Twitter privacy settings: A guide to secure your X account

Want to know how to change privacy settings on X (formerly Twitter)? Many people enjoy using X for personal or professional reasons, but they don’t always know how to make their Twitter secure. Following Elon Musk’s changes, Twitter’s privacy and security settings became more confusing, especially for users switching between iPhone, Android, and desktop. That’s where our Twitter privacy settings guide comes in!

Whether you’re trying to protect your posts on X, block trolls, or view sensitive content that’s hidden by default, we’ll walk you through everything step by step. From X account security to two-factor authentication on X, we’ll show you how to secure your account, manage your direct message settings, and control exactly what people see when you post.

This guide explains how to change privacy settings on X, including how to enable or disable sensitive content warnings, and how to protect your posts and approve followers. Ready to lock down your Twitter account? Let’s dive into the social media privacy settings that matter most.

Why are Twitter privacy settings important?

X (formerly Twitter) is great for sharing ideas, building a network, or growing your brand. But by default, it puts your personal information in the spotlight, allowing it to be scooped up by data brokers, people search sites, or even hackers running phishing scams.

Unless you actively change your X privacy settings, your account may share more than you realize. As a result, your posts, photos, likes, and even your location data could be exposed to strangers, advertisers, or malicious actors. If you don’t use all the privacy controls and security settings baked into Twitter, you could become a target for trolls, scammers, or invasive data profiling.

Our walkthrough will help you prevent photo tagging on X, manage who can send direct messages, manually approve followers, and explain how to tighten your X post privacy settings. Whether you’re managing parental controls on X for a teen or you want to boost your own privacy, it’s critical to review and adjust your X settings regularly.

Using X privacy settings will help you to:

• Stop data brokers from collecting and selling your personal data
• Prevent your information from being added to people search sites
• Protect your account against hackers and phishing scams
• Control who can see your posts or follow you
• Decide who can message you and tag your photos
• Hide NSFW content to keep your feed safe in public

How to protect your posts on X (formerly Twitter)

Want more control over who sees your tweets? A quick way to boost your privacy on X is to protect your posts. Adjusting your Twitter post settings makes your tweets visible only to approved followers. This is ideal for users who prefer to tweet only to their followers.

If you want to stop anybody from stumbling across your profile, or you want to ensure that your opinions are being shared only with your close circle of friends, you can follow the steps below.

When you protect your posts on X, you’ll be able to:

• Manually approve or deny new follower requests
• Hide your tweets from non-followers and search engine results
• Stop strangers from replying, quoting, or retweeting your posts

Improving these Twitter privacy settings is crucial to shield your posts from trolls, protect your kids’ online activity, and use X privately for work-related updates.

How to Enable “Protect Your Posts” on X

You can use the steps below to protect your tweets regardless of which device or operating system you are using.

We generally recommend updating all your X privacy settings via a laptop or desktop computer, as this provides you with greater control. However, we have also included steps for mobile users.

How to protect your Twitter posts on desktop:

1. Go to x.com and log in.
2. Click More in the left-hand menu, then go to Settings and privacy.
3. Choose Privacy and safety > Audience, media and tagging.
4. Toggle on Protect your posts and click Protect to confirm.

How to protect your Twitter posts on iPhone or Android:

1. Open the X app and tap your profile icon.
2. Go to Settings and Support > Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy and safety > Audience and tagging.
4. Enable Protect your posts.

With post protection enabled on X, only people who follow you can view your tweets.

Note: Enabling Protect your posts also requires you to manually approve new followers. This helps block bot accounts, spam accounts, and unwanted users (including stalkers) from accessing your posts.

How to approve and disapprove follow requests on X (Twitter)

X allows anybody to follow you without asking. This makes it easier for users to grow their follower base, but creates privacy risks for users who don’t necessarily care about their reach. Some users prefer to manage their followers closely, especially if they worry that allowing someone to follow them could appear like an endorsement of that person’s views or content.

This helps you maintain a more reputable follower list and cuts down on off-topic mentions or low-quality notifications (which became much more prevalent ever since Musk took over and changed the name!)

Note: X doesn’t offer a separate setting to manually approve followers. The only way to require follow requests is by enabling the protection of your posts as outlined above.

How can I remove a user who already followed me?

If you have only just learned how to prevent people from following you automatically, you may also want to know how to remove users who followed you previously.

Removing older followers can reduce unwanted notifications and improve your experience on X.

To remove an unwanted follower, use these simple steps:

1. Click on the account that you want to unfollow you.
2. Click the three-dot menu (…) under the account banner.
3. Select Remove this follower to stop them from appearing in your list of followers.

Once removed, they will no longer be able to see your posts. If the user has been harassing you or bothering you in any other way, you can opt for Block @username instead. This will not only prevent them from seeing your posts but also block them from sending you another follow request in the future.

How to manage who can tag you on X

Want to manage who can tag you? Tags can be annoying, especially when they appear on posts you disagree with or on content you don’t want associated with your name.

Unfortunately, X doesn’t give you full control over all types of tagging. Anyone can still mention your handle in posts, replies, or quote tweets – even if you don’t follow them. However, you can control who’s allowed to tag you in photos.

Photo tagging is often used to pull people into conversations or promote content without consent. Worse, it can link your handle to NSFW images or phishing posts, causing unwanted notifications or putting your reputation at risk. Unwanted tags can lead to:

• Unwanted notifications
• Spam or phishing attempts
• Embarrassing content showing up while you’re at work or in public

The solution? Lock down your tagging permissions to prevent photo tags!

How to change tagging settings on X (Twitter) for desktop:

1. Log in to x.com
2. Go to More > Settings and privacy
3. Select Privacy and safety
4. Click Audience, media and tagging
5. Under Photo tagging, click Edit
6. Choose from:

• Anyone can tag you
• Only people you follow can tag you
• Off (No one can tag you)

How to change tagging settings on X (Twitter) for mobile:

1. Open the X app
2. Tap your profile icon > Settings and Support > Settings and privacy
3. Select Privacy and safety > Audience and tagging
4. Tap Photo tagging
5. Choose your preferred setting (followed users only, or disable it entirely)

Can I stop people from mentioning me in Tweets?

No. X doesn’t let you block mentions or quote tweets completely. In fact, even if you block a user, they will still be able to tag your @ handle in their posts. This rule causes a lot of frustration for users who don’t want to be tagged by accounts they disagree with.

So what are your options? If you want to stop seeing mentions from unwanted users, reduce stress, and clean up your notifications, we recommend the following tools:

• Mute specific accounts to stop seeing their mentions
• Block abusive users to prevent future interaction
• Mute words or phrases to reduce visibility of spam or slander

Combining photo tagging limits with tools like blocking, muting, and filtering notifications (to only see alerts from people you follow) gives you greater control over what appears in your feed. However, it’s important to note:

Note: These settings will not prevent other people from seeing that you’ve been tagged in a post, even if you can’t see it yourself.

What tags can be controlled on X?

X does not let you control all tags. To help you out, we have explained which tags you can control in the table below:

How do I change my Direct Message settings on X?

Want to prevent yourself from receiving direct messages (DMs) from strangers? X lets you control who is allowed to send you direct messages. This can help to clean up your inbox, prevent you from receiving inappropriate messages, block spam, and protect against phishing links and other dangerous messages.

By default, anyone can request to DM you, even if you don’t follow them. But you can adjust this to allow messages only from people you follow, or even turn DMs off entirely if you want to.

How to change DM settings on X:

1. Log in at x.com
2. Click More in the left-hand menu
3. Go to Settings and privacy
4. Click Privacy and safety
5. Select Direct messages
6. Set “Allow message requests from” to No one

You can also disable the following settings for added protection:

• Filter low-quality messages (uses automated means to hide messages suspected of being spam).
• Show read receipts. Allows you to read messages on X without the sender knowing.

If you want the tightest security, we recommend setting message requests to No one. However, influencers, journalists, and other professionals may decide that they want to receive messages from Verified users for potential outreach opportunities.

The caveat? Since Elon Musk’s changes, anyone can pay to become verified. This has reduced the trust associated with the badge, so enabling DMs from Verified users still exposes you to spam, phishing, scams, and other risky messages.

What are the best privacy settings for X direct messages?

• Privacy-focused users: Turn off all DM request options to eliminate spam and phishing
• Parents: Always restrict DMs to followers only, or disable them entirely.
• Professionals: Consider leaving DMs open if you rely on outreach. Otherwise, keep DMs locked to avoid unsolicited messages and other unwanted distractions.

How do I disable sensitive content and posts?

By default, X hides posts flagged as sensitive or NSFW (not safe for work). This setting blocks posts, images, and videos that may contain violence, nudity, or adult content. While this setting protects casual users or those in public spaces, it can be frustrating for adults who disagree with censorship.

Unfortunately, many people who disable this setting are shocked by the amount of NSFW content they start receiving in their feed. That’s why we’ve explained how to re-enable sensitive content warnings to restore your account’s default safety settings.

How to re-enable sensitive content blocking on X: 

1. Log in at x.com
2. Click More in the left-hand menu
3. Go to Settings and privacy
4. Click Privacy and safety
5. Select Content you see
6. Uncheck the box next to: Display media that may contain sensitive content
   

With sensitive content disabled, X will hide tweets that contain anything risque. As a result, you’ll see a warning – with an option to view each post if you want to.

How do I stop my posts from being flagged as sensitive on X?

Are your posts being flagged as sensitive or NSFW accidentally? If your content isn’t actually sensitive, you’ll want all your followers to see your posts without warnings. Below, we’ve explained how to stop posts from being flagged as sensitive:

1. Log in at x.com
2. Click More in the left-hand menu
3. Select Settings and privacy
4. Go to Privacy and safety
5. Click Your posts (or “Your Tweets” on some versions)
6. Find the option: Mark media you post as containing material that may be sensitive
7. Uncheck this box to remove the sensitive content warning

Can I turn off location information for posts on X?

Are your X (formerly Twitter) posts showing your location? Sharing this data can lead to stalking, harassment, or even real-world threats, especially for influencers and public figures.

Whether you are trying to avoid unwanted attention or you prefer never to disclose location information publicly, you can follow these steps:

1. Log in to x.com
2. Click More in the left-hand menu
3. Go to Settings and privacy
4. Select Privacy and safety
5. Click Location information
6. Uncheck Add location information to your posts

If you also prefer to remove location data from all your previous posts, you can click the red text that says Remove all location information attached to your posts.

Does X still track my location?

Yes. X uses various methods to track its users’ location. It monitors your home IP address to determine your approximate location and uses browser-based cookies to track location information, including GPS data. This means you must leverage additional tools to prevent X from tracking your location.

The best method to prevent detecting your physical location is to use a VPN for Twitter. A VPN is the most powerful privacy tool for Twitter for various reasons:

• It stops local networks, ISPs, government snoops, and other eavesdroppers from being able to detect that you are using Twitter. This gives you the ability to use X (formerly Twitter) privately at work, on campus at school, or in countries where it is blocked. The encryption provided by a VPN ensures that nobody knows you are using Twitter.
• It stops Twitter from detecting your home IP address (which removes a significant layer of tracking)
• It hides your IP address from third-party websites and apps that work alongside Twitter to track you as you move around the web.

Do I need a VPN for X?

Yes. If you want to use X (formerly Twitter) privately, a VPN is one of the best tools available.

A VPN is a privacy tool that creates an encrypted tunnel for your internet traffic. This ensures that local wifi networks, ISPs, government agencies, and other eavesdroppers (including hackers on public wifi) are unable to capture your web traffic and metadata.

With a VPN, you can use the internet without being tracked by the local wifi provider or your ISP. This gives you privacy whether you’re at home, at work, on campus, or using public wifi. VPN encryption also stops the websites you visit from knowing your real location. This prevents a significant layer of tracking undertaken by companies like Twitter and Facebook.

A VPN connects you to a secure proxy server, which hides your IP address and location. This IP-spoofing capability is useful for people living in (or visiting) China, Iran, or Russia, where popular Western services like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are restricted or fully blocked.

By combining location spoofing with strong encryption, a VPN lets you use Twitter in countries where it’s censored. It also bypasses restrictions on school or work networks, without anybody finding out that you bent the rules.

Of course, you still need to be wary that your teacher or boss doesn’t walk up behind you when you are fiddling with your latest tweet! Other than that, however, there is no way to use X more privately than with a VPN.

Related: Will I get banned for using a VPN on X?

Benefits of using a VPN for X (Twitter)

Helpful tip: Public wifi networks are often unsecured. If you’re posting, messaging, or logging in to X on public wifi, you should use a VPN to prevent session hijacking and other privacy threats.

How do I disable ad personalization and limit data collection by X?

Like other social media platforms, Twitter holds a highly privileged position when it comes to tracking user activity. This is why Elon Musk was keen to get his hands on the platform! It provides a window into the personal and professional lives of millions of users.

By default, X (formerly Twitter) collects vast amounts of user behavior data. This includes your tweets, the tweets you interact with, links you click, your location, device info, and third-party analytics from websites that use Twitter integrations.

X uses this data to build a profile about you, which allows it to engage in targeted advertising, algorithmic content delivery, and cross-platform tracking.

How to disable ad personalization and limit tracking on X:

1. Log in to x.com
2. Click More in the left-hand menu
3. Go to Settings and privacy
4. Click Privacy and safety
5. Select Ads preferences
6. Turn off Personalized ads

We also recommend that you update the following data collection settings:

• Data sharing with business partners
• Location information
• Grok and Third-party Collaborators

Remember: Turning off personalization based on places you’ve been doesn’t stop X from monitoring your location. Your daily habits, including the places you visit each day, can provide valuable insights into your interests and economic worth. This is why we recommend using a VPN to hide your location as much as possible.

Want to see the places that Twitter has on file about you? You can check this list of locations by clicking on See places you’ve been (you will need to enter your password to access this location data).

How to disable location sharing

It is possible that your location is being added to your X posts, which could create privacy risks or the threat of stalking. This threat is increased for vulnerable people, including children, influencers, or other people in the public eye. The best course of action? Ensure that location sharing has been disabled:

1. Log in to x.com
2. Click More > Settings and privacy
3. Go to Privacy and safety > Location information
4. Turn off Add location information to your posts
5. Click Remove all location information attached to your posts to remove location tags from old posts

What are the best X Privacy Settings for parents?

X (formerly Twitter) isn’t designed for kids. Sadly, that doesn’t stop teens from using it. As a parental guardian, we strongly urge you to take control of your child’s Twitter privacy settings. That way, you can reduce their exposure to explicit content, online predators, and other inappropriate content.

X isn’t designed to protect users by default. In fact, most default X privacy settings expose young people to unsolicited messages, being followed by strangers, and even access to sensitive NSFW content.

Children are often too naive to realise that they are at risk, which is why parents need to help tighten their Twitter privacy settings. To help you out, we have included this guide to parental guidance on X.

The checklist below will help you configure your child’s privacy settings on X to boost account security, control online data, and safeguard personal information from data brokers, trolls, and strangers.

All of the setting changes we have suggested have been covered in this guide, which means youc an work through them one at a time to boost your child’s digital security, online privacy, and cybersecurity not only on X – but right across the web by reducing their exposure to data collection by data brokers and people search sites. Here are the most important settings for protecting young users on X:

Best X security settings for kids and teens

What should I do if my X account is hacked?

Have you noticed unusual behavior in your X account? Worried that hackers have managed to gain unauthorised access to your X feed and Direct Messages? Many celebrities have fallen victim to high-profile Twitter hacks: a reminder that anybody could be vulnerable!

To help you out, we’ve included the steps you must take if you believe your X/Twitter has been hacked:

1. Change your password immediately

Log in to your X account (if possible) and go to:

• Settings and privacy > Your account > Change your password

Update your password to a strong, unique password that you haven’t used elsewhere. Ideally, it should be more than 15 characters long and contain upper and lower case characters, numbers, and symbols.

Remember: The most robust password will be almost impossible to remember, so for maximum security, make 15 characters and random (and use a password manager if necessary).

That said, a 15+ character passphrase like “MangoJetfish_TacoPlanet99” is still more reliable than something random but shorter like: “Tr8!xP0#qL1@”. This is because the extra length reduces the possibility of brute force attacks.

If you cannot log in to your X account, you must contact X to explain that you have lost control of your account:

• Visit the X Help Center: Go to help.twitter.com/forms/signin
• Select: I need to regain access to my X account
• Select: I believe my account is hacked or compromised as the issue
• Provide the username or email address associated with your account
• Explain the situation clearly, including when you lost access and any suspicious activity you noticed
• Submit the form and monitor your email for a response from X’s support team

Be sure to act quickly: The longer a hacker controls your account, the harder it may be to recover it.

2. Revoke suspicious third-party apps

• Go to: Settings and privacy > Security and account access > Apps and sessions

Revoke access to anything unfamiliar or unused

3. Enable or re-enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

• Go to: Settings > Security > Two-factor authentication

Use an authenticator app or SMS to ensure you need a 2FA auth code to log in. This is probably the most important of all Twitter privacy settings to secure your account from hackers.

4. Check for unauthorized activity

Check your recent tweets, DMs, followers, login history, and profile edits. If you find anything suspicious, delete the content and notify any followers or contacts that may have been affected.

5. Check login sessions

This is a quick and easy way to check whether any unknown or unauthorized device has logged in to your X account.

• Go to: Settings > Security and account access > Sessions

We recommend that you sign out of all sessions you don’t recognize.

6. Update your email and phone number

If you recently regained access to your X account, the next step is to secure your recovery options. To do this, check that the email address and phone number on the account are up to date. Here’s what to do:

• Go to Settings and privacy > Your account > Account information
• Update your email address and phone number to ones you fully control
• If a hacker has already changed your email, you will need to contact X and wait for a response from their support team. Once recovered, change your Twitter password and your email password immediately and turn on 2FA for both your Twitter and email accounts.
• If your phone number has been compromised (for example, via a SIM swap attack that a hacker used to hack your X account), you must contact your mobile provider to secure your phone number.

Remember: Your email and phone are crucial security and account recovery tools. If a hacker controls either one, they could reset your password or disable your two-factor authentication, so you must ensure your email and phone are secure.

7. Scan your devices for malware or keyloggers

If you are suspicious that a hacker may have gained unauthorized access to Twitter or any of your other accounts, we strongly recommend scanning your devices for malware using a reputable antivirus like TotalAV.

Hackers often gain access to accounts via physically compromised attacks, which is why it is vital to check that your devices have not been infected with spyware, trojans, or other dangerous computer viruses.

8. Report the issue to X Support

• Visit: https://help.twitter.com/forms/hacked

You can use this form to submit an account recovery request to X. Always contact X if you’re locked out of your account or suspect someone still has access. X should be able to help you secure your account – and recommend the best Twitter privacy settings to prevent future issues (but this guide has you covered anyway!)

9. Warn your followers

If someone used your account to post unauthorized tweets or send spam and phishing links, notify your followers immediately. Post a tweet warning them about the potential dangers and explain whether your account is already secure or still being locked down.

10. Monitor your account closely

If you’ve suffered a hack or been locked out of X, it is crucial that you closely monitor your account in the future. Check your login history regularly, and keep a close check on your account activity for any signs of a repeat hack.

Can I limit who sees my likes and replies on X?

X doesn’t let you fully hide your likes or replies. However, there are ways to reduce their visibility using account protection and strategic engagement tips:

• Protect your posts: When enabled, only approved followers can see your tweets, replies, and liked posts.
• Avoid replying to viral tweets: Replies to trending posts will be more visible and appear more often in your followers’ notifications or suggestions.
• Use alt accounts for sensitive likes: If you feel strongly about communicating on certain topics, but you do not want to associate your professional or personal account with those posts (activists living in totalitarian regimes, for example), you may want to create a separate private account to communicate on those posts.
• Manually review your followers: Reducing your follower list is a great way to ensure only those you want to see your content will be notified.
• Unlike past tweets: If you’re worried about past likes, scroll through your Likes tab and manually remove anything you no longer want linked to your profile.

Can I stop people from finding me on X using my phone number or email?

Yes. By default, anybody who knows your email address or phone number may be able to track you down on Twitter. This makes it essential to limit discovery. Go to: Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Discoverability and contacts. Now disable:

• Let people who have your email address find you on X
• Let people who have your phone number find you on X

Twitter privacy settings FAQs