How to Make a Status Shareable on Facebook

Ever posted something on Facebook, hoping it would take off and reach a wider audience, only to realize your friends and followers can't even find a Share button? It's a common frustration, but it’s completely fixable. This guide will walk you through the simple settings to make any personal status shareable and, more importantly, the strategies behind creating content that people genuinely want to pass along.

The Essential First Step: Adjusting Your Post's Privacy Settings

Before any creative strategy comes into play, there's a fundamental technical hurdle you have to clear. For a "Share" button to appear for everyone, your post’s privacy setting must be set to Public. When a post is set to "Friends," only your friends can see it, and while they can share it, their audience will only be able to see it if they are also your friend. This massively limits its reach. Setting it to "Public" makes it visible and shareable by literally anyone on or off Facebook.

How to Make a New Facebook Post Shareable

When you're creating a new status update, this is the easiest time to set its visibility.

On a Desktop Computer:

• Begin writing your post in the "What's on your mind?" box at the top of your News Feed or on your timeline.
• Right below your name, you'll see a button that likely says Friends (possibly with an icon of two people).
• Click on that button. A drop-down menu with audience options will appear.
• Select Public (the option with the globe icon).
• Finish writing your post, add any photos or videos, and click Post. The "Share" button will now be visible to everyone who sees your update.

On the Facebook Mobile App (iOS or Android):

• Tap the "What's on your mind?" field to start a new post.
• Look for a button directly under your profile name. It will usually say Friends by default.
• Tap this button to open the "Select Audience" screen.
• Choose Public from the list.
• Compose the rest of your post and tap Post.

How to Make an Existing Post Shareable

Did you already publish something awesome but forgot to set it as Public? No problem. You can change the privacy setting on any post you've already made.

On a Desktop Computer:

• Find the post on your timeline that you want to make shareable.
• In the top right corner of the post, click the three-dot menu icon (...).
• From the dropdown menu, select Edit audience.
• Choose Public from the options.

The post will instantly update with a globe icon, signifying it's now public and shareable by anyone.

On the Facebook Mobile App:

• Navigate to the post on your profile.
• Tap the three-dot menu icon (...) located in the upper-right corner of the post.
• From the menu that appears, tap Edit privacy (on iPhone) or Edit Audience (on Android).
• Select Public from the list of options.

Pro Tip: Set Your Default Privacy for Future Posts

If you find that you want most of your future posts to be shareable, you can change your account's default setting so you don't have to remember to do it every single time.

Here’s how:

1. Go to Settings &, Privacy >, Settings.
2. Under the "Audience and Visibility" section, click on Posts.
3. You'll see an option titled "Who can see your future posts?" Click the Edit button next to it.
4. Change the setting from "Friends" to Public.

This won't change the privacy of your past posts, but all future updates will default to Public, saving you a step.

Beyond the Button: Creating Content People *Actually* Want to Share

Making a post technically shareable is only half the battle. The other half - the more important half - is giving people a powerful reason to click that button. Your content needs to connect, provide value, or spark emotion. Let's break down the core ingredients of a highly shareable post.

1. Tap Into Universal Emotions

Human beings are wired to connect over shared feelings. Posts that evoke strong emotions - whether it's joy, humor, inspiration, nostalgia, or even shared frustration - are prime candidates for sharing. People share to say, "This is me," "This made me laugh," or "This is exactly how I feel."

Actionable Advice:

• Humor: Share a relatable, funny anecdote or a clean meme that captures a common experience, like the chaos of a Monday morning or the joy of a canceled meeting.
• Inspiration: Post an uplifting quote (preferably with a nice visual), a personal story of overcoming a challenge, or a shout-out celebrating someone else's achievement.
• Nostalgia: Tap into the collective memory bank with posts about old tunes, classic movies, forgotten snacks, or childhood experiences. "Remember when...?" is a powerful starting point.

2. Provide Tangible Value

People love to share content that makes them look smart, helpful, or in-the-know. When you provide genuine value, your audience not only appreciates it - they pass it along to their networks. A valuable post is essentially a free resource, and people are happy to distribute it.

Actionable Advice:

• How-To Guides &, Tips: Think small but mighty lessons. Examples: "3 easy ways to improve your home office lighting," "My favorite shortcut for perfectly crispy potatoes," or a quick tutorial for a useful app feature.
• Resource Lists: Curate and share helpful lists. Examples: "5 podcasts every entrepreneur should listen to," "A list of free stock photo websites I actually use," or "My go-to apps for staying organized."
• Solve a Problem: Address a common pain point within your community or industry. A post that offers a clear solution to a frustrating problem is incredibly valuable and shareable.

3. Make Your Visuals Impossible to Ignore

The Facebook feed is a crowded, fast-moving river of information. Generic text posts can easily get lost. A compelling visual - be it an image, a graphic, or a video - is your best tool for stopping a thumb mid-scroll.

Actionable Advice:

• High-Quality Photos: Ditch dimly lit, blurry images. Use clean, vibrant, and well-composed photos that tell a story on their own. Even a smartphone can produce amazing results with good lighting.
• Branded Graphics &, Quotes: Use free tools like Canva to create visually appealing quote cards, mini-infographics, or checklists. A splash of color and clean typography makes your text-based content far more shareable.
• Embrace Video, Especially Short-Form: Whether it's a quick demo, a behind-the-scenes look, or a time-lapse of a project, video content consistently earns higher engagement. Facebook Reels, in particular, are designed for discovery and sharing.

4. Ask for Engagement (and the Share) Directly

Sometimes, the easiest way to get people to act is to simply ask them. A thoughtful call-to-action (CTA) removes the guesswork and nudges your audience in the right direction. It signals that you don't just want them to consume your content, you want them to participate.

Actionable Advice:

• Pose a Question: End your post with a direct question that invites comments. "What's the best book you've read this year?" creates a space for conversation, which increases a post's visibility and makes it more likely to be shared.
• Create "Tag a Friend" Posts: Frame your content in a way that encourages tagging. For example, alongside a funny parenting meme, you could write, "Tag a fellow parent who gets it!"
• A Direct Call-to-Share: You don't have to be shy. A soft prompt like, "Share this if you agree!" or "If you found this helpful, feel free to share it with your network," can significantly increase share rates.

5. Consider the Context: Posts in Groups vs. Pages

Where you post on Facebook dramatically affects its shareability.

• Personal Profile: As covered, your posts are shareable outside your friends' network only if they are set to Public.
• Business Page: By default, all posts on a Facebook Business Page are public. Anyone who sees them can share them. The challenge here isn't technical, it's entirely about creating high-quality, share-worthy content described above.
• Facebook Group: This is where things get tricky.
  • Posts made in a Public Group can be shared anywhere.
  • Posts made in a Private Group cannot be shared outside of that group. This is a very intentional privacy feature. If you try to share a link to a private group post, anyone who isn't a member will just see an error page. The "Share" button might appear, but its function is limited to sharing within the group or via direct message.

Final Thoughts

Making a Facebook status shareable is a two-part equation. The first part is purely technical: set the audience to "Public." The second, more artistic part is creating something valuable, emotional, or entertaining enough that people feel compelled to share it. By getting the setting right and focusing on creating genuinely useful and engaging content, you give your message the wings it needs to travel beyond your immediate circle.

Developing a steady stream of shareable ideas is often the hardest part of social media. Personally, I find that using a visual calendar in Postbase is great for laying out our content plan for the weeks ahead, allowing me to spot gaps and plan campaigns around share-worthy topics. Seeing which posts are actually driving engagement in a single analytics dashboard helps us create more of what works without the guesswork. It keeps the focus on creating great content rather than juggling settings and logins.