Can I Hide Mutual Friends on Facebook? Explained + Workaround

Learn how you can hide your mutual friends on Facebook on an Android

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: March 11, 2023

Setting Your Friends List to "Only Me"

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What are mutual friends and how do I hide them?

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Video

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Q&A

Do you want to hide the friends that you have in common with other friends on Facebook? Unfortunately, you are unable to completely hide your mutual friend's list, but you can hide your full friend's list and ask your other friends to hide their lists, which, in effect hides your mutual friend's lists. This wikiHow article teaches you how to set your friend list to private on Facebook using an Android.

Things You Should Know

You can easily hide your entire friend list, but you cannot hide your mutual friends.
Setting your list to private also protects the privacy of your friends.
Go to "Menu > Settings & privacy > Settings > Profile Settings > Privacy > Who can see your friends list? > Only Me."

Section 1 of 2:

Setting Your Friends List to "Only Me"

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Open Facebook on your Android. It’s the blue icon with a white “f” inside. You’ll usually find it on the home screen or in the app drawer.
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Tap the ≡ menu. It’s at the top-right corner of the screen. This displays the menu.

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3
Scroll down and tap Settings and Privacy. It's about halfway down the menu next to an icon that resembles a gear.
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Tap Settings. It's the first option below "Settings & Privacy." It's next to an icon that resembles a gear.
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Tap Profile settings. This is usually the first option next to your profile picture.
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Tap Privacy. It's the first option below "Privacy." It's next to an icon that resembles a lock.
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Tap Who can see your friends list?. It’s under the “How People Find and Contact You” header.
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Tap Only me. This hides your friends list from everyone on Facebook. However, however, at this point, your Facebook friends can still see which friends you have in common.
- If you don't see this option, tap See more at the bottom to display the complete list of options.
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Ask your friends to restrict who can view their friends list to “Only me.” Once your Facebook friends have made this same change to their settings, they won’t be able to see your mutual friends.^{[1]
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Section 2 of 2:

What are mutual friends and how do I hide them?

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Mutual friends are friends that you have in common with the person viewing your profile. For example, when Sally visits your page, she sees your friends that she is also friends with, like John. Even if you've hidden your friends list, your mutual friends will appear, unless everyone else also hides their friends lists.
- So if you and John set your friends lists to "Only Me," Sally will not see any mutual friends when she visits your page.
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You cannot hide your mutual friends list easily. You'll need to ask your friends to set their lists to "Only Me" as well in order to hide your mutual friends on Facebook. Fortunately, changing the privacy of these lists is easy to do on Android, PC or Mac, and iPhone.
- You can also easily hide the overall number of friends you have on Facebook using an Android.

Community Q&A

Question

I can't find the option to hide my mutual friends. Why?

Community Answer

That means you have no mutual friends, or anyone on your friend list at all. When you add someone to your friend list, you have the option to set them as mutual.