Where to find Twitter's privacy controls

Twitter's privacy settings live in one place: the Settings and Privacy menu. Open Twitter on your phone or computer, click or tap the three-dot menu icon in the top left corner (or your profile picture on mobile), then select Settings and Privacy. From there, click Privacy and Safety on the left side. This is where you control who sees your posts, who can message you, and what data Twitter collects about your activity.

The privacy controls are split into sections on this page. You'll see options for protecting your posts, controlling who can contact you, and managing how Twitter uses your information. Each setting has a toggle or dropdown menu — you don't need to save anything manually. Changes take effect when ready.

Key Takeaways

  • Your account can be set to private so only approved followers see your posts, which is the single most effective privacy control Twitter offers.
  • You can block direct messages from people you don't follow, and turn off the ability for strangers to find you by your email or phone number.
  • Twitter collects data about your browsing activity across the web through tracking pixels; you can disable this in the Privacy and Safety menu.
  • Turning off personalized ads reduces the amount of information Twitter uses to target advertisements to you, though ads will still appear.
  • These settings do not remove your past posts or data Twitter already collected — they only control what happens going forward.

Making your account private so only followers see your posts

The Protect your posts option is the most important privacy setting. When you turn this on, your posts become visible only to people you have approved as followers. New followers must send a request, which you can accept or deny. This prevents strangers from reading your timeline, searching your posts, or screenshotting your content without your knowledge.

To enable this: in Settings and Privacy, go to Privacy and Safety, then find Protect your posts near the top. Toggle it on. Twitter will warn you that people who already follow you will stay as followers, but new followers must be approved. If you change your mind later, you can toggle it back off — your old posts will become public again when ready.

One limitation: if someone takes a screenshot of your private post or shares it elsewhere, Twitter cannot prevent that. A private account stops casual viewing, not determined sharing.

Controlling who can message you and find your account

Under Direct Messages, you can choose who is allowed to send you messages. The default setting allows anyone to message you. Change this to People you follow if you want to receive messages only from accounts you have chosen to follow. This stops unsolicited messages from strangers, though people can still see your public posts and reply to them publicly.

Below that, find Allow others to find you by email or phone number. If this is toggled on, anyone who has your email address or phone number can search for your account and find you. Turning this off means people can only find you if they already know your username. This is especially useful if you want to keep your Twitter account separate from your email or phone contacts.

Stopping Twitter from tracking your activity across the web

Twitter places tracking pixels on websites across the internet. When you visit those sites, Twitter records what you looked at, even if you are not logged into Twitter. This data is used to build a profile of your interests and show you targeted ads. You can disable this tracking in the Privacy and Safety menu under Personalization and data.

Look for Allow use of location information and Infer your sensitive topics — toggle both off if you do not want Twitter inferring information about your health, politics, or other sensitive interests based on your activity. Then find Tailor ads based on your inferred identity and toggle that off as well. These changes mean Twitter will still show you ads, but it will use less information about you to decide which ads to show.

Note that this does not erase data Twitter already collected. It only stops new data collection going forward.

Turning off personalized ads

Even with tracking disabled, Twitter still shows you advertisements. The difference is whether those ads are personalized to you or generic. Under Personalization and data, find Personalized ads and toggle it off. This tells Twitter not to use your browsing history, search history, or interests to target ads to you.

You will still see ads on Twitter — the platform is free because it sells advertising space. Turning off personalization just means the ads will be less relevant to you personally. Some people find this acceptable; others prefer to see generic ads rather than ads based on their tracked behavior.

Limiting what data Twitter shares with third parties

Twitter shares some of your data with advertisers and other companies. Under Personalization and data, look for Allow additional information sharing with business partners. Toggling this off limits how much of your data Twitter passes to third parties for advertising and analytics purposes.

This setting does not prevent Twitter from sharing data with law enforcement or government agencies if required by law. It only affects commercial data sharing. Turning it off is a straightforward way to reduce the number of companies that have access to information about your Twitter activity.

Removing your phone number and email from your account

If you have added your phone number or email to your Twitter account, you can remove it. Go to Settings and Privacy, then Account. You will see sections for your email address and phone number. Click the X next to either one to delete it from your account. Twitter will ask you to confirm.

Removing this information means Twitter cannot use it to find you in other people's contact lists, and it reduces the data Twitter has on file about you. However, Twitter may still have records of the email or phone number you used in the past — removing it from your current account does not erase historical records.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I make my account private, can people still see my old public posts?

No. When you toggle on Protect your posts, all your posts — old and new — become visible only to approved followers. People who already follow you stay as followers, but strangers cannot see anything. If you turn off the private setting later, all posts become public again.

Does turning off personalized ads mean I see no ads?

No. Twitter is a free service supported by advertising. Turning off personalized ads means you will still see ads, but they will be generic rather than targeted to your interests. You cannot remove ads entirely without paying for Twitter Premium.

Will changing my privacy settings remove my posts from Google search results?

No. Twitter's privacy settings control who can see your posts on Twitter itself. Google and other search engines may still have indexed your old public posts. To remove posts from search results, you would need to delete the posts themselves or contact Google directly through their removal tool.

Can I see what data Twitter has collected about me?

Yes. Go to Settings and Privacy, click Account, then scroll to read your information. Twitter will prepare a file of the data it has on you, including your posts, followers, and some activity logs. This can take a few hours to generate.

If I turn off tracking, will Twitter stop selling my data?

Twitter does not sell your personal data directly to other companies. It uses your data to show you targeted ads and shares some information with advertisers. Turning off tracking and personalization limits this sharing, but does not eliminate it entirely.