How to Hide Likes on Facebook

You’d rather people didn’t compare how many reactions your posts get, or see every Page you’ve liked. To hide reaction counts, go to Settings & privacy > Settings > Reaction preferences and turn on the toggle for your own posts and reels, other people’s, or both. Liked Pages use a separate audience setting. Meta’s help pages don’t describe a way to hide a reaction you left on someone else’s post, so removing it is the dependable fix.

First, Decide What You Want to Hide

“Hide likes” can mean four different things on Facebook, and each one lives in a different place. Pick your row before you start tapping through menus:

What you want	Where to change it	Can it be hidden?
The number of reactions on posts and reels you create	Reaction preferences: On your posts and reels	Yes, from other people (you still see it)
The number of reactions you see on everyone else’s posts	Reaction preferences: On other people’s posts and reels	Yes, from your own view only
The list of Pages and people you follow or have liked	Audience settings for who can see what you follow	Usually yes, set to Only me
A like or reaction you left on someone else’s post	The post itself (or your activity log)	No setting for this; remove it instead

Meta calls likes, loves, hahas and the rest “reactions,” so you’ll see that word in the settings instead of “likes.”

Hide Reaction Counts on Your Posts on a Computer

This setting keeps the total reaction number off the posts and reels you share on your timeline or in Feed. These steps come from Meta’s help article on how to hide the number of reactions on your posts and reels:

1. Go to facebook.com in a browser and sign in.
2. Click your profile picture in the top right.
3. Click Settings & privacy, then Settings.
4. Click Reaction preferences. If you don’t spot it in the left column, look for a search box in Settings and type “reaction”.
5. Turn on the toggle next to On your posts and reels.

The change applies to all of your posts and reels at once. There’s no per-post version: you can’t hide the count on one vacation photo and leave it showing on the rest.

Hide Counts on Other People’s Posts

If seeing big numbers on friends’ and creators’ posts bothers you, there’s a second toggle on the same screen. Meta’s article on hiding reaction counts on other people’s posts and reels says it hides the totals you see on posts and reels other people create and on ads in Feed:

1. Click your profile picture in the top right, then Settings & privacy > Settings.
2. Open Reaction preferences.
3. Turn on the toggle next to On other people’s posts and reels.

This one changes only what you see. Your friends still see their own counts, and so does everyone else.

Use the Facebook App on iPhone or Android

Meta’s help pages have separate Android and iPhone instructions for these settings, but the app labels weren’t checked for this update and menus move between app versions, so treat this as a general route:

1. Open the Facebook app and tap the menu (your profile picture or the three lines, depending on your app).
2. Tap Settings & privacy, then Settings.
3. Look for Reaction preferences. It’s often grouped under a Preferences heading. If Settings has a search bar, typing “reaction” is the fastest way.
4. Turn on either or both toggles.

What the Count Setting Doesn’t Hide

Take Rosalind, who turns on “On your posts and reels” because she’s tired of friends commenting on how few reactions her bakery photos get. Here’s what changes and what doesn’t, based on Meta’s help pages:

• Rosalind still sees her own totals. The setting hides the number from others, not from her.
• Who reacted is still visible. The total disappears, but people can still see who reacted. On a post, tapping the words next to the reactions opens the list.
• Groups, Events and Pages are separate. Posts and reels she creates in a Group, an Event or a Page still show their totals to others.
• Comments and shares may still show. The setting is about reaction totals, so other signals of engagement may still show.

Reels are included in the setting, but if Reels themselves are the problem in your Feed, that’s a separate question; see whether you can hide Reels on Facebook permanently.

Hide the Pages You’ve Liked and Follow

This is the “I don’t want everyone to see that I liked a fan Page in 2014” problem. On current Facebook, liking a Page usually also means you follow it, so the control that matters is who can see the people and Pages you follow. Meta’s help article for this setting couldn’t be checked for this update, and the label can differ by app version, but the route usually looks like this:

1. Open Settings & privacy > Settings.
2. Look under Audience and visibility for Followers and public content (or search Settings for “follow”).
3. Find the option for who can see the people, Pages and lists you follow, and set it to Only me.

Some profiles also still show a Likes section (often under More on your profile in a browser). If yours does, its edit menu may offer a privacy option or a way to hide the section from your profile. Several guides report that this part works more reliably in a web browser than in the app, so try a computer if you can’t find it on your phone.

While you’re tightening things up, you can also make your friends list private, which uses a similar audience choice.

Remove a Reaction You Already Left

Meta’s reaction-count pages don’t describe any setting that hides your own reaction on someone else’s post, and the person who shared the post generally controls who can see it. If you don’t want your name there, take the reaction back:

1. Find the post, either by scrolling or from your activity log.
2. Click or tap your reaction under the post (it usually looks highlighted after you react) to undo it. The button can look different depending on your app version.

To clean up many old reactions, open your activity log (where it appears depends on your app version; searching Settings for “activity log” usually finds it) and look for the section covering your interactions, likes and reactions. From there you can remove items one by one. The exact section names vary, so use the filter or search in the activity log if you don’t see them. Tips on searching your history are in the walkthrough on how to find old Facebook posts without scrolling.

Turn the Counts Back On or Fix a Missing Setting

To undo the change, go back to Reaction preferences and turn the toggle off. Totals reappear on your posts, or on others’ posts, depending on which toggle you changed.

If you can’t find Reaction preferences at all:

• Update the Facebook app from the App Store or Google Play, then check again.
• If Settings has a search box, type “reaction” into it.
• Try facebook.com in a browser, where Meta’s computer steps apply.
• If you’re managing a Page as a Page profile, you may be in that profile’s settings. Switch back to your personal profile first.

More Facebook Likes Questions

Will my friends know I hid my reaction counts?

Meta’s help pages don’t mention any notice to friends. People just won’t see a total on your posts and reels, although they can still open the list of who reacted.

Does this change Instagram too?

Meta’s pages describe this setting for Facebook posts and reels only. Instagram manages like counts in its own app, so check its settings separately.

Can I stop strangers from seeing my posts at all?

Yes, and that’s often the better fix if the worry is who’s watching. Set your posts’ audience to Friends, or go further and make your Facebook account private. Where it’s available, you can also lock your Facebook profile so people who aren’t friends see only a limited view.

Do I need to change it on every device?

Probably not. Reaction preferences is an account setting, so a change on one device should carry over wherever you’re signed in. If totals still show somewhere, open Reaction preferences on that device and check the toggle.

Start with Reaction preferences, since it takes under a minute, then decide whether your followed Pages and old reactions need a cleanup too.