How to Change Your Birthday on Facebook (and Hide It Too)

Your birthday on Facebook does more work than you'd expect. It triggers the greetings from friends, and it's one of the details tied to your account across Facebook's apps. So when it's wrong, because you typed it quickly years ago or a past setup got it muddled, it's worth fixing.

There are really two questions behind this search. One is how to correct the date itself. The other is how to control who sees it. I'll cover both, following Facebook's help article How to find birthdays and change your birthday settings on Facebook. Facebook says it's gradually moving people to Meta Account settings, so you may see Accounts Centre or that name along the way.

Change your birthday on Facebook from a computer

1. Go to your profile.
2. Click About, then click Contact and basic information.
3. Below Basic info, click Edit next to your birthday.
4. In Accounts Centre, click Edit.
5. Update your birthday and click Save.

Edit your birthday in the Facebook phone app

1. Go to your profile.
2. Tap See your About info.
3. Below Basic info, tap Edit next to your birthday.
4. Below Edit birthday, tap Accounts Centre.
5. Edit your birthday, then tap Save.

The Accounts Centre step matters. Facebook's help article says birthdays need to match across all accounts in an Accounts Centre, so the change is made there.

Why Facebook may not let you change your birthday again

Facebook's help article carries a plain note: there's a limit to how many times you can change your birthday. If you've recently changed it, you may need to wait before you can change it again. The article doesn't give a number, and websites that quote one disagree with each other, so I won't repeat any of them.

• If you typed the wrong date by mistake, correct it straight away rather than leaving it.
• If the edit won't save, you've probably reached the limit, so wait before trying again.
• If your age is in question, Facebook has a separate help article called Confirming your age on Facebook, which is the place to look.

Birthday on additional Facebook profiles

If you have more than one Facebook profile, the help article explains what happens. Your birthday from your main profile carries over to your additional profiles. You can't change your birthday on the additional profiles, but you can change who can see it on each one. To change who sees it on an additional profile, switch to that profile and follow the steps.

Hide your birthday from other people on Facebook

Changing the date and hiding it are different jobs. On a computer, the help article says to go to your profile, click About, click Contact and basic information, and below Basic info click Audience next to your birthday. Select who you want and click Save. In the phone app, tap See your About info, tap Edit next to your birthday, tap the audience setting, choose, and tap Save.

Facebook says you can choose who can see the day and month of your birthday separately from who can see the year. That means you can keep the year private while friends still see the day and month.

What you want	What to adjust
Correct a wrong date	Edit your birthday in Basic info, via Accounts Centre
Stop strangers seeing the date	Change the audience setting next to your birthday
Keep the year private	Set the year's audience separately from day and month
Stop friends being notified	Choose not to share the day and month

What happens to birthday notifications for friends

This surprised me. The help article says that if you choose not to share the day and month of your birthday, your friends won't get a notification about your upcoming birthday. So hiding it has a side effect: no reminders, and no greetings from people who'd have used the reminder. Some people love that, and some regret it, so decide on purpose.

You can also look at other people's dates. The article says to open the Facebook app, tap Menu, tap Friends and tap Birthdays at the top, where you'll see today's, recent and upcoming birthdays.

If you can't find your birthday setting

• Look under Contact and basic information on a computer, or See your About info in the app.
• Check you're in the right profile if you have more than one.
• Update the app, because menus move around between versions.
• If your edit option is missing after a recent change, you may be inside the limit described above.

Fixing a wrong birthday on a business Page versus a profile

A Facebook Page doesn't have a personal birthday. If you're setting up a business, the date to look for is the founded or start date in the Page's About details, which is a separate field. Your own profile's birthday is the one in Basic info. If you run Pages, my guide to Facebook Page categories is useful when you tidy the details. If Facebook is asking you for extra proof of who you are, my piece on why Facebook asks you to verify your identity explains what that means.

Frequently asked questions

How do I change my birthday on Facebook?

Go to your profile, click About, then Contact and basic information. Below Basic info, click Edit next to your birthday, click Edit in Accounts Centre, update it and click Save. In the app, use See your About info.

Why can't I change my birthday on Facebook?

Facebook's help article says there's a limit to how many times you can change it, and if you've recently changed it, you may need to wait. It doesn't state a number.

How do I hide my birthday on Facebook?

Next to your birthday in Basic info, use the audience setting and choose who can see it. You can set who sees the day and month separately from who sees the year.

Will my friends be notified if I hide my birthday?

Facebook's help article says that if you choose not to share the day and month, your friends won't get a notification about your upcoming birthday.

Can I change my birthday on an additional profile?

No. Facebook says the birthday from your main profile carries over, and you can only change who can see it on each additional profile.

Where can I see my friends' birthdays?

Open the Facebook app, tap Menu, tap Friends, then tap Birthdays at the top.