What tag approval does and how to turn it on
Tag approval is a Facebook setting that stops posts from showing up on your profile until you review them. When someone tags you in a photo, video, or post, it sits in a holding area instead of appearing when ready. You then decide whether to let it through or reject it.
This is different from privacy settings that hide posts from certain people. Tag approval gives you a checkpoint before anything tagged with your name reaches your profile at all. Without it turned on, tags appear when ready and you have to remove them afterward — which takes more work and means people may have already seen them.
Tag approval is off by default on Facebook. To turn it on, open Facebook on a computer or phone and go to your Settings. From there, navigate to Privacy, then look for the option labeled "Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on your profile" or similar wording depending on your Facebook version. Toggle this setting to On.
Key Takeaways
- Tag approval stops posts from appearing on your profile until you review them, giving you control before anyone sees them.
- You find the setting in Settings > Privacy, and it applies to all tags regardless of who adds them.
- When someone tags you, a notification appears and the post waits in a review queue until you approve or reject it.
- Rejecting a tag removes it from your profile but does not delete the original post or notify the person who tagged you.
- Tag approval works on photos, videos, and text posts, but only for tags that name you directly.
Where to find pending tags waiting for your review
When someone tags you and tag approval is on, Facebook sends you a notification. You can review the tag right from that notification, or you can look at all pending tags in one place.
To see all tags waiting for approval, go to your profile and look for the menu icon (three horizontal lines on mobile, or a dropdown arrow on desktop). Select "Activity Log" or "Your Activity." From there, filter by "Tags" or look for a section labeled "Pending Tags" or "Tags to Review." The exact wording varies by device and Facebook version, but the concept is the same — it shows you everything tagged with your name that has not yet been approved.
Each pending tag shows you the post, who tagged you, and when. You can click into it to see the full context before deciding.
How to approve a tag and let it show on your profile
When you decide a tag is fine and you want it to appear on your profile, click the approval button. On most versions of Facebook, this is a checkmark or a button labeled "Approve." The post then moves from pending to your actual profile, and anyone who can see that post will now see that you are tagged in it.
Approving a tag does not change who can see the post — it only moves the tag from your review queue to your profile. If the original post is set to public, approving the tag makes it public. If it is set to friends only, it stays friends only. The privacy level of the post itself does not change.
You can approve tags one at a time as notifications come in, or you can batch-review them by going to your Activity Log and approving multiple tags at once.
How to reject a tag and keep it off your profile
If you do not want a tag on your profile, click the reject or decline button. The tag is then removed from your profile permanently. The original post still exists — the person who posted it can still see it and share it — but your name no longer appears on it.
Rejecting a tag does not notify the person who tagged you. They will not receive a message saying you rejected it. If they check their post later, they may notice the tag is gone, but Facebook does not send them an alert. This means you can reject tags without creating awkwardness or hurt feelings on their end.
If the same person tags you repeatedly in posts you do not want, you have other options beyond rejecting individual tags. You can adjust your privacy settings to limit who can tag you, or you can block the person entirely if the tagging is unwanted.
Limiting who can tag you in the first place
Tag approval reviews tags after someone adds them. If you want to prevent certain people from tagging you at all, you can set stricter limits on who has permission to tag you.
In Settings > Privacy, look for "Who can tag you in posts?" This setting controls whether friends, friends of friends, or only you can add your name to posts. If you set it to "Only Me," no one can tag you except yourself, and tag approval becomes unnecessary because no tags will come through.
You can also block specific people, which prevents them from tagging you along with everything else. Go to their profile, click the three dots, and select "Block." They will not be able to tag you, message you, or see your profile.
What happens when you approve or reject tags on old posts
Tag approval applies to new tags going forward. If you already have posts on your profile with tags you did not approve, you can still remove those tags manually, but they were not held for review — they appeared when ready because the setting was not on when they were added.
If you turn on tag approval today, it only affects tags added from this point forward. Existing tags stay where they are unless you remove them yourself by going to the post and clicking the X next to your name.
This matters if you are turning on tag approval because you have had problems with unwanted tags in the past. The setting protects you going forward but does not clean up your profile retroactively.
Tag approval on photos versus posts and videos
Tag approval works the same way across photos, videos, and text posts. Someone tags you, the tag waits for your review, and you approve or reject it. The process does not change based on the type of content.
One thing to know: tag approval only applies to tags that name you directly. If someone mentions you in a comment or in the text of a post without using the tagging feature, tag approval does not catch it. Comments and mentions are different from tags, and they have their own notification settings in Privacy.
If you want to control mentions in comments as well, look for "Who can mention you?" in your Privacy settings. This is separate from tag approval but works toward the same goal of controlling what appears on your profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the person who tagged me know if I reject the tag?
No. Facebook does not send a notification when you reject a tag. The person will not receive a message or alert. If they look at their own post, they may notice the tag is gone, but they will not be told that you removed it.
Can I approve tags on someone else's posts, or only my own?
Tag approval only works for tags on your own profile. You cannot approve or reject tags that other people receive. If someone tags a friend in a post, that friend controls whether to approve it — you have no say in the matter.
What if I turn on tag approval but then change my mind?
You can turn tag approval off anytime in Settings > Privacy. If you turn it off, any pending tags that were waiting for review will be automatically approved and appear on your profile. Future tags will appear when ready without review.
Does tag approval stop people from tagging me in comments?
No. Tag approval only controls tags in posts and photos. If someone mentions you in a comment using the @ symbol, that is a mention, not a tag, and tag approval does not affect it. You can adjust mention settings separately in your Privacy settings.
Can I approve a tag but hide it from certain people?
Tag approval is all-or-nothing — you approve it and it appears on your profile according to the post's privacy settings, or you reject it. You cannot approve a tag but then hide it from specific people. If you need that level of control, you would have to reject the tag and ask the person to repost it with different privacy settings.