Your Facebook profile details, posts, and even your friends are publicly viewable by default. Having a public friends list makes it easier for people to find and get in touch with you.

Facebook’s privacy settings allow you to control who can see your whole friends list if that’s what you like. If you wish to hide the identities of some friends from others, you might not want everyone to see it. Another possibility is that you simply respect your privacy and don’t want others to know who you’re connected to online.

How to hide your friends on Facebook via web browser

1. Launch a browser and go to Facebook.

2. On the webpage’s upper right, click the downward-pointing arrow.

3. Select “Settings & privacy” from the dropdown menu, then select “Settings.”

4. Select “Privacy” from the menu on the left side of the screen.

5. Next to “Who can view your friends list?” under the section titled “How people may locate and contact you,” click “Edit.”

6. Press the downward-pointing arrow to bring up a menu of choices. You have the option of selecting “Custom,” “Only me,” “Public,” “Friends,” “Friends except,” and “Specific friends.”

You can select to enter specific names by clicking “Custom.” For instance, you can exclude Bob Smith from sharing your friends list with the rest of your pals. Select the person you want to add and then click “Save Changes.”

How to hide your friends on Facebook via a mobile device

1. Open the Facebook app on your device.

2. Tap the three horizontal lines (this is the hamburger menu). On an iPhone, this is in the lower right of the screen; on an Android, it’s in the upper right.

3. Tap “Settings & Privacy.”

4. Select “Settings.”

5. Click “Privacy Settings” under the “Privacy” section.

6. Click “Who may access your friends list?” after scrolling down to the section under “How People Find and Contact You.”

7. Define who should have access to your friends list. One of the following options is available: “Public,” “Friends,” “Friends except,” “Specific friends,” or “Only me.” You can prevent certain persons from seeing your friends list by selecting “Friends except…”