone and iPad, tap Done to finish.
In a mobile browser, open your profile, find the post, then open Options and select Edit Privacy. Choose Public, then select Done. These steps apply to posts you own on your own profile.
Choose a public audience for a new post
On the Facebook website or Android app, open the post composer using the text box at the top of your Feed or profile. Select the audience control below your name, which may currently read Friends, then choose Public. Finish composing and publish the post.
This audience choice applies to the post you are creating. It does not change your default audience, so use the separate default setting if you want future posts to start as public too.
Set the default audience for future posts
On desktop, click your profile picture, then open Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Posts. Open Who can see your future posts?, select Public, then click Done.
On Android or iPhone, open Menu > Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Posts. Select Who can see your future posts?, then choose Public; the app saves this choice immediately. Use See all if needed to reach the setting.
Existing posts keep their audiences and need separate changes. Facebook replaced the older behavior of remembering your last post’s audience with an explicitly selected default audience.
Change the audience of a photo or album
For an individual photo on desktop, open your profile, select Photos, then select Your photos. Open the photo, choose Options > Edit post audience, and select Public. If the photo inherits its audience from an album, change the album’s audience instead.
To change an album on desktop, open your profile and select Photos > Albums. Open the album, choose Options > Edit album, then select its current audience. Choose Public and click Save.
Only the person who posted the album can change its privacy. For album-controlled photo posts, changing the album’s visibility also changes the visibility those posts inherit.
Make a reel public
Facebook says all videos on Facebook are now reels, and you can change an individual reel’s audience. On desktop, open your profile, locate the reel post, select its audience control, then choose Public.
On Android, locate your reel and open Options > Edit Privacy, then select Public. Tap Edit Privacy at the top left to return to the reel.
For future reels on desktop, click your profile picture and open Settings & privacy > Settings > Audience and visibility > Reels. Select Who can see your reels?, choose Public, then click Save. On Android, start at Menu, follow the same settings path, select Public, then tap Save.
The reel default also applies to future reels shared from Instagram. You can still choose a different audience for an individual reel.
Check sharing restrictions on a Page post
Posts you create from a Page on Facebook have a public audience. In the Android app, switch into your Page, tap What’s on your mind?, and compose the post. Tap Next, review the settings, then tap Post. This route requires Facebook access to the Page.
If you want limited distribution instead, you can restrict a Page post in Meta Business Suite on desktop. Switch into the Page, open its profile, then select Meta Business Suite > Content > Create post. Under Privacy settings, select Restricted, choose the intended audience, then click Publish. Shares of that post remain visible only to the selected audience.
Page-wide country and age restrictions can prevent external sharing and logged-out viewing. To review them on desktop, switch into the Page using See all profiles. Open the Page’s profile picture, then select Settings & privacy > Settings > Followers and public content. You need Facebook access with full control to change these settings.
For country settings, open Country restrictions, select Edit, revise the restrictions, then select Save. For age settings, open Age Restrictions, select the appropriate audience, then select Save.
Publish group content for a public audience
In a public group, posts and comments are public. You can publish content in a public group where you are allowed to participate, subject to its participation and moderation requirements. Doing so does not change the audience of an existing private-group post.
If you administer a private group that offers conversion, changing it to public makes subsequent content public while earlier private posts remain restricted. On desktop, open Facebook’s Groups page and select the group. Select Group settings; if that option is absent, select Manage first.
Under Set up group, edit Privacy, select Public, then select Next. Click Change to public to proceed. Administrators have three days to cancel.
In eligible private groups, you can also approve a public highlight when Meta selects your post or comment. Approving a highlight publishes the selected content publicly. On mobile, open Menu > Groups, using See more if needed, then select the group and select You.
Under Group highlights, select Manage > Pending and review the selected content. Tap Approve to publish the highlight. Alternatively, open the selection notification to review the content before approving it.
Share the post with its intended audience
Once the post is eligible for sharing, click Share below it on desktop. Available destinations include Share now, Share to Feed, Send in Messenger, Share to a group, Share on a friend's profile, and Share to a Page. Choose from the destinations shown, which depend on the original post’s privacy.
For an eligible Feed post you want to put in a story, click Share below the post, then choose the story destination shown. Story viewers can open the original post only if its audience permits them to do so. Sharing distributes the post, but it does not grant access beyond that original audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone share a link from a restricted Facebook post?
A friend can share the external link contained in your post with a wider audience. The text you added to the Facebook post is not included, so this shares the linked resource rather than the complete restricted post.
How do you review post visibility through Privacy Checkup?
On desktop, click your profile picture, then open Settings & privacy > Privacy Checkup > Who can see what you share. Follow the audience-review screens to adjust post visibility. Use your main profile because some Privacy Checkup settings are unavailable from additional profiles.
Do additional Facebook profiles share the same audience choices?
Additional profiles have independent audience choices. Choose the intended audience for the profile you are posting from.
Are your current profile picture and cover photo already public?
Your current profile picture and cover photo are already public. The Profile pictures and Cover photos albums also allow individual-photo audience settings.
How do you publish a Page post with content task access?
If you have content task access, you must use Meta Business Suite to create Page posts. Publishing directly from the Page on Facebook requires Facebook access to that Page.