You obviously tried to connect a lot of friends in one group on Facebook but found out that the group is private, so you’re wondering how to change a Facebook group from private to public.
Facebook groups are one of the best features that you could think of when you want to communicate with your business audience or simply create a virtual space for yourself on Facebook.
To change the Facebook group from private to public, open the group page on the Facebook app, then tap on the “Manage” button. On the new page, you’ll have to tap on the “Gear” icon to navigate to the settings page, then tap on “Privacy” to change from private to public.
After changing the group privacy there are some permissions that will change once you switch the privacy of your group.
However, you can only change the private group to the public within 3 days of making it private.
Today, I will teach you how to change a Facebook group from private to public.
How To Change a Facebook Group From Private to Public
To change the group from private to public, you need to open the group settings page, then tap on the “Privacy” option to change the privacy from private to public.
If you’ve already changed the group from public to private, you’ll not be able to retrieve that change, instead, you can hide or unhide the group.
You can only change the privacy if you still haven’t attained 3 days after switching the group to private.
So if you’ve decided to make your group private, then changed your decision back before the 3 days delay, you can retrieve it to the “Public” option.
Otherwise, you won’t be able to change it back to the public, as this will break the privacy of the users.
First, open your Facebook app, then tap on the “Menu” option at the bottom right of the screen.
A new page will then open, which is your profile page settings.
No tap on the “Groups” option, then tap on “Your Groups” in the top menu of the page.
After that, the groups that you’ve created will show up on a new page, so tap on the desired group.
Then you’ll be redirected to a new page, which is your group page.
Once the page opens, tap on the “Manage” button, then a new page will show up.
You’ll be able to visit the Settings page from that new page.
2.Open the Facebook group Settings’ page
Once you open the group manages page, tap on the “Gear” icon at the top right of the screen.
Then the Settings page of the group will open.
Now tap on the “Privacy” option.
On the Privacy page, you’ll see two options which are the “Public” and “Private” options.
Make sure that you know the difference between Public and Private groups.
3.Change the privacy from private to public
Now that you’ve found the two Public and Private options, you should see a countdown timing that’s telling you how much time you still have to switch back the group to the public.
If you can’t see the private option or it’s grayed out, this means the group has become private permanently.
So you aren’t able to switch back to public again.
In this case, you need to create a new group, or you can instead hide or unhide the group from public users.
Yet, if you still see the Private button, tap on it to switch and follow the instructions.
Why Can’t I Change My Facebook Group From Private to Public?
You can’t change the Facebook group privacy from Private to Public because you’ve already passed the delay of the 3 days; You can only choose to hide or unhide the group, yet, it will always remain private.
The only definitive way if you want your group to be public is to create a new group.
However, there if you only want to show your group to private users you can unhide the group from the public users.
After unhiding the group, all public Facebook users will be able to see your group, but can’t see the content of your group until they join it.
What Is the Difference Between a Private and Public Facebook Group?
The difference between a Private and a Public Facebook group is that anyone can see posts and members on a Public group, while only joined users can on a Private group.
Private group’s content and members aren’t revealed to Facebook public users, only admins of the group are.
Public groups are available for everyone on Facebook and can always interact by commenting and posting on the group.
Yet, there are multiple points to note:
- When you invite members, they will be able to see the group in preview mode.
- If a page joins your group, all the admins that are managing the group can see all your posts and interact with the actual members of your group.
- If an admin of your group added a 3rd party app, it has default access to your comments and posts, yet, it won’t have access to the comment or post owners unless the author has given the app permission to them.
- Facebook may review your group content even when you change it from public to private or vice versa, to maintain their user’s security and make sure that you aren’t violating their community guidelines.
Conclusion
A lot of admins prefer to keep their groups private to prevent people from spamming their communities frankly.
Yet, some of them may decide to revert their decision to switch their private group back to Public.
You can’t switch your Private group to Public after passing 3 days, instead, you can only unhide it and make it available for the public or create a new group if necessary.
However, if you’re still in the 3 days delay, you can change the Facebook group from Private to Public by going to the group Settings page and changing it from the “Privacy” menu.
So today, you’ve learned how to change the Facebook group from private to public.
Further Reading
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