All X accounts (formerly Twitter) are public by default. So anyone can see your posts (tweets). However, you choose to keep your tweets private to your followers only? So you’ll need to make your account private. Later, you can also make it public again, if you change your mind. Here’s how to make your Twitter (X) account private or public. We’ll also share what happens when you switch public to private account and vice versa on X (Twitter).
Table of Contents
Make X (Twitter) Account Private/Public on Desktop
1. Open Twitter website in a web browser and log in if needed.
Visit: Twitter
2. From the left sidebar, click More > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety, then click on Audience, media, and tagging option.
3. Check the box next to Protect your tweets to go private, uncheck it to go public.
Make X (Twitter) Account Private/Public on Mobile
1. Open the X (Twitter) app on your iPhone or Android.
Download: X (Twitter) for Android | iPhone
2. Tap on profile pic in the top-left corner > Settings and support > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety, and tap on Audience and tagging.
3. Enable the toggle next to Protect your posts to make your account private. Disable it to make it public.
What Happens When You Make X (Twitter) Account Private
- Only your followers can see your tweets and retweets.
- Followers can’t retweet your stuff.
- People need to send requests to follow you.
- Your tweets won’t appear in general Twitter searches, they appear only for your followers.
- They will not get listed on Google Search or any other search engines.
- Your replies are visible only to your followers. Even users you replied to cannot access your replies unless you follow them.
- Everyone can see your profile picture, bio, and follower/following count, but not the actual lists.
- Who can DM you doesn’t change, you can set that in Direct Messages under Settings.
What Happens When You Make X (Twitter) Account Public
- Everyone can see tweets and retweets including ones that were made when your account was private.
- Anyone can follow you without sending a request.
- Your tweets show up in Twitter searches for everyone.
- They will be listed on Google and other search engine results.
- Anyone can retweet your tweet, not just your followers.
- Anyone can reply to your tweets. But You can restrict that on each tweet using the ‘Who can reply’ option.
Making X Account Private/Public
Using these steps, you can make your account private or public. Twitter as of now, does not provide any option to show any individual post only to your followers. However, you can choose who can reply to your posts.
Want to make your Instagram account private too? Here’s what happens when you make your Instagram account private/public and how to do it.
