How to Update a Facebook Post

Hit ‘publish’ on a Facebook post only to spot a glaring typo a second later? We’ve all felt that stomach-drop moment. Maybe you forgot to tag a key partner, included a broken link, or realized your event details were slightly off. Don’t panic and reach for the delete button just yet. Facebook provides a simple way to update your posts, allowing you to fix mistakes while preserving the engagement you’ve already earned. This guide will walk you through exactly how to edit your posts on desktop and mobile, what you can and can’t change, and the strategic best practices for doing it right.

Why You’d Need to Update a Facebook Post

Living in a fast-paced digital world means mistakes happen and information changes. Editing a Facebook post isn’t just for fixing errors, it’s a flexible tool for keeping your content accurate, relevant, and effective. You might find yourself needing to edit a post for several common reasons:

• Correcting Typos and Grammatical Errors: This is the most common reason. A simple spelling mistake or misplaced comma can undermine your message's professionalism. A quick edit cleans it right up.
• Updating Information: Did the time of your webinar change? Is an item in your flash sale now sold out? Editing allows you to provide your audience with the most current information without making them dig through comments for updates.
• Adding a Forgotten Link or Tag: Sometimes you hit publish and immediately realize you forgot the call-to-action link to your new blog post or forgot to tag the collaborator who helped with the project. An edit lets you add these without having to start from scratch.
• Refining Your Message: After reading your caption again, you might think of a stronger hook or a clearer way to phrase your point. Editing gives you the chance to improve your copy after it’s live.
• Adding or Removing Photos/Videos: You can add more photos to a gallery post or remove one that isn’t quite right. While there are some limitations, you have a degree of control over the visuals.

Knowing you can correct these small issues lets you post with more confidence, focusing on the message instead of fearing a mishap.

How to Update a Facebook Post: A Step-by-Step Guide

The process for editing a post is straightforward whether you’re on a desktop computer or a mobile device. The interface is nearly identical, making it easy to fix things on the go. Here’s how you do it.

Editing on a Desktop Browser (Laptop or PC)

1. Find Your Post: Go to your Facebook Page, Group, or personal Profile and scroll to the post you want to update.
2. Open the Post Menu: In the top-right corner of the post box, you’ll see three horizontal dots (...). Click on them to open a drop-down menu of options.
3. Select "Edit post": From the menu, choose the option that says "Edit post." This will open the post in an editing window, looking very similar to the window you used to create it.
4. Make Your Changes: Now you can modify the text, add or remove tags, check into a new location, add photos, or adjust your original content. We’ll cover the specific limitations in the next section.
5. Save Your Changes: Once you’re happy with your updates, click the blue "Save" button. Your post will now be updated on your timeline, and it will likely display a small, grey "Edited" label to indicate that a change was made.

Editing on the Facebook Mobile App (iOS or Android)

1. Navigate to Your Post: Open the Facebook app and visit the Page, Group, or Profile containing the post you wish to modify.
2. Tap the Three Dots: Just like on desktop, tap the three dots (...) in the upper-right corner of your post.
3. Choose "Edit post": A menu will pop up from the bottom of the screen. Tap on "Edit post."
4. Update Your Content: The post editor will open. Here you can fix mistakes in the text, tag accounts, change the location, and edit other elements. You can swipe through photos to remove them or tap to add more from your camera roll.
5. Tap "Save": When your edits are complete, tap the "Save" button in the top-right corner of the screen. The post will instantly update in the feed.

What You Can and Cannot Change in a Facebook Post

While the "Edit post" function is powerful, it has some logical rules and limitations. What you can change often depends on the original format of the post. Understanding these boundaries will save you from frustration.

Here’s what you can typically edit:

• The Post Text (Caption): You have full control over the written content. You can fix typos, add new information, rewrite sentences, add emojis, and include links or hashtags.
• Tagging People and Pages: If you forgot to @mention a collaborator, a customer, or another business page, you can go back and add those tags in. You can also remove incorrect tags.
• Location Status: You can add, change, or completely remove a location check-in from your post.
• Adding Photos to an Existing Photo Post: If you published a post with one or more images, you can almost always add more photos to create a larger gallery. This is great for updating albums or adding new product shots.
• Changing the Order of Photos: In a multi-photo post, you can drag and drop the images in the edit window to rearrange their order.
• Removing Photos or Videos: You can delete specific images or a video file from a post. Clicking the 'x' on a photo in the edit window will remove it.

Here’s what you cannot (or should not) edit:

• The Fundamental Post Type: You cannot change a photo post into a video post or a link post into a plain text post. The initial format is locked. For example, if you posted just a photo, you can’t remove the photo and add a video instead. You would have to add a video alongside the photo or delete and repost.
• Links in Some Link Previews: If your post was created by pasting a link and generating an automatic preview (with a big clickable image and headline), you usually can’t change that core link to a completely different one. You can, however, edit the caption text that accompanies it.
• Poll Options After Votes Have Been Cast: For fairness and data integrity, Facebook prevents you from editing the options in a poll once people have started voting. You can, however, edit the text that introduces the poll.
• A Boosted Post or an Ad: This is a big one for marketers. Once a post has been boosted or is running as part of an official ad campaign, your ability to edit it becomes extremely limited. You may be able to fix a minor typo in the ad copy through the Ads Manager, but changing images, videos, headlines, or fundamental parts of the offer is generally not allowed. Doing so would require you to stop the current ad, create a new one with the updated content, and submit it for a fresh review.

Transparency and Trust: What the "Edited" Label Means

After you save your changes, you may notice a subtle gray word that says "Edited" appear near the post's timestamp. Far from being a mark of shame, this feature is a key part of Facebook's commitment to transparency.

Anyone who can see the post can click on that "Edited" label to view the View Edit History. This shows a log of the different versions of your post text, allowing your audience to see what was changed. This prevents users from engaging in "bait-and-switch" tactics - for instance, posting a cute puppy photo that gets thousands of likes, then editing the caption to promote a scam or completely different product. The publicly accessible edit history keeps communication honest.

For brands and creators, this means you can correct an error without looking like you’re trying to hide something. Acknowledging a big change with a note at the bottom of the new caption (e.g., “Edit: Updated the event time from 7 PM to 8 PM!”) is a great way to be upfront and maintain trust.

Best Practices: When to Edit vs. When to Delete and Repost

You have the ability to edit, but is it always the right choice? Here’s a quick strategic guide to help you decide.

You should edit the post when:

• The error is minor. A typo, a wrong tag, a missing sentence.
• The post has already gained meaningful engagement. If you already have dozens of likes, comments, and shares, editing preserves that valuable social proof. Deleting would throw it all away.
• The update clarifies or adds value. You're adding a helpful link, new details, or answering a question that many people have asked.

You should delete and repost when:

• The post has a major flaw. You uploaded the completely wrong image, a video file is corrupted, or the main link is broken.
• There is little to no engagement. If you just posted a minute ago and only one or two people have seen it, there’s no harm in starting over with a clean version. A fresh start gives the post a new chance to be seen by the algorithm.
• The original message was fundamentally wrong or off-brand. If the entire sentiment of the post is something you regret, it’s sometimes better to remove it entirely rather than trying to salvage it with a heavily altered edit.

Remember, the goal is always to provide the best possible content for your audience. Weigh the value of the existing engagement against the severity of the flaw to make your decision.

Final Thoughts

Updating a Facebook post is a simple yet essential skill for managing a dynamic social media presence efficiently. It allows you to maintain accuracy, improve your messaging, and quickly correct mistakes without sacrificing the likes, shares, and comments you've worked hard to earn.

While editing is a fantastic tool for fixing post-publication errors, a solid content planning process can help prevent many of them in the first place. At Postbase, we designed our visual content calendar specifically to solve this problem. Seeing all your posts for the week or month laid out in a clear, beautiful calendar helps you spot gaps, perfect copy, and double-check your visuals before they ever go live - saving you the headache of last-minute scrambles and edits later.