How to Review Tags on Facebook

Being tagged on Facebook can instantly connect you to a photo from a great night out or a friend's exciting life update, but it can also link your profile to content you'd rather not be associated with. Taking control of what appears on your timeline is a straightforward process that protects your personal brand and online reputation. This guide will walk you through exactly how to review, approve, and manage tags on your Facebook profile and business Page.

Why Controlling Your Facebook Tags Matters

Every time someone tags you in a post or photo, they create a direct link from their content back to your profile. By default, this content can automatically appear on your timeline, visible to your friends, family, and in some cases, the public. While most tags are harmless, an unexpected or unflattering tag can create a cringe-worthy moment or, in a professional context, even damage your credibility.

For individuals, managing tags is about curating your online identity. You get to decide what memories, photos, and posts represent you. For businesses and brands, it's about reputation management. Controlling tags prevents spam, negative content, or irrelevant posts from cluttering your Page's timeline and gives you the power to highlight positive user-generated content instead. By enabling tag review, you create a simple but effective filter - nothing appears on your timeline until you give it the green light.

How to Enable Tag and Timeline Review: Your Step-by-Step Guide

The single most important step you can take to manage your tags is to turn on Facebook's "Timeline Review" feature. This puts you firmly in the driver's seat. When someone tags you, you'll receive a notification, and the post will sit in a pending queue waiting for your approval before it ever appears on your personal timeline.

Activating this setting is quick and easy, whether you're on a computer or your phone.

Enabling Timeline Review on a Desktop Computer

1. Navigate to Settings: Log in to your Facebook account. Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu, then click Settings.
2. Find Profile and Tagging: In the left-hand menu, look for and click on Profile and Tagging. This is where you'll find all the controls related to how others interact with your profile.
3. Activate Reviewing: Scroll down to the bottom section labeled "Reviewing". You will see two options. Find the one that says, "Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your profile?" Click the Edit button on the far right.
4. Turn It On: A small dropdown will appear. Click the button to toggle the feature from "Disabled" to "Enabled". Once it's on, you can simply close the settings tab. The change is saved automatically.

Enabling Timeline Review on the Facebook Mobile App

The steps are nearly identical for both iOS and Android devices, as the Facebook app maintains a consistent layout.

1. Open the Menu: Open the Facebook app and tap the menu icon (your profile picture and three horizontal lines) in the bottom-right for iOS or top-right for Android.
2. Go to Settings: Scroll down and tap on Settings & Privacy to expand the selection, then tap Settings.
3. Locate Profile and Tagging: Scroll down to the Audience and Visibility section and tap on Profile and Tagging.
4. Turn on Tag Review: In the "Reviewing" section at the bottom, tap on "Review posts you're tagged in before the post appears on your profile?" On the next screen, toggle the switch to the On position. A green or blue color indicates it is active.

That's it! From now on, any time someone tags you, the post will go into a private holding area for your review.

The Review Process: Approving or Hiding Tagged Posts

Once you've enabled Timeline Review, a new workflow begins. Instead of posts appearing on your timeline instantly, you'll get a notification saying "[Friend's Name] tagged you in a post." You then have a simple choice to make for each tagged item.

Here's how to manage your pending tags:

1. Check Your Notifications: You can click the notification directly to see the tagged post.
2. Visit Timeline Review: If you miss the notification, you can always find pending tags by going to your Activity Log. From your profile page, click the three-dots menu (...) and select Activity Log. In the left menu, you'll find Timeline Review.
3. Decide the Post's Fate: For each post in your review queue, you have two primary options:
   • Add to Profile: If you're happy with the post and want it to appear on your timeline for your connections to see, click this button.
   • Hide: If you don't want the post on your timeline, click this. This is a great choice for photos where you're blinking, posts that don't match your professional image, or anything you'd rather not have displayed on your profile. The tag still exists - people may see the post in their own news feeds or on the tagger's profile - but it won't be displayed on your timeline.

You can also choose to remove the tag entirely by clicking on the post, selecting the three-dot menu on the post itself, and choosing "Remove Tag." More on that next.

Cleaning Up: How to Remove a Tag from an Existing Post

Sometimes you approve a tag and later change your mind, or maybe you're just now cleaning up your profile after years without tag review enabled. Removing a tag is permanent and dissociates your profile from that specific post or photo.

To remove a tag:

1. Find the Post: Go to the post or photo you are tagged in. You can find these by scrolling through your timeline or checking your Activity Log.
2. Open the Post Options: Click or tap the three horizontal dots (...) in the top-right corner of the post.
3. Select "Remove Tag": A dropdown menu will appear. Simply select "Remove Tag." Facebook will ask for confirmation. Once you confirm, your name will no longer be linked to that post.

Removing the tag is a much stronger action than hiding a post from your timeline. Hiding it keeps the association but conceals it from your profile's main view. Removing the tag breaks that link entirely. For spam or truly negative content, removing the tag is almost always the right call.

Tag Management for Business Pages and Brands

For brands and businesses, tag management plays a critical role in social media marketing and community management. While you can't turn on "Timeline Review" for a Business Page in the same way as a personal profile, you do have controls over what visitors can post to your page.

Here are some best practices for managing tags and mentions for your brand:

1. Control Visitor Posts

You'll want to review posts that others add to your page before they become public.

• Go to your Page's Settings > Privacy > Your Page and Tagging.
• Under "Who can post on your Page?" you can choose to allow others to post or disable it altogether.
• It's highly recommended to enable the option, "Review posts by other people before they are published to your Page." This creates a "Visitor Posts" queue where you can approve or hide content.

2. Encourage Positive User-Generated Content (UGC)

Tags are a fantastic source of authentic content. Encourage your customers and followers to tag your brand in photos and videos featuring your products or services. You can run contests, create a dedicated hashtag campaign, and feature the best tagged content on your Page (with permission, of course). This builds social proof and strengthens your community.

3. Handle Negative Tags Professionally

If a customer tags your Page in a negative review or complaint, resist the urge to immediately hide it or remove the tag. This is a public customer service opportunity.

• Respond Publicly and Empathetically: Acknowledge their issue in a comment with a response like, "We're so sorry to hear about your experience. We want to make this right. Please send us a DM with your contact information so we can follow up directly."
• Move the Conversation to a Private Channel: By transitioning to direct messages, you show other followers that you're responsive while handling the specific details privately.
• Hide or Delete Only When Necessary: The only time you should immediately remove a tag or post is if it contains spam, abusive language, or violates Facebook's community standards.

Mastering tag management is not about censorship, it's about curation and quality control. By actively reviewing what gets associated with your profile or Page, you maintain a positive and professional online presence.

Final Thoughts

Taking a few minutes to set up Facebook's review features hands you complete control over your online narrative. Whether you're managing a personal brand or a business account, reviewing tags lets you curate your timeline thoughtfully, turning what could be a source of chaos into a tool for showcasing the very best of your digital identity.

We've witnessed firsthand how overwhelming it can be to manage all the interactions - comments, DMs, and tags - that come with building a community online. It's part of why we created Postbase, with features like a centralized inbox to bring all your messages into one manageable place. Streamlining these daily tasks helps you stay focused on what really matters: connecting with your audience.