X (Twitter) x.com How to make your Twitter (X) account private
Twitter is now X. Go to Settings and privacy, then Privacy and safety, then Audience and tagging, and switch on Protect your posts. Only approved followers can then see your posts. On the web it's a checkbox instead of a slider.
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Step by step
- 1
Open Settings and privacy
In the X app or on x.com, open Settings and privacy.
- 2
Go to Privacy and safety
Select Privacy and safety, then Audience and tagging.
- 3
Turn on Protect your posts
Switch on Protect your posts. On the web version it's a checkbox rather than a slider.
- 4
Handle follow requests
New people who want to follow you send a request. You approve or deny each one.
Watch out for
- People who followed you before you protected your posts can still see and interact with them unless you block them.
- Someone who had an old post on their Home timeline may still see it, though they can't interact or see its details.
- Followers can still screenshot your posts and share them. Links to media shared on X aren't protected: anyone with the link can open it.
- If your posts are protected, people who don't follow you won't see your replies or mentions.
- Unprotecting later makes all previously protected posts public.
What stays out there
A privacy setting only controls what X shows from now on. Anything that was public earlier may already sit on people-search sites and data brokers that scraped it, and a setting on one platform doesn't change those copies.
Serus finds where your details are listed and removes them. It doesn't change your X settings for you, so do the steps above yourself first.
Frequently asked
How do I make my Twitter account private?
Turn on Protect your posts under Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Audience and tagging.
Can people still see my old tweets after I go private?
Existing followers still can, and someone who had a post on their timeline may still see it. Block any follower you don't want to keep seeing them.
Does a private X account keep my posts out of AI training?
X's help center says protecting your posts means they aren't visible to everyone, which keeps them from being used to train Grok and xAI's models or surfaced in answers.
Can I switch back to public?
Yes, but unprotecting makes any previously protected posts public.
Sources
Related guide Guide: How to Delete Yourself from the Internet Something changed? If these steps no longer match what you see, tell us and we'll re-check it.
