How To Turn Off Your Birthday on Facebook

Facebook notifies all your friends of your birthday by default. Beyond the perceived insincerity, there are good reasons to hide your birthday on Facebook altogether. Your birth date is a piece of data that identity thieves will readily look for, and maybe you just don’t want to remind people of your age.

Whatever the reason, stopping the notifications to your friend’s feeds is a simple process. In this article, you’ll learn how to do it on the mobile app and desktop browsers. Furthermore, if you’re fed up with receiving notifications about other people’s birthdays, you can remove that feature.

Turning Off Birthday Notifications on Desktop

The process won’t be too different whether you’re working on a desktop or mobile device. We’re starting with the desktop process, but feel free to use whichever you have on hand.

The first thing you should do is log in to your Facebook account. You’ll land on your news feed. From there, follow these steps:

1. Click on your name Profile icon in the upper right-hand corner.
   
2. Click on your Profile at the top of the menu.
   
3. On your profile page, click the About button right below your cover photo.
   
4. In the overview of the About section, click on Contact and Basic Info.
   
5. Scroll down to Basic Information and click on the pencil icon to the right of Birth Date.
6. Once you click on the pencil icon, select the Privacy icon. This will reveal the privacy menu, where you can choose who can view your birthday and who will receive notifications about it.
   
7. If you want to hide it completely, select Only Me.
   
8. Don’t forget to change the privacy settings on your birth year as well. Once done, click Save.
   

By following these steps, you’ve effectively made your birthday invisible to Facebook users other than yourself. No one will receive notifications about your birthday, nor will anyone be able to see it. Now, on to the mobile version.

Turning Off Birthday Notifications on Mobile

You will start the process this time by launching the Facebook app on your phone. The app isn’t required, and you can also use the steps outlined above in a mobile browser. Once the app is launched, follow these steps:

1. The first page you see is your news feed. Tap on your profile picture to the left of the search bar.
   
2. Tap on See Your About Info.
   
3. Under Basic Info, find your birthday and tap on the Edit button next to it.
   
4. Expand the privacy settings menu next to your birthday to reveal the privacy menu, and select Only Me. You may have to tap on More Options if the option isn’t displayed.
   
5. Change the privacy settings on your birth year as well. Once done, tap Save at the upper right of the screen.
   

As you can see, the two procedures are similar, and neither should take more than a minute to complete. Now, if you don’t want to receive notifications about other people’s birthdays, you can also turn that off.

Turning Off Friends’ Birthday Notifications

Sometimes a birthday notification creates a sense of obligation to respond, and that can get irritating. To stop receiving notifications for birthdays, access your Facebook settings page.

You can do this by clicking the down arrow on the top bar of your Facebook page or by accessing the Settings page directly.

Click on Notifications in the left sidebar menu and scroll down to Birthdays. Expand the Birthdays section and toggle off notifications. You will no longer receive any notifications about birthdays from Facebook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to more of your questions about Facebook’s Birthday notifications.

I still want to get birthday wishes, but I don’t want anyone have access to my personal information. Do I have any options?

Yes! If you’re worried about others knowing your birthday, but you still like the birthday wishes, you can hide your birth year.

Hiding your birth year will protect your private information. But, your friends will still receive a birthday reminder every year.

What do I do if I want to hide my birthday from some friends?

If you want to hide your birthday from some Facebook users you can click the Custom option rather than the Only Me option shown above. The custom option allows you to hide your birthday from some individuals.

Happy Birthday to You, and Only You

Turning off or hiding your birthday on Facebook serves many purposes. The process is relatively simple and straightforward. All you have to do is access your About page and change the privacy settings to prohibit access to anyone but yourself. You can do it from any browser or the Facebook app. While you’re at it, you can quickly turn off notifications about other people’s birthdays if you’re so inclined.

Why do you want your birthday to be hidden from friends? Do you think it’s a safety issue if people easily access your birth date information? Share your thoughts in the comments below.