You can hide your birthday from Facebook entirely, or show it only to close friends
Facebook stores your birthday in your profile and uses it to send you birthday notifications and show your age to other users. You have three options: delete the birthday completely, hide it from everyone except Facebook itself, or show it only to specific people. Most people choose to hide it rather than delete it, because Facebook needs the date for account recovery and age verification — but the choice is yours.
The steps take about two minutes and work the same way on mobile and desktop. Your birthday will not reappear unless you add it back yourself.
Key Takeaways
- You can remove your birthday from your profile entirely, hide it so only you see it, or limit it to close friends — each option takes the same steps.
- Facebook stores your birthday for account recovery and age verification even if you hide it from your profile, so deleting it completely may make your account harder to recover later.
- Once you change your birthday settings, Facebook does not notify other users or show them what you changed.
- You can change your birthday settings again at any time, and the change takes effect when ready.
How to hide your birthday from your profile
On desktop: Go to your profile by clicking your name or profile picture in the top right. Click the "About" tab below your cover photo. On the left side, click "Basic Information." Find the "Birthday" field. Click the audience button (it looks like a globe, a group of people, or a lock) next to your birthday. Choose "Only Me" to hide it from everyone, or "Close Friends" to show it only to people you have marked as close friends. Click outside the menu to save.
On mobile: Tap your profile picture in the bottom right. Tap "About." Scroll down and tap "Basic Information." Find "Birthday" and tap the audience button next to it. Choose "Only Me" or "Close Friends." The change saves automatically.
If you do not see a birthday field, you may not have added one yet. You can skip this step — Facebook will not display a birthday you have never entered.
How to delete your birthday completely
On desktop: Follow the steps above to reach "Basic Information." Click on your birthday date itself (not the audience button). A small menu will appear. Click "Remove" or the trash icon. Confirm the deletion if Facebook asks. Your birthday will disappear from your profile and from Facebook's records.
On mobile: Tap your birthday date in the "Basic Information" section. Tap "Remove" or the trash icon. Confirm if prompted. The birthday is now deleted.
Deleting your birthday means Facebook will not have it on file. This can make account recovery harder if you forget your password later, because Facebook sometimes uses your birthday to verify your identity. If you think you might need account recovery, hiding it instead of deleting it is safer.
What happens after you change your birthday settings
The change takes effect when ready. Your birthday will no longer appear on your profile to the people you excluded, and it will not show up in their birthday reminders or notifications. Facebook does not send a notification to your friends telling them you changed your birthday settings.
If you previously added your birthday and people saw it, changing the setting now does not erase what they already saw or remember. But going forward, they will not see it on your profile or get reminders about it.
Why you might want to hide instead of delete
Deleting your birthday removes it from Facebook's system entirely. Hiding it keeps the date in Facebook's records but removes it from your visible profile. Hiding is useful if you want to use your birthday for account recovery later — if you forget your password, Facebook can ask you for your birthday to verify you are the account owner.
If you have never had trouble remembering your password and you do not use Facebook for important accounts, deleting is fine. If you use Facebook to recover other accounts or you are worried you might forget your login, hiding it is the safer choice.
If you want to add your birthday back later
Go back to "Basic Information" in your About section. Click or tap the birthday field. Enter your date and choose who can see it. The birthday will reappear on your profile when ready.
You can change your birthday settings as many times as you want. There is no limit to how often you can hide, show, or delete it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my friends get notified if I hide my birthday?
No. Facebook does not send notifications when you change your birthday settings. Your friends will straightforward stop seeing your birthday on your profile and will not receive birthday reminders from Facebook.
Can I show my birthday to some friends but not others?
Facebook does not let you pick individual people. You can only choose "Only Me," "Close Friends," "Friends," or "Public." If you have marked certain people as close friends, they will see it when you choose "Close Friends." Otherwise, you have to pick one audience for everyone.
What if I delete my birthday and forget my password?
You can still recover your account using your email address or phone number. Facebook will ask you to verify your identity through a code sent to your email or phone. Your birthday is one way to verify, but not the only way. Deleting it makes recovery slightly slower but not impossible.
Does hiding my birthday affect my age on Facebook?
No. Facebook uses your birthday internally to verify your age for certain features, ads, and restrictions. Hiding your birthday from your profile does not change how Facebook treats your age — it only hides the date from other users.
Can I see other people's birthdays if they hide theirs?
No. If someone hides their birthday from you, you will not see it on their profile, even if you are close friends. You will only see birthdays that people have chosen to show to you.