How to Hide or Pin Shortcuts in the Facebook App

Quick answer: Open the Facebook app's account menu, then look under Settings & privacy → Settings for Tab bar, Navigation bar, or a similarly named shortcut setting. If your account offers customization, choose the tab you want to change and select an available option such as Hide, Auto, or Pin. The choices vary by app version and may not cover every shortcut.

A Facebook shortcut is a route into a feature, such as Friends, Groups, or Marketplace. Hiding a shortcut changes navigation; it does not delete your friends, groups, listings, or the feature itself. Meta's 2025 Facebook navigation announcement demonstrates a Tab bar customization path for the Friends tab. It does not establish a fixed position for every menu button or a Hide option for every user.

Find the tab-bar control

Start in the Facebook mobile app, signed in to the profile whose navigation you want to change. Open the main menu or profile menu. Enter Settings & privacy, then Settings, and look for a section called Tab bar, Navigation bar, or Shortcuts. If you see Customize the bar, open it and inspect the tabs listed for your account.

This is a guided search through the current interface, not a universal tap sequence. The old guide instructed everyone to tap a bottom-right menu, a top-right cog, and a specific Preferences heading. Those positions can differ by device and release. If your Facebook app has a search box within Settings, searching for “tab bar” or “shortcuts” may be quicker than scanning every section.

For a tab you do see, read the options on your screen. Pin generally indicates a preference to keep a tab visible; Auto leaves its placement to Facebook; Hide, when offered, removes that shortcut from the bar you are customizing. The on-screen explanation governs your account. If only some options appear, use those rather than assuming an older screenshot applies.

Change one shortcut and check the result

Choose one tab to adjust and save or confirm the choice if prompted. Return to Facebook's main view to see whether the navigation changed. If it did not, reopen the setting to confirm the selected choice. An app update or account variation can affect the available controls; repeatedly toggling unrelated settings is unlikely to clarify which choice worked.

Try the specific Marketplace shortcut guide if that is the icon you want to hide. It explains the key distinction between hiding the Marketplace tab and removing Marketplace access. For other tabs, the same distinction applies: a hidden shortcut is not a deletion of the feature or its content.

A shortcut may also appear elsewhere in Facebook's menu or bookmarks even if you hide it from the navigation bar. That is expected for a navigation preference. If you need to remove a saved bookmark, change notification dots, or leave a Group, those are separate actions with different controls. First identify exactly which visual element bothers you before changing settings.

If the app does not offer the option

Make sure you are changing the Facebook mobile app, not a browser sidebar or the Messenger app. Look for the current settings names rather than one historical label. If a tab is not listed or Hide is absent, that shortcut may not be customizable for your account at this time. The correct advice is to use the controls that Facebook actually presents, not to install a third-party “Facebook cleaner” or follow a hidden settings trick.

If a tab disappeared and you want it back, use the same customization area and look for an offered Auto or Pin choice. Meta's Friends-tab announcement provides an official example of pinning a tab. A missing tab can also be due to feature availability or account access, so a pin control will not necessarily restore a feature that your account cannot use.

Decide whether to hide, pin, or leave a tab automatic

Choose Hide when an available tab distracts you and you rarely open that feature. Choose Pin when you use a tab often and want a consistent route to it. Choose Auto when you prefer Facebook to decide whether and where it appears. These are descriptions of common tab-bar choices; the wording in your app may differ. Read the option summary before confirming, especially if a setting affects more than one profile.

If you share a device, confirm which Facebook profile is active before changing its shortcuts. A navigation preference on one profile is not evidence that another profile has the same controls or saved choice. After a change, test the feature through Facebook’s menu so you know how to reach it later. If you cannot find the feature at all, check whether your account has access to it rather than assuming Hide removed it.

If you are making the change to simplify the app for someone else, demonstrate the new path to their frequently used features before hiding a tab. A shorter bar can be easier to scan, but losing a familiar entry point may make navigation harder. Make one adjustment at a time, verify the result together, and keep the app’s menu as a fallback. Avoid changing the account’s privacy or notification choices merely to rearrange tabs.

Common questions

Are shortcuts the same as notifications?

No. A tab is a navigation entry. A red dot or other alert is a notification indicator. Some app versions expose separate controls for those indicators; hiding a tab is not the same as changing notification settings. Check your available options before selecting one.

Will hiding a shortcut delete my information?

A tab-bar setting changes navigation. It should not be treated as a content-deletion action. If you want to remove posts, leave a Group, or delete a listing, use the feature's own controls and read the confirmation shown there.

Why does my friend's app show a different bar?

Facebook's interface may vary by device, release, account, or feature availability. Follow your own app's current labels. A screenshot from another person is a clue to where a setting might be, not proof that your account has it.

Can I customize the desktop website the same way?

This guide covers the mobile app's tab-bar customization. The desktop site's navigation may use a different layout and set of controls. Do not apply phone-specific menu positions to a browser sidebar.

In short

Use Facebook's own mobile navigation settings to inspect the shortcuts available to your account. Hide or pin only tabs for which your app offers those choices, and check the result. This changes a route through the app, not the underlying feature or its data.