How to Edit Your Facebook Profile

Ready to refresh your Facebook profile so it actually represents you today? Your profile is often the first impression friends, family, and even potential employers have, so keeping it polished and up-to-date is a smart move. This guide will walk you through everything from simple updates to lesser-known settings, giving you full control over how your profile looks and who gets to see what.

Mastering the First Impression: Your Profile &, Cover Photo, Bio, and Featured Content

These three elements are the first things anyone sees when they visit your page. Getting them right sets the stage for everything else. Think of it as your digital handshake and opening line rolled into one.

Choosing Your Profile Picture and Cover Photo

Your profile picture is your primary identifier across Facebook, while the cover photo gives you a big canvas to express personality or share what you're passionate about.

How to change your profile picture:

• On your profile page, hover over your profile picture and click the camera icon that appears.
• Choose "Upload Photo" to select a new image from your computer or phone. Or, you can select one you've already uploaded to Facebook.
• After uploading, you can reposition and crop the image to fit perfectly inside the circle.
• Optionally, add a temporary frame to support a cause or celebrate an event.
• Click "Save" when you're done.

Pro Tip: For a personal profile that might be seen by professional contacts, use a clear, well-lit headshot where your face is easily visible. For a brand or creator page, your logo is a great choice.

How to change your cover photo:

• Click "Edit Cover Photo" on the top right corner of your current cover image.
• You can upload a new photo, select one from your existing Facebook photos, create a collage of photos, or even choose professional stock illustrations from Facebook's selection.
• Drag the photo to reposition it until you're happy with the framing.
• Click "Save Changes."

Pro Tip: Your cover photo is prime real estate! Use it to showcase your work, a favorite travel photo, a family picture, or a graphic promoting your business or latest project. Just make sure the dimensions are mobile-friendly (851px by 315px is the standard, but things shift on mobile, so keep important elements centered).

Crafting a Compelling Bio and Intro

Directly below your name is a short Intro section where you can add a 101-character bio. This is your personal tagline.

How to edit your Bio:

• On your profile, below your profile picture, click "Add Bio" or "Edit Bio."
• Write a short, punchy sentence that tells people who you are or what you do. This can be serious, funny, or professional depending on your goal.
• Click "Save."

Think about what you want people to know immediately. Examples:

• For a freelancer: "Content strategist helping B2B tech brands grow with compelling stories."
• For a creator: "Sharing my journey through landscape photography. Apple Pacific Northwest."
• For anyone: "Dog lover, coffee enthusiast, and lifelong learner."

Showcasing Your Best with Featured Photos

This is your personal photo gallery. You can hand-pick up to nine photos or a Story to feature prominently on your profile, giving visitors a visual taste of what's important to you.

How to add or edit Featured Photos:

• On your profile, find the "Intro" section on the left-hand side and click "Edit Details."
• Scroll down to the "Featured" section and click the pencil icon or "Add Featured."
• You can select photos you've already uploaded or upload new ones. Choose ones that reflect your personality, your work, or treasured memories.
• Arrange them in any order you like, and then click "Save."

Digging Deeper: Editing Your "About" Section

Your "About" section is where people go to learn the details. Keeping this information accurate is valuable for reconnecting with old friends and building new professional connections.

Updating Work, Education, and Location History

Networking happens on Facebook, too. Listing your current and past employers, schools, and cities makes it easier for former colleagues and classmates to find you, and adds credibility to your professional background.

How to edit your work and education:

• Go to your profile and click on the "About" tab.
• Select "Work and Education" from the side menu.
• To add a workplace, click "Add a workplace." Fill in the company, position, city, description, and the time period you worked there. You can control who sees this entry by clicking the audience selector (public, friends, only me, etc.).
• To add a school or university, follow a similar process under the "Education" section.
• You can edit or delete existing entries by clicking the three-dot menu next to each one.

Managing Your Contact and Basic Info

Here you control who can see your phone number, email address, website, social links, and birthday. It's a good idea to review these settings occasionally for privacy.

How to manage your contact info:

• In the "About" tab, click "Contact and Basic Info."
• Here you can add or edit mobile phones, address, email accounts, websites, and social links.
• Crucially, next to each piece of information is an audience selector icon (a globe for public, friends icon, or lock for private). Click this to set the privacy for each specific item. You might want your website listed publicly but your phone number visible only to friends (or only you).

Taking Control: Customizing Your Profile and Privacy Settings

Your profile is more than just a collection of information - it's a dynamic space shaped by you and your friends. Taking a few moments to manage who can post and what is seen gives you complete command over your digital narrative.

How to Pin a Post to Your Profile

Pinning a post anchors it to the very top of your timeline, making it the first post anyone sees. This is a powerful tool for highlighting something important.

Steps to pin a post:

• Find the post on your timeline that you want to highlight.
• Click the three-dot menu (…) in the top-right corner of the post.
• Select "Pin Post" from the dropdown menu.

What should you pin? A major career announcement, a link to your portfolio or new business, a fundraiser you're passionate about, or simply your favorite family photo.

Using the "View As" Tool

Ever wonder what your profile looks like to a complete stranger or a specific friend? The "View As" feature lets you do exactly that.

• Go to your profile page.
• Click the three-dot menu (…) below your "Edit Profile" button.
• Select "View As." By default, it will show you your profile as it appears to the public. You can also type a specific friend's name to see how it looks to them.

This is the best way to double-check your privacy settings and ensure you're only sharing information with the intended audience.

A Quick Guide to Tag Review

One of the best ways to maintain a clean, professional profile is to control what other people can post on it. Tag Review lets you approve or hide anything you're tagged in before it appears on your timeline.

How to enable Tag Review:

• Click your profile picture in the top-right corner and go to "Settings &, Privacy" >, "Settings."
• On the left menu, scroll down to "Audience and Visibility" and select "Profile and Tagging."
• Under the "Reviewing" section, turn on "Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your profile?" and "Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on Facebook?"

This simple setting prevents random photos or unrelated posts from cluttering your curated timeline, giving you the final say.

Level Up: Advanced Strategies for a Professional Profile

If you're using Facebook as a creator, freelancer, or public figure, these next-level edits can transform your profile from a personal page into a professional hub.

Switching to Professional Mode

This mode unlocks access to professional tools right on your personal profile, without needing to create a separate Page. You get access to post insights, monetization tools like Stars and in-stream ads (if you qualify), and an ad creator. Your profile category will display (e.g., "Digital Creator"), and the "Add Friend" button can be changed to "Follow," which is better for growing a large audience.

How to turn on Professional Mode:

• Go to your main profile page.
• Click the three-dot menu (…) underneath your header photo.
• Select "Turn On Professional Mode."
• Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the setup.

This is a must-do for anyone serious about building a personal brand on Facebook.

Performing a Content Audit with Your Activity Log

Your Activity Log is a complete record of everything you've ever done on Facebook. It's also the best tool for auditing and cleaning up old content that no longer aligns with your brand or image.

• Go to your profile and click the three-dot menu. Select "Activity Log."
• From here, you can go to "Manage Your Posts" to bulk review your old content. You can scroll back through years of posts and easily archive (hide) or trash posts without deleting them one by one.
• It's a good practice to audit your publicly visible posts from years past to ensure they present the image you desire today.

Claiming Your Custom Profile URL

By default, your profile URL is a string of numbers. Setting a custom "vanity" URL (e.g., facebook.com/your.name) makes your profile look much more professional and is easier to share.

How to set your URL:

• Go to "Settings &, Privacy" >, "Settings."
• Under "General Profile Settings," you'll see your username. Click "Edit."
• Type your desired username. If it's available, you can save it. If not, try a variation.

This simple change adds a polished, final touch to your professionally managed profile.

Final Thoughts

Editing your Facebook profile is about much more than just swapping out a photo, it's an act of digital housekeeping that puts you in control of your personal narrative. By thoughtfully curating your bio, photos, posts, and privacy settings, you can create a profile that not only looks great but accurately reflects who you are and where you're headed.

Keeping that polished profile feeling fresh and active means having a consistent stream of great content to share and pin. We know firsthand that managing a content calendar across multiple platforms can feel like a full-time job. That's why we at Postbase built a modern social media management tool focused on simplicity and reliability. Our visual calendar lets you plan and see your whole strategy at a glance, and you can trust that when you schedule a video or post, it will actually publish - every single time.