How to See Private Facebook Photos | 5 Working Ways

Facebook has been a favorite platform among netizens, especially millennials to share their life updates and photos with family and friends. Users loved that they could decide who could see their posts; some could be visible to the public, whereas some were posted to ‘friends’ or ‘custom.’ Now, users can even lock their profile, making it harder to look at private Facebook photos.

We’ve shared five simple ways how to see private Facebook photos. Whether you want to confirm that the profile you’re viewing is the same person you assume or if you want to sneak into some photos that may not be visible to you, these methods can help you see private Facebook. Without further ado, let’s tell you all about Facebook photo viewer options.

Part 1. Understanding Facebook Privacy Settings

Facebook has always ensured user’s privacy by offering them numerous post and photo settings to match their choice. Facebook users can post pictures with the following visibility options:

• Public: Visible to all users on Facebook (excluding blocked users).
• Friends: Your friends can see all the posts with a ‘friends’ setting.
• Custom: You can select who you want to show the post/ photo to.
• Only Me: Only you can see the photos; similar to ‘archive’ feature on Instagram.

In 2020, Facebook went a step above and introduced the ‘lock profile’ feature that offered an extra layer of privacy to the users. Locking the profile changes the privacy of ‘public’ posts to ‘friends,’ ensuring that no user except your profile friends can see your posts now.

Part 2. How to See Private Facebook Photos | 5 Working Ways

Though it is not suggested to snoop into other people’s hidden pictures and posts, unless they concern you, yet, if you want to locate a long-lost friend, want to see pictures of you posted by someone, or wish to ensure your family’s safety, try these five methods to see private Facebook photos.

Way 1. Use Facebook private viewer-Msafely

If you’re searching for “How to see Facebook private account photos,” to view photos on your children’s Facebook account, Msafely can be the best choice. Msafely is a parental control app that enables you to keep an eye on your child’s online and offline activity, even when you do not have access to their phone. Msafely enables you to view call logs, text messages, media, installed apps, and social media on your loved one's phone seamlessly.

With Msafely, you can:

• Access Facebook chats (sent and received).
• View photos, videos, and other shared media within Facebook Messenger.
• View the friend list on the Facebook account, including names, email addresses, and other details.

These features allow you to stay updated on your child’s online activity and view the photos they do not share with you, especially when you suspect unusual behavior and activity.

Using Msafely is incredibly easy, and does not require too much technical information. Here’s how you can use Msafely to monitor your loved one's Facebook texts and photos remotely:

Step 1. Go to Msafely website and register a free Msafely account with your valid email address.

Step 2. Choose a suitable plan and connect the target phone with Msafely.

Step 3. Go to your Msafely Control Panel to start monitoring Facebook on the target device.

Way 2. Sending a friend request

One of the easiest ways besides Msafely, is sending a friend request to the person who want to see pictures of. It is the best choice, especially when they have locked their profiles, as only their friends can see their posts. If you’re on good terms with them and they would accept your friend request without hesitation, this method takes the least amount of effort and you will likely find the photos you are looking for. However, this method may not work if they have set the privacy to ‘only me.’

Way 3. Asking directly for access

When you cannot connect their device to your Msafely account or get access to their profile as a friend on Facebook, the only way is to ask them directly. You can state your concerns about the specific photo or photos, requesting them to share the images with you. This will save you the hassle of viewing their private photos on Facebook using another method. But this method might not work if they are hiding those photos from you on purpose. Instead, it will give them an upper hand when they know that you’re concerned about those photos. Thus, it is important to analyze the situation first and then decide if asking them directly for access to the images is the best option.

Way 4. Checking mutual friends

Now you might be wondering, “How to see private Facebook photos if they disagree?” That’s what we thought too!

The good news is that you still have a few options, like reaching out to mutual friends. The particular person with the private or locked profile may not be willing to share the pictures with you, but a mutual friend might.

When talking to your mutual friend about it, think of someone who is close to you than the other person, increasing the chances of them sharing private photos with you. You can ask them to download and send the photo to you discreetly or share the post with you via the ‘share’ option. Even if the mutual contact is not an old friend, you can contact them, depending on the urgency and seriousness of the situation.

Bonus tip: Before asking a friend to send you a particular photo, you can open their profile and look for tagged photos; you might not even need to ask them. Tagged photos usually appear on all the tagged friends’ profiles, making them easily trackable.

Way 5. Use the search engine

If you haven’t tried searching for that particular friend on Google to view private FB pictures, you’re missing out on a goldmine!

Google is like the backup to a lot of information online. The search engine uses indexing to scan content on various websites, including Facebook, to provide information to search queries. So, if the person had their account and photos to public profile when Google indexed it for information, it might be your lucky day, and you may find the photos you’re looking for.

The simplest way to look at private Facebook photos through Google search is to add their name to the search bar and ‘enter.’ Google will show you results of all the indexed profiles with the same name. You can open the link to see if you can find anything useful. Furthermore, use the ‘images’ section to look for images from the mentioned user profile or any of the tagged photos.

Another method is to upload the avatar of a private account using the ‘search by image’ feature or via Google Lens. Google will analyze the image and show you similar profiles. The results might show you what you have been looking for.

Part 3. What is the Best Way to See Private Facebook Photos

After analyzing all the factors regarding the effort, ease of use, user privacy, and effectiveness of methods to see private Facebook pics, Msafely has been seen to be the best option. It keeps your identity discreet and you can see all the activity on the target phone. Furthermore, it is incredibly easy to use once you install and connect the device to your account.

Part 4. Conclusion

Sometimes, seeing private Facebook photos can be as much of a hassle as important at that moment, because of Facebook’s privacy options. Especially, Facebook’s locked profile feature especially makes it harder to look at private Facebook photos. If you want to see private Facebook photos, you can send the user a friend request, ask them directly, contact a mutual friend, or use the search engine or Google Lens. In case, you want to view your children’s Facebook pictures that they do not share with you, a parental control app like Msafely can be the best pick. This Facebook private profile viewer gives you access to much more than Facebook photos, messages, and friend list. You can also monitor other social media platforms, call logs, text messages, and installed apps on the target device.

Part 5. FAQs

Q1. Can anyone see all your Facebook photos if you aren’t friends?

The content anyone sees on your profile without being friends depends significantly on your privacy settings. If you have shared all your posts to ‘public,’ they may be able to view them. However, no one can view your Facebook photos set to friends. You can also turn your ‘public’ visibility photos to friends by locking your profile.

Q2. How can I view someone’s social profile when it’s set to private?

Viewing someone’s social profile, including Facebook, when set to private can be a bit of a hassle. The simplest way is to send them a friend request and wait for them to accept it. Alternatively, you can find mutual friends and ask them to share photos or screenshots, depending on the information you’re looking for.

Q3. Are there any apps or tools that can unlock private Facebook photos?

You can use a monitoring app like Msafely to unlock private Facebook photos. However, you need access to the target phone’s cloud credentials to connect it to your Msafely account. Similarly, some apps require downloading them on the target phone, and some even need you to enter the social media credentials for remote tracking.

Q4. Why are some Facebook photos not visible even when the profile is public?

The user might have posted the photos to ‘friends,’ ‘custom,’ or ‘only me’ setting hiding them from everyone else. If you’re not a friend on the social platform, you might see photos posted only to ‘public.’

Q5. Can I see photos someone is tagged in even if they’re private?

While you can see tagged photos in a mutual friend’s account, you may not be able to see them if the account or the photo is private. Tagged photos with a ‘public’ setting are visible to everyone on the other person’s profile as well.

Q6. Is it possible to accidentally make private photos public?

You might accidentally post your private photos public if you post them without reviewing the settings. Make sure to change and review the privacy settings before hitting ‘post.’

Q7. What happens if I block someone? Can they still see my photos?

Blocking someone disables them from viewing your profile and account activity. They cannot view your posts and photos even if they were added as a friend on your profile previously. Facebook does not show your public photos and posts to them either.