Facebook Events Settings: Can You Make a Private Facebook Event Public?

Download ArticleDownload Article

Once you create an event in Facebook, it won't be possible to change the privacy settings.[1] So what happens if you've created a private Facebook event that should have been public? This How.com.vn teaches you what to do if you've set the wrong privacy level for your Facebook event.

Things You Should Know

  • Once an event is created in Facebook, it's not possible to change the privacy settings.
  • Request that all invitees invite as many people as possible to the event - each person can send up to 500 invites for a single event.
  • Use the "duplicate event" feature on Facebook to create an identical event and update the privacy settings.
Question 1 of 1:

If I can't change the privacy of my event, what can I do?

Download Article
  1. How.com.vn English: Step 1 Invite more people (and have other invitees do the same).
    If you've already created a private Facebook event that a lot of people have interacted with, you can use the event's popularity to your advantage. Rather than create a brand-new public event from scratch, you can post within the current event, asking all attendees to invite their friends. Let them know you aren't able to change the privacy to "Public," and encourage them to spread the word. Each person can send up to 500 invitations for a single Facebook event—if you have enough people invite their own friends, you'll reach a wide audience.[2]
    • If you deactivated the option to allow guests to invite friends when you created the event, you can re-enable. Just edit the event and toggle the "Guests Can Invite Friends" switch to the On position.
    • Although it's possible for you (and other guests) to share your private event on your news feed or in a group, people who haven't been invited will not be able to click or tap the link to find information about the event.
  2. How.com.vn English: Step 2 Create an identical event.
    Facebook used to have a quick "Duplicate event" option that allowed you to easily make a copy of an existing event. Sadly, that feature is no more—you'll need to create your new event from scratch. When creating your replacement event, remember to set it as Public, and add something to the title or description that calls attention to the fact that this new event will be replacing the old private event. You can keep the existing event if you'd like, but you can also delete it once enough people from the original event have RSVP'd on the new event.
    • After creating the new event, send a message to all attendees letting them know why a new event was created.
    • Be sure to share the new public event on your timeline, and encourage other attendees to do the same.
  3. Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

      About This Article

      How.com.vn English: Nicole Levine, MFA
      Written by:
      How.com.vn Technology Writer
      This article was co-authored by How.com.vn staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for How.com.vn. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 130,926 times.
      How helpful is this?
      Co-authors: 2
      Updated: October 25, 2022
      Views: 130,926
      Categories: Facebook
      Article SummaryX

      Because it's not possible to change a Facebook event's privacy level after creating the event, you'll need to take other actions. One thing you can do is invite as many people as possible and encourage other invitees to do the same. If you've disabled the option that allows guests to invite others, re-enable that option in the event settings. An alternative is to create a new event and invite the same guests. Again, encourage guests to invite others, and share your event widely.

      Did this summary help you?

      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 130,926 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      ⚠️ Disclaimer:

      Content from Wiki How English language website. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License; additional terms may apply.
      Wiki How does not encourage the violation of any laws, and cannot be responsible for any violations of such laws, should you link to this domain, or use, reproduce, or republish the information contained herein.

      Notices:
      • - A few of these subjects are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental and other filtering schemes.
      • - Some articles may contain names, images, artworks or descriptions of events that some cultures restrict access to
      • - Please note: Wiki How does not give you opinion about the law, or advice about medical. If you need specific advice (for example, medical, legal, financial or risk management), please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.
      • - Readers should not judge the importance of topics based on their coverage on Wiki How, nor think a topic is important just because it is the subject of a Wiki article.

      Advertisement