Facebook Stories allow users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. It’s a fun, casual way to give your friends and followers a glimpse into your day-to-day life.
However, you may have second thoughts about a story post you shared publicly. Perhaps you revealed too much personal information, posted something embarrassing, or simply changed your mind about a post. Fortunately, Facebook makes it easy to remove public story posts. Here’s how:
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View Your Public Story Posts
The first step is accessing your public story posts:
- Open the Facebook app on your phone or navigate to Facebook in your browser.
- Click on “Your Story” at the top of your news feed. This shows all your current story posts.
- To view your archived stories that are no longer available publicly, click on “Archive” under “Your Story.”
Once you access your current or archived stories, you can delete any individual posts you want removed.
Delete Current Public Story Posts
To delete a story post that’s currently public:
- Tap on the story to open it.
- Click the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select “Delete photo” or “Delete video.”
- Confirm that you want to delete the post.
The story will be immediately removed and no longer visible to anyone. Repeat these steps for any other current stories you want to delete.
Remove Archived Public Stories
Even when stories expire, Facebook archives them for your future reference. Follow these steps to delete an archived public story:
- Tap the “Archive” link below your story.
- Tap the story you want to remove.
- Click the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select “Delete story.”
- Confirm the deletion.
The story will no longer appear in your archive or be accessible to anyone else.
Adjust Story Privacy Settings
In addition to deleting stories, you can prevent unwanted posts in the future by adjusting your story privacy settings:
- Tap the hamburger menu on Facebook.
- Choose “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings” > “Privacy.”
- Tap “Edit” next to “Who Can See Your Future Posts.”
- Select an option like “Friends” so only people you know can view your stories.
With the right settings, you can avoid publicly sharing posts you may later regret.
Consider Disabling Stories
If you decide Facebook Stories aren’t for you, you can prevent posts from even appearing publicly:
- Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
- Scroll down and toggle “Show Story” to the off position.
With this setting disabled, you won’t accidentally share stories. You can always re-enable it later if you change your mind.
Beware of Reposts
Even if you delete a public story post, someone may have already shared it to their own story or page. So while your original story is gone, repurposed versions could still be publicly available.
Unfortunately, you can’t control other people’s posts. If someone reposts a story of yours that you don’t want public, you’ll need to ask them to remove it or report it to Facebook.
The easiest way to prevent your stories being reshared is keeping them limited to friends in the first place. Never publicly share something that would really upset or harm you if it got out.
In summary, you have full control over your own Facebook stories. You can remove current or archived public posts and restrict visibility going forward. But always be cautious about what you share, as repurposed content can spread beyond your control. Adjusting privacy settings and disabling stories can help prevent regrets down the road.
