How to make your Reddit account more private

Reddit is an anonymous app by nature, but there are steps you can take to make your account more private. Here are some top recommendations for features and settings that can increase the privacy of your account on the social media platform .

Table of Contents

• 1. Limit who can send messages and chat requests
• 2. Use a randomly generated username
• 3. Hide account from search results
• 4. Hide active communities
• 5. Don't upload pictures of your best friend to Reddit
• 6. Browse in incognito mode

1. Limit who can send messages and chat requests

While Reddit can be a great way to meet like-minded people and connect with others, many people like to control who can send them messages and chat requests. Apply similar restrictions to Instagram because, let’s be honest, you don’t want everyone to be able to contact you, right?

You can allow certain accounts to chat with you on Reddit, but they have to be at least 30 days old. If you want to go further, you can set it to Nobody . Many people don't like not being able to limit who can send direct messages to a certain group of people, but you can at least set it to Nobody on one of your accounts.

If you want to change your chat and messaging settings, follow these steps:

• Click your profile picture in the upper right corner to display the sidebar menu.
• Select Settings at the bottom of the page.
• In Account Settings , tap your username.
• Scroll down and select Chat and messaging permissions .
• Toggle chat and messaging options until you're happy with what you see.

2. Use a randomly generated username

You can create an account with a randomly generated anonymous username. This account is for personal use and can be used to track more than positive contributions.

If you're serious about using Reddit to make it more private, consider using a randomly generated username. You'll get one when you first sign up for an account, but you can always change it later. Avoid using the same username you use on other accounts.

• How to change Reddit username

3. Hide account from search results

Even if you use an anonymous username, you may still be worried about other people finding your account in search results. Luckily, Reddit has a feature that allows you to unindex your profile if you want.

To prevent Reddit from showing your profile in search results, you will need to:

• Select your profile picture and tap Settings when the sidebar appears.
• Scroll down to Privacy .
• Turn off Show up in search results .

Note : Even if you hide your Reddit account from search results, you will still appear in the threads you contribute to when someone clicks through a search engine. If you don't want to see Reddit on Google, you can learn how to reduce the number of Reddit posts in your Google search results.

4. Hide active communities

You may like to follow multiple communities on Reddit and want to keep this information private. To do this, hide your active communities so that others can't see them when viewing your profile. To change this setting, you'll need to go to the Reddit web app instead of using your smartphone.

Here's how to do it:

• Log in to your Reddit account from your computer browser.
• Tap your profile icon in the top right corner and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
• Select the Profile tab .
• Turn off Show active communities .

5. Don't upload pictures of your best friend to Reddit

Perhaps the easiest way to keep your Reddit account private is to not upload pictures of yourself. You’ll notice that many people on Reddit don’t use profile pictures. This is ideal if you don’t want people to know what you look like.

You can use an avatar on Reddit as soon as you sign up. However, if you're currently using a picture of yourself and want to change it, follow the steps in our article on how to change your Reddit avatar or profile picture .

6. Browse in incognito mode

Browsing incognito on Reddit works similarly to incognito mode in your web browser. When you browse incognito, none of your search or browsing history is saved. Notifications and personalized recommendations are also disabled until you stop browsing incognito (incognito mode will automatically disable if you stop using it for more than 30 minutes).

You should use incognito browsing when you just want to search for something but not interact with other people. However, you shouldn't leave it on all the time because you can't comment or post while in this mode. This feature is only available on mobile devices.

These features allow you to use Reddit while still maintaining your online privacy. Be sure to review your privacy settings so you don't give away too much information on Reddit or make your profile easily discoverable via search engines. While browsing anonymously is a temporary option, choosing a username that isn't your real name—and controlling who can message you—can also help.