Facebook tips and tricks

Find all of your government representatives

  • From Facebook on desktop, scroll down to the Explore section on the right side of the page until you find Town Hall. Click it, and then add your address. Afterward, you’ll see every representative broken down into state and federal groups. From the Facebook app, click the More menu (three horizontal lines) in the corner of the app. Then, select See More and scroll down until you find Town Hall.

Check how much time you spend on Facebook

  • Click the More menu (three horizontal lines) in the corner of the app. Near the bottom of the list, you’ll see a Your Time on Facebook tab (on iOS, you’ll see Settings and Privacy > Your Time on Facebook).

Host a Fundraiser

  • It’s accessible through the Explore section to the left on a desktop or under the More section in the app. Simply click the Fundraisers tab and you’ll be able to quickly start your fundraiser by setting your goal and sharing it with your friends.

Save for later

  • To access the Saved items on the desktop, click on the Saved feature on the left-hand side of your News feed. On mobile, click on the More menu (three horizontal lines) > Saved.

Profile video

  • To add a profile video from the Android app, go to your profile and tap your profile picture, then tap Take a New Profile Video or Upload Video. Then, tap the bar at the bottom of the screen to choose a thumbnail for your video, and tap Save or Use. To add a profile video from the iOS app, go to your profile and tap your profile picture, then tap Select a New Profile Video or Upload Video. Then, tap the camera icon in the corner to take a video.

Disable auto-playing videos

  • Under the More menu (three horizontal lines) in the Facebook Android app, select Media and Contacts, then choose to autoplay videos over Cellular and Wi-Fi connections, just Wi-Fi, or never. Under the More menu (three horizontal lines) in the Facebook Android app, select Settings and Privacy, then choose Settings, and scroll down to Media and Contacts. From there go to Videos and Photos and toggle off Videos in News feed start with Sound.

Name pronunciation

  • While editing your profile on the desktop website, go to “Details About You” to get started. From here, you can also add a nickname or maiden name for yourself to display with your profile.

Add a short bio

  • From a desktop, go to your Intro area and click Edit bio. From the iOS app, go to your profile, select the area below your name and select Edit bio. From the Android app, go to your profile, tap the three-dot button, select Edit profile, and go to Edit Bio.

Hide your activity from friends

  • To view your activity log, click the down arrow in the top-right corner of your Facebook menu bar on the web, and then select Activity Log. On iOS and Android, click the three-dot button next to Add Story/Create Story, then go to your Activity log.

See every photo you’ve ever liked

Prioritise who you see first

  • Tap the down arrow in the top right corner of the Facebook menu bar on the desktop, and then tap News feed Preferences to get started.

See your active sessions

  • From the Facebook mobile app, tap the More menu (three horizontal lines), then Settings, and finally, click Security and Login. There, you’ll see all the devices with you currently logged in. Tap the “X” to remotely log out of any device. From your Security Settings on the desktop website, the “Where You’re Logged In” menu shows active logins and lets you end them.

Have a Watch Party

  • Click on the Create a post area above your newsfeed, and then click the More menu (dots) underneath the text field. There, you’ll see Watch Party with a little popcorn icon. Add the videos you want to watch to your playlist and then invite your friends to watch.

Enable two-factor authentication

  • To turn on two-factor authentication, go to your Security and Login menu under Settings from a desktop. There, you’ll see a menu titled Two-Factor Authentication. Click Save Changes when done.

Unfollow or snooze friends

  • To unfollow someone, go to their profile on the web, hover over Following, and then scroll down to select Unfollow. You can also unfollow or snooze a friend from the More menu (ellipsis icon) that appears at the top right of their posts.

See friendship

  • To see common stuff between you and a friend, log in to Facebook on the web, go to you a friend’s profile, then click the ellipsis icon next to “message”, and click “See Friendship”. The URL in your browser will show: facebook.com/friendship/[your username]/[friend’s username]

Get notifications from friends

  • Click the “Friends” drop-down from their profile on Facebook’s desktop website, and then select Get Notifications.

Create individual News feeds

  • On Facebook’s desktop site, you can see all of your friends lists under the Explore section on the left side of the webpage. Just find and click the option labeled Friends Lists, and a new page will open showing you Facebook’s smart lists. You will see a Create List option, too.

Unsubscribe from notifications

  • When you get a notification for a post on Facebook’s desktop site, click the “X” to the right of the notification and then “Turn off”. You can also turn off notifications for activity from the right drop-down arrow of any post.

Add contributors to albums

  • If you want to let other people contribute to one of your photo albums, tap “Edit” in the top right of Facebook’s mobile app while viewing the album, and then select “Allow Contributors”. From the desktop website, click the same edit button to add people as contributors.

Download Facebook data

  • Click the down arrow at the top right of any Facebook webpage, then select Setting, and click Download a copy of your Facebook data below your General Account Settings. From there, click Start My Archive.

Find a movie

  • Scroll down the Explore section on the right from a desktop until you see Movies. From there, you’ll see a list of all movies playing near you. Click on one of the movies to see trailers, showtimes, and buy your tickets. It’s also accessible on mobile devices, by going to the More menu (three horizontal lines) at the top right of the app, then clicking See More and scrolling down until you find Movies.

Weather notifications

  • On the Explore section from a desktop (or the See More section on a mobile device), scroll down until you find the Weather tab and click it. You’ll be able to enable notifications on the bottom. While here, on mobile, you can adjust your preferences via the Settings cog up top.