Identity theft is a massive pain. You’ve probably seen those viral posts—the ones where people ask you to "share your first car and the month you were born to find your rockstar name." It’s bait. Pure and simple. But even if you aren’t falling for those silly memes, your birthday is just sitting there on your profile for any scraper or weirdo to see. Honestly, most of us just wanted the "Happy Birthday!" wall posts from people we haven't talked to since high school. But in 2026, the trade-off for those digital cupcakes isn't worth it. If you're wondering how can I hide my DOB on Facebook without deleting your entire social life, you aren't alone. It’s a common security move.
Privacy on Meta’s platforms has always been a bit of a shell game. One year the settings are in one menu, the next year they’ve moved behind three sub-menus in the "Accounts Center." It’s frustrating. But hiding your birth date—both the day and the year—is actually one of the most effective ways to stop people from piecing together your PII (Personally Identifiable Information).
Why Hiding Your Birthday Is a Security Power Move
Think about it. Your date of birth is a primary key for your life. Banks use it. Hospitals use it. Even your wireless carrier asks for it when you call in. When a bad actor has your full name, your location, and your exact DOB, they have the starter kit for identity fraud. It’s scary how much damage someone can do with just those three bits of info.
Privacy experts at organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have long warned that "over-sharing" is the biggest vulnerability in modern cybersecurity. It isn't just about hackers, though. It's about data brokers. These companies crawl public profiles to build massive databases that get sold to advertisers, insurance companies, and sometimes worse. By locking down your birthday, you're essentially throwing a wrench in their data-collection machine.
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The Step-by-Step Way to Hide Your DOB on Facebook
The interface changes constantly, but the core logic remains the same. You need to head to your "About" section. This works slightly differently depending on if you are using a desktop browser or the mobile app, but let's walk through the most common path.
First, go to your profile page. You’ll see the "About" tab right under your cover photo. Click that. From there, look for a section titled Contact and Basic Info. This is where Facebook hides the "Basic Info" section that contains your gender and, you guessed it, your birthday.
Controlling Who Sees the Day vs. the Year
Facebook actually gives you two different toggles. This is a nuance many people miss. You can choose to show the day and month (so friends can still wish you a happy birthday) but hide the birth year (so people don't know exactly how old you are). Or, you can hide the whole thing entirely.
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- Find your birth date in the Basic Info area.
- Click the pencil icon or the "Edit" button next to it.
- You’ll see two separate audience selectors (the little icons that look like a globe, two people, or a lock).
- One is for the Day and Month.
- The other is for the Year.
If you want total privacy, click those selectors and change them to Only Me. Once you hit save, the info is effectively invisible to everyone else on the platform. You’ve successfully hidden your DOB.
Why "Only Me" is the Gold Standard
Some people choose "Friends" or "Friends of Friends." That’s a mistake. If your friend’s account gets hacked—which happens every single day—the hacker now has access to your "friends-only" info. By setting it to "Only Me," you are the only person who can see that data on your profile. It's the only way to be sure.
Is it antisocial? Maybe a little. You won't get those 50 notifications on your birthday anymore. But you also won't be as easy to impersonate. Honestly, the people who actually care about your birthday already have it in their phone calendars anyway. You don't need an algorithm to remind your mom when you were born.
Dealing with the "Accounts Center" Confusion
Lately, Meta has been pushing everyone toward the "Accounts Center." This is their attempt to link Facebook, Instagram, and Horizon accounts. If you find that the steps above aren't working because your accounts are synced, you might have to go deeper.
Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings. Click on the Accounts Center box at the top left. Look for Personal Details. Here, you’ll see your birthday listed as it applies to your entire Meta identity. While you can't always "hide" it from Meta themselves (they use it for age verification), this is where you can manage how it syncs across your different profiles. If you change it here, it usually ripples through your connected accounts.
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Common Misconceptions About Facebook Birthdays
A lot of people think that if they just don't list a birthday, they're safe. But Facebook often requires a birth date to create an account. If you provided a fake one years ago, you might be tempted to change it to your real one now and then hide it. Be careful. Facebook limits how many times you can change your birth date. If you change it too often, they might lock your account and demand a photo ID to prove who you are.
Another myth? That hiding it from your profile hides it from ads. It doesn't. Facebook still knows your age, and they will still serve you ads for "Retirement Planning" or "First-Time Homebuyer Programs" based on that data. Hiding your DOB on your profile only hides it from other people, not from Meta’s internal advertising engine.
Actionable Next Steps for Total Profile Hardening
Hiding your birthday is just the beginning. If you're serious about your digital footprint, you should take a few more steps right now. It'll take you five minutes, tops.
- Audit your "About" section: It’s not just the birthday. Look at your hometown, your high school, and your current employer. All of these are pieces of the identity theft puzzle. If they aren't set to "Only Me" or "Friends," change them.
- Check your "Tagging" settings: Even if your birthday is hidden, a well-meaning friend might post a photo saying, "Happy 30th Birthday!" on your wall. Go to Profile and Tagging settings and enable "Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your profile."
- Limit Past Posts: There’s a magic button in the Privacy settings called "Limit the audience for posts you've shared with friends of friends or Public." Click it. It retroactively changes all your old public posts to "Friends Only."
- Remove Third-Party Apps: Go to the "Apps and Websites" section in your settings. You’ll likely find a dozen games or quizzes you haven't played in five years that still have permission to "read" your basic profile info, including your DOB. Revoke all of them.
Managing your digital shadow is a constant job. The platforms don't make it easy because your data is their currency. But by taking control of how and when your birth date is displayed, you’re reclaiming a massive piece of your personal security. It’s a simple click, but the peace of mind is worth the loss of a few digital wall posts.