How to Hide Your Page Likes on Facebook

Change the privacy settings on the Page categories you like

By
Andy O'Donnell
Andy )'Donnell
Andy O'Donnell
Writer
  • Auburn University
Andy O'Donnell, MA, is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and a senior security engineer who is active in internet and network security.
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Updated on June 18, 2022
Reviewed by
Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher headshot
Reviewed by Jon Fisher
  • Wichita Technical Institute
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

What to Know

  • Log in to Facebook.com, go to your profile, and select More > Likes. Click the three-dot menu and select Edit the Privacy of Your Likes.
  • Select a Page Category. In the Select Audience box, choose the level of privacy you want for the category's like visibility.
  • Options include Public, Friends, Only me, and Custom. Choose Only me for the highest privacy level.

This article explains how to hide likes on specific Page categories on Facebook, such as Restaurants, Sports Teams, and TV Shows. These instructions apply to the desktop version of Facebook only.

Person in a disguise using Facebook on a laptop

Lifewire / Ashley Nicole DeLeon 

"Liking" Facebook Page Categories

There are several types of likes on Facebook. There's the familiar "liking" a post, where you react to what someone is posting. There are also Facebook Page likes that apply to various categories, such as Movies, Television, Music, Books, Sports Teams, Athletes, Inspirational People, Restaurants, Games, Activities, Interests, Sports, Food, Clothing, Websites, and Other.

By default, these categories are set to Public, so when you like a Facebook Page, such as a restaurant, everyone can see it. But if you prefer, you can change these settings to restrict the audience who sees the Page categories you like.

You can control who sees what you like at the category level, but you can't hide individual things that you like. For example, you can decide to show or hide the sports teams you like, but you can't hide the fact that you like an individual team.

How to Make Your Page Caterory Likes Private

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Here's how to gain a little more privacy when you're liking Page categories on Facebook. These settings are available only on the Facebook desktop site, not in the mobile app.

  1. Navigate to Facebook.com and go to your profile page.

  2. Select More from the menu bar just under your cover photo.

    Facebook profile page with More highlighted

  3. Select Likes.

    Facebook Profile Page with More > Likes highlighted

  4. Select More (three dots) in the Likes box.

    Facebook profile page with More (three dots) highlighted

  5. Select Edit the Privacy of Your Likes.

    Facebook profile page with "Edit the privacy of your likes" highlighted

  6. Select a Page Category.

    Facebook Page category edit list

  7. In the Select Audience box, choose the level of privacy you want for the category's like visibility. Options include Public, Friends, Only me, and Custom. Select Only me for the highest privacy level.

    Facebook Page like privacy settings with Only Me highlighted

  8. Select Close. You've adjusted your Page like privacy settings.

Other Restriction Options

You can choose different restrictions for each of the Page like categories, but unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, you can't hide the fact that you like individual pages. It's all or nothing for each category.

Perhaps Facebook will add more granular privacy controls for likes, and you'll be able to hide the fact that you like certain things such as Shi Tzu puppies dressed in 18th-century clothing, but until Facebook adds this feature, you are forced to show all your strange likes or not show any of them.

Facebook is famous for making sweeping changes to how your privacy settings are managed, so it's a good idea to check your settings to see if you've been "opted in" to something you don't want. Be sure to understand Facebook privacy settings or consider making your Facebook Page private.

If you'd like more control over seeing traditional Facebook post likes and reactions, Facebook introduced more controls in May 2021. To stop seeing any like or view counts, in the Facebook app tap Settings & Privacy > Settings > News Feed Settings and tap Reaction Counts. Turn off reaction counts for your posts or all the posts in your newsfeed. You can also hide reactions on a per-post basis using the three-dot menu.

FAQ
  • How do I hide likes on Instagram?

    To hide likes on Instagram, just before you're about to make a post, tap Advanced Settings > Hide like and view count on this post. Then go back and complete your post. To hide likes on posts you've already made, tap More (three dots) > Hide Like Count.

  • How do I hide likes on Twitter?

    There's no way to hide like counts on Twitter or make your likes incognito. A workaround is to make your account private so your followers are the only ones who can see your likes.

  • How do you hide likes on TikTok?

    To hide your likes on TikTok videos, navigate to your profile and tap More (three dots) > Privacy. Scroll down to Safety and tap Liked Video > Only Me.

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