Where to find Twitter's privacy controls
Twitter's privacy settings live in one place: the Settings and Privacy menu. Open Twitter on your computer or phone, click or tap the three dots (sometimes called the menu icon) in the top left corner, then select Settings and Privacy. From there, click Privacy and Safety on the left side. This is where every privacy choice Twitter offers sits in one list.
The settings you see depend on what kind of account you have. A regular account and a business account show slightly different options, but the core controls are the same. If you have verified status or a creator account, you may see additional options related to who can message you or tag you in posts.
Key Takeaways
- Your main privacy controls are in Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety, where you decide who sees your posts and who can message you.
- Making your account private means only people you approve can follow you and see your posts, but your profile name and picture remain visible to everyone.
- You can block specific people, mute words or accounts to hide their posts from your feed, and control who can tag you in photos or reply to your posts.
- Twitter stores data about your activity and location; you can limit what it collects and see what it has saved about you in the Data read section.
- Changes take effect when ready, and you can reverse any privacy setting at any time without losing your account or posts.
Making your account private so only approved followers see your posts
A private account means people cannot see your posts unless you approve them as a follower first. To turn this on, go to Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety, then look for the option labeled Protect your posts or Private account. Toggle it on. Twitter will ask you to confirm — click the button to proceed.
When your account is private, your profile picture, name, and bio remain visible to everyone. People can still find you by searching, but they cannot read your posts or see your follower list without your permission. Anyone who already follows you stays a follower, but new followers must send a request that you accept or decline.
If you change your mind, the same toggle turns it off. Your posts become public again when ready, and anyone can follow you without approval. This does not delete anything or notify your followers — it straightforward changes who can see what you post going forward.
Controlling who can message you and tag you
Twitter lets you limit direct messages separately from your post privacy. In Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety, find Direct Messages. By default, anyone can message you. You can change this to People you follow (only accounts you follow can send you messages) or No one (you receive no direct messages at all).
For tagging, look for Photo tagging in the same Privacy and Safety section. You can choose to let anyone tag you in photos, let only people you follow tag you, or turn tagging off entirely. If someone tags you in a photo and you have not allowed it, the tag appears but you can remove it.
You can also control replies to your posts individually. When you post something, you see three dots next to it — click those and select Change who can reply. Your options are everyone, people you follow, or only people you mention. This setting applies only to that one post, not your whole account.
Blocking and muting accounts
Blocking someone removes them from your followers, hides your posts from them, and prevents them from messaging you. They can still see your public profile if they log out, but they cannot interact with you. To block an account, click the three dots on one of their posts or visit their profile, then select Block. Twitter asks you to confirm.
Muting is less severe. When you mute an account, their posts stop appearing in your feed, but they can still follow you, message you, and see your posts. You can mute individual words, phrases, or hashtags too — any post containing those words disappears from your feed. Go to Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety > Muted words to add words or phrases you want hidden.
Both blocking and muting are private — the other person does not get a notification. You can unblock or unmute anyone at any time by going to their profile or to your muted words list and reversing the action.
Limiting data collection and seeing what Twitter knows about you
Twitter collects information about where you are, what you click, and what you search for. Some of this helps the platform work (like keeping you logged in), and some is used to show you ads. You can see and limit some of this collection in Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety > Data and Privacy.
Look for Personalization and data. You can turn off Allow additional information sharing with business partners to reduce how much data Twitter shares outside the platform. You can also turn off Personalized ads, though ads will still appear — they just will not be based on your activity.
To see exactly what data Twitter has stored about you, go to Settings and Privacy > Your Account > read your data. Twitter will prepare a file containing your posts, followers, messages, and other account information. This takes a few hours to generate, and Twitter emails you a link when it is ready. You can read this file once per month.
Controlling who can find you by email or phone number
Twitter lets people search for you using your email address or phone number if you have added those to your account. In Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety, find Discoverability and contacts. You can toggle off Allow people to find your account by email address and Allow people to find your account by phone number. This does not remove your email or phone from your account — it just hides it from search.
You can also control whether Twitter uses your contacts to suggest accounts to follow. The same section has an option to Let others find you by your email address or phone number — turning this off means Twitter will not match your email or phone to other accounts in its system.
Reviewing and removing apps that have access to your account
If you have ever logged into another app or website using your Twitter account, that app has permission to access some of your Twitter data. Over time, you may forget which apps you authorized. Go to Settings and Privacy > Your Account > Apps and Sessions, then click Connected Apps. You see a list of every app that can access your account.
Click any app to see what permissions it has — for example, whether it can read your posts, send posts on your behalf, or see your direct messages. If you no longer use an app or do not trust it, click Revoke access. The app loses permission when ready and cannot access your account anymore. You can always reconnect it later if you change your mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I make my account private, can people still see my old posts?
No. When you switch to a private account, all your existing posts become visible only to approved followers. People who were already following you keep access, but new people cannot see anything you posted before or after you went private unless you approve them.
What happens if I block someone and then unblock them?
Unblocking removes the block, but it does not automatically re-follow them or restore the relationship. They can follow you again if they want, and you can follow them again, but Twitter does not undo those connections automatically.
Can someone tell if I have muted them?
No. Muting is completely private. The person you muted will not know, and they can still see your posts, follow you, and message you. Only you know you have muted them.
If I turn off personalized ads, will I see fewer ads?
No. You will still see ads on Twitter — the same number as before. The difference is that ads will not be based on your activity, interests, or search history. They may be less relevant to you, but they will still appear throughout your feed.
Do I need to change my privacy settings on my phone and computer separately?
No. Privacy settings are tied to your account, not your device. If you change a setting on your phone, it changes on your computer too. You only need to adjust each setting once.