Why and when to update your location on Facebook
Facebook uses your location to show you local events, businesses, and people nearby, and to let your friends know where you are. You might change it because you moved to a new city, you're traveling and don't want Facebook to broadcast your real address, or you straightforward want to keep that information private. Unlike some settings, your location on Facebook is not automatic — it comes from what you tell the platform, not from your device's GPS.
The location Facebook displays can mean different things depending on where you set it. Your "current city" is what appears on your profile for everyone to see. Your "hometown" is where you grew up. You can also add a location to individual posts, which only shows up on that specific post. Each one is controlled separately, so you can change one without affecting the others.
Key Takeaways
- Your current city and hometown are separate settings on your profile — changing one does not change the other.
- You can hide your location from your profile entirely by removing it, or you can make it visible only to friends instead of everyone.
- Location tags on individual posts are separate from your profile location and can be removed one at a time.
- Facebook does not use your phone's location services to determine where you are — it only shows what you manually enter.
How to change your current city on your profile
Open Facebook on a computer or phone and go to your profile by clicking or tapping your name or profile picture. On a computer, look for the "About" section below your cover photo. On a phone, scroll down and tap "About." Find the line that says "Current City" or "Lives in." If you see a pencil icon or "Edit" button next to it, click or tap that.
A box will appear where you can type a new city name. Start typing the city you want, and Facebook will show you suggestions. Click or tap the correct city from the list — this matters because Facebook needs to match it to a real place. Once you've selected it, the change saves automatically. If there is no "Edit" button visible, it means you haven't added a current city yet, so look for an "Add" button or a plus icon instead.
How to change your hometown
Your hometown is the place where you grew up, separate from where you live now. To change it, go to your profile and open the "About" section the same way you would for current city. Look for the line that says "Hometown" and click or tap the pencil or "Edit" icon next to it.
Type the name of the town or city and select it from the suggestions that appear. Like current city, this saves automatically once you've selected from the list. You can have both a current city and a hometown, or just one, or neither — they don't affect each other.
How to control who sees your location
By default, your location is visible to everyone on Facebook. If you want to change that, go to your profile, open "About," and find your current city or hometown. Look for a small icon next to the location — it usually looks like a globe (everyone), a group of people (friends), or a lock (only you). Click or tap that icon to change who can see it.
Your options are usually "Public" (everyone), "Friends" (only people you're friends with), or "Only Me" (nobody sees it). Choose whichever level of privacy you prefer. You can set different privacy levels for your current city and your hometown separately — for example, you could show your current city to friends only but hide your hometown from everyone.
How to remove your location entirely
If you don't want any location showing on your profile at all, go to "About" and find the location you want to remove. Click or tap the pencil or "Edit" icon, then look for a delete button — it's usually an X or a trash can icon. Click or tap it, and the location will disappear from your profile.
Removing your location does not affect location tags on individual posts you've shared. Those remain until you remove them separately. You can add a location back anytime by following the same steps you used to add it the first time.
How to remove location tags from individual posts
Sometimes Facebook or your friends tag a location on a post you've shared — for example, "at Main Street Coffee" or "in New York." These tags show up on that specific post and are separate from your profile location. To remove one, find the post on your profile or timeline, click or tap the three dots in the corner of the post, and select "Edit Post" or "Edit."
Look for the location tag in the post details. You should see an X or delete button next to it. Click or tap that to remove the tag. The post will update without the location. If you want to remove location tags from many posts at once, you'll need to do them one by one — there's no bulk removal option.
What to do if Facebook shows the wrong location
If your profile shows a location you didn't enter, it's usually because someone else tagged you in a post at that location, or because you previously set it and forgot about it. Check your "About" section first to see what's actually listed as your current city or hometown. If those are correct, the wrong location is probably from a post tag, and you can remove it using the steps above.
If your profile location itself is wrong, delete it and re-enter the correct one. Facebook doesn't automatically update your location based on where you log in from or where your phone is — it only changes when you manually change it. If you see a location you're certain you didn't set, it's worth checking your recent posts for location tags, or asking friends if they tagged you somewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I hide my location from specific people?
No. You can only choose to show your location to everyone, to friends only, or to nobody. You cannot hide it from one person while showing it to another. If you need that level of control, your best option is to set your location to "Only Me" so nobody sees it.
Does Facebook use my phone's location to track where I am?
Facebook can request permission to use your phone's GPS, but it does not automatically show your GPS location on your profile. Your profile location comes only from what you manually type in. If you don't want Facebook to have access to your location data at all, you can turn off location permissions in your phone's settings for the Facebook app.
If I change my location, will my friends be notified?
No. Changing your current city or hometown does not send a notification to your friends. They will only see the new location if they visit your profile and look at your "About" section. There is no activity post or alert about location changes.
Can I set different locations for different friends to see?
No. Your location privacy setting applies to all friends equally — you cannot show one friend your real city and show another friend a different city. You can only choose public, friends only, or private.
What happens to my location if I deactivate my account?
If you deactivate your Facebook account, your profile becomes hidden and your location is not visible to anyone. If you reactivate later, your location information will still be there as you left it.