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How to check in on Facebook
Some Facebook users like to share everything, including where they have been and where they currently are. This is called ‘checking in,’ and by giving Facebook access to your current location via your phone or computer, your location can be plastered all over your Facebook page on a map for all to see. It’s a private investigator’s dream — who needs to go knocking on doors to find someone when you can just watch their real-time movements update on their Facebook page? Here’s how to check in on Facebook.
QUICK ANSWER
To check in on Facebook, you first need to ensure that location services are enabled on your phone or computer and you have granted Facebook access to that location data. Open Facebook, open a new status update box and select Check in. Facebook will give you a list of nearby locations. Choose one, and it will be inserted into the post for you to publish.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
How to check in on the Facebook app
To check in on the Facebook app:
- Enable location services on your device; check out our location services guides for iPhone or Android to learn how to do this.
- Give Facebook the necessary permissions to access your location. This usually happens when you check in for the first time, and Facebook requests location data access. Give it one-off access or access while the app is open.
- Open a new status update post and tap Check in at the bottom.
- If Facebook has access to your location, you will see a list of nearby places. Choose the correct one (or a nearby one.)
- The status update post will insert the chosen location on a map.
As well as the check-in, you can also add a message, tag other Facebook users who are with you, and add a ‘feeling.’ The other options will not be available on a check-in post. If you try to choose one of them, the check-in will disappear. Make sure you also have the correct privacy setting for the post before publishing.
How to check in on the Facebook website
It’s a very similar check-in process on the Facebook website. Open a new status update post and click the red check-in logo (or is it orange?).
Select the location you are at by clicking it. If Facebook is having trouble finding you, check to see if you have enabled location access on your browser. It may not always show the exact location, so choose the nearest place instead.
The status update post will now insert the chosen location on a map. Now add anything else you want, like a message, a tag, or a feeling, and make sure you have the correct privacy setting. Maybe you don’t want the whole world to know where you currently are.
How to delete check-ins on Facebook
If you decide later that you have over-shared and you want to delete a check-in, that’s very easy to do. It just takes a few clicks or taps.
On the desktop site
Click the three horizontal dots to the right of the post. In the menu that appears, click Move to Recycle bin.
On the mobile app
It’s the same deal on the mobile app. Click the three dots to the right of the post, and select Move to Recycle bin in the menu.
Moving the post to the recycle bin leaves it there for 30 days, during which time it can still be viewed in the Activity Log in your account settings. If you really need the check-in deleted permanently right now, you would need to go into your Activity Log and delete it from there.
FAQs
The feature relies on your phone’s location services being enabled. If you have disabled this function, Facebook cannot determine your location.
Yes, you can make the post Friends Only. This is recommended for security and privacy reasons. Burglars have been known to break into homes after seeing the owner’s public check-in on their Facebook page, showing they were elsewhere.