What you need to know
- Facebook will allow you to create multiple Facebook profiles, each with their own friends, settings, and feeds.
- You can switch between profiles in the Facebook app without needing to log out.
- Separate profiles do not need to use your real name, so long as they don't impersonate someone or "misrepresent your identity."
- Separate profiles are "starting to roll out globally" as of September 21.
The more you use Facebook, the more your feed can become an unfocused, bloated mishmash of friend updates, hobby links, work info, and so on. Thankfully, Meta is rolling out the option to create multiple Facebook profiles associated with your official account.
In its announcement post, Meta said that multiple profiles will allow users to keep their personal and professional relationships and feeds separate or to have a specific profile related to a particular hobby or community — all while using the same login credentials.
The feature, which is rolling out now and could take a "few months" to reach all Facebook users, will be available on the Facebook app and web version. You simply go to the "More" menu, and you should see a "Create another profile" button. You then create a new profile name and add new friends or groups.
Each profile will have its own settings, meaning you can ensure that friends of your main profile never see posts made by your second profile or that your hobby profiles don't send notifications.
This feature will start out as exclusive to the vanilla Facebook app, then expand its support to Messenger "in the coming months" so you can send or receive messages from specific profiles. Other features like Dating, Marketplace, Professional Mode, and payments will only work with your primary profile, at least for now.
You can create up to four profiles on top of your main account. Unlike your main Facebook account, you can use different names for secondary profiles or keep the same name if you prefer.
Before you pretend you're a celebrity or politician on your secondary profile, keep in mind that "additional profiles cannot impersonate others or be used to misrepresent your identity (including your age or location)," per Meta. Nor can you use a name that violates Community Standards (such as hate speech) without the possibility of your main account being locked.
Pseudonyms aside, we think this feature will make Facebook a lot easier to use without worrying about your work, friends, family, and hobby groups colliding.
