This tutorial will guide you on how to make your Twitter account private on various devices and help you protect yourself from stalkers and bullies:
Social media can be a lot of fun. You can express your ideas, show off your talent, or raise your voice against injustice. But it can be dangerous as well.
It is an easy way to collect information about you, your family, and your friends. Some even use it to bully, abuse, or stalk someone.
There was an instance where a friend was stalked on Twitter. There was someone who kept the identity hidden but randomly liked her old tweets and private replies, along with sending weird comments on her posts. It was creepy.
You can block one account, but cyberbullying and identity theft are common.
Table of Contents:
Go Private on Twitter
According to a 2020 study in the U.S., many reported having experienced some form of harassment online. Here’s the data from that study:
But you don’t have to sustain that. You can protect yourself from the wolves of social media by making your account private. In this article, we are going to tell you how to make your Twitter account private and protect yourself from stalkers and bullies there.
How to go Private on Twitter
Whether you are an iOS or Android app user or use it on a browser, you can easily stay hidden from cyber bullies. Here’s how to private your Twitter account on various devices.
How to Make a Twitter Account Private
On the iOS App
Here’s how to make a Twitter Account Private on iPhone and iPad:
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- Launch your Twitter app on iOS.
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- Go to Settings by clicking on the Profile icon.
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- Select Settings and Privacy.
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- Select Privacy and Safety.
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- Toggle the slider beside Protect Your Tweets.
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Your tweets will now only be visible to your followers and you will have to approve any new follow request.
Further Reading => Most Popular Twitter Follower Tracker to Look for
On Android App
If you are thinking about how to make my Twitter account private on Android, here’s the way to do it:
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- Launch your Twitter Android app.
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- Tap on your profile icon.
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- Tap on Settings and Privacy.
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- Select Privacy and Safety.
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- Tap on Audience and tagging.
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- Toggle the slider beside Protect Your Tweet to on.
That’s how to make Twitter account private mobile.
Web Browser
If you are more of a browser person, here’s how to make a Twitter Account Private on a PC browser:
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- Open your browser.
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- Go to Twitter.com
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- Log in to your account.
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- Click on More.
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- Click on Settings and privacy.
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- Click on Privacy and safety.
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- Go to Audience and Tagging.
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- Check the box beside Protect Your Tweets.
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- Click on Protect.
Now only your followers can view your tweets.
This is how to protect and unprotect your tweets as much as you want to. You just have to check and uncheck the box beside protect my tweets.
Review a Follow Request on Your Private Account
Now that you know how to make your account private on Twitter, you will also need to know how to review a follow request on your private account manually. Although they will appear on your notification tab, if you miss them, you can find them in pending follower requests.
On Mobile Device
Once you know how to protect your tweets on the Twitter app on Android, you will now have to know how to approve followers.
Find and review the ‘follow’ request on the mobile Twitter app:
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- Open the Twitter app.
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- Click on your profile icon.
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- Tap on the following request.
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- Confirm or delete the request.
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Also Read =>> How to delete a YouTube account
On Laptop Browser
Knowing how to make a Twitter account private on the desktop isn’t enough. You will need to know how to approve follower requests if you want to have any.
Here’s how to find the pending follow requests on the Twitter browser:
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- Open Twitter.
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- Click on the More icon menu.
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- Click on Follower requests.
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- Approve or deny the request.
You can approve the follower’s request anytime.
Additional Tips for Protecting Your Privacy on Twitter
Hope your question is answered “how do I make my Twitter private?” in the article. Here are a few more tips to help protect your privacy on Twitter:
#1) Enable two-factor authentication and additional password protection
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- Go to the Settings and privacy on app and More on Desktop.
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- Tap on Security and Account Access.
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- Click on Security.
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- Tap on Two-factor Authentication.
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- Choose one method from a Text message, Authentication App, or Security key.
To Enable additional password protection, toggle on the slider beside the Password Reset Protection option.
#2) Deactivate the Tweet Location. Here’s how to do it:
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- Go to Settings and privacy.
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- Select Privacy and safety.
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- Click on Location Information under Data sharing and off-Twitter activity.
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- Uncheck the box beside Add location information to my Tweets.
#3) Turn off Photo Tagging
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- Go to Settings and privacy.
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- Select Privacy and safety.
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- Go to Photo Tagging and choose Only the people you follow can tag you.
#4) Change the Discoverability of your account
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- Go to Settings and privacy.
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- Select Privacy and safety.
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- Select Discoverability and contacts.
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- Choose who can find you on Twitter or uncheck both boxes.
#5) Control how Twitter collects and shares data
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- Go to Settings and privacy.
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- Select Privacy and safety.
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- Select Data Sharing with Business partners.
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- Turn it off.
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- Go to Off-Twitter activity.
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- Turn all the features off.
#6) You can shut down Direct Messages as well
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- Go to Settings and privacy.
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- Select Privacy and safety.
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- Go to Direct Messages.
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- Uncheck the boxes beside Receive messages from anyone and Show read receipts.
#7) Filter out tweets with specific words with the Mute Words option
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- Go to Settings and privacy.
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- Select Privacy and safety.
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- Go to Mute and block.
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- Select Muted Words.
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- Tap on the Plus sign or Add button.
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- Add the words.
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- Select a time frame for how long you want it muted.
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- Select whether you like it muted from your timeline, notification, or both.
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- Choose if you want it muted from anyone or just people you don’t follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q #1) How do I make my Twitter account visible to the public?
Answer:
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- Click on the gear icon.
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- Click on Privacy and Safety.
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- Go to Audience and Tagging.
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- Uncheck the box beside Protect Your Tweets.
Q #2) Is Twitter private now?
Answer: No, Twitter is currently a public company. Elon Musk has made an offer to purchase it and he intends to make it private.
Q #3) What does it mean to take Twitter private?
Answer: Making your Twitter account private will mean that your tweets will only be visible to your followers and you will have to approve any new follower’s request. It will limit your reach and growth.
Q #4) What does a private Twitter account look like?
Answer: There will be a lock icon to suggest that your account is protected and no tweets will be visible if you are not a follower of that account. You will also see a message that the user has made this account private.
Q #5) Who can see my tweets if I have no followers?
Answer: Unless you have made your account private, anyone can see your tweets.
Q #6) What Will Change After Switching to a Private Twitter Account?
Answer: Although making your Twitter account private is a way to be safer on this social site, it will hamper your growth.
Here’s what will happen if you turn your Twitter account Private:
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- The reach of your tweets will be limited to your followers.
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- You will get a New Follower’s request when someone wants to follow you.
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- You will have to approve the following request.
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- People who don’t follow you cannot see your replies to them.
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- You will still be visible on Twitter.
Q #7) Why Are My Tweets Showing in the Search Results Though They are Protected?
Answer: Sometime back, Twitter made little change in handling protected tweets in search results. Protected tweets will be visible in search results but only to the protected account’s user and its followers.
Before this change, no tweets from a protected account were visible to anyone in the search results. If you switch from a public account to a private one, your public tweets will turn private as well and vice versa.
Conclusion
In this article, we have explained how to make a Twitter account private on various devices. Once you turn on the privacy of your account, approve the following request. We have also taken you through the steps for that. Along with that, you have also learned other ways of staying safe on Twitter.
Social media has become increasingly unsafe if you don’t know how to stay secure. Use these tips to keep your Twitter account secure and have safe browsing.
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