Facebook accounts being hacked, or taken over is a problem more common than it should be. In this guide, we look at how you can secure your account before it's too late.

You hear about data breaches all the time. When a server is breached, hackers can get a list of users, passwords, and other information. Often you hear that no personal or credit card information was accessed and that's a good thing. But, if they have your email and password information, and you use that same password on multiple sites, you have a problem.

Anyone with your email and password can try that email and password combination on numerous websites including Facebook.

Secure Your Account

Facebook makes it easy to secure and recover your account if you take a few minutes to secure your account. Regardless of the device you use, go to Facebook Settings > Security & Login. Here are the settings you need to protect and secure your account:

Change password - Change your password to something unique using random letters (upper and lowercase), numbers and characters. Save it on paper (they make it from trees for you youngsters), or your device in notes. You should change your password regularly. If you've secured your account, every six months to a year should be sufficient.

Save your login info - Turning this on saves your password only on recognized browsers and passwords. Turn it on.

Use two-factor authentication - If someone logs in from a device and location that's not recognized, Facebook will ask for a security code. Turn two-factor authentication on.

App passwords - You can use a different password for apps instead of your Facebook password. This step is optional but if you use a lot of third-party apps, turn it on.

Get alerts about unrecognized logins - This ties in with two-factor authentication and should be turned on.

Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact if you get locked out - Turn this on and choose three preferably tech-savvy, trusted friends.



Next, look at the Security and Login section. Here you can find all the devices that are logged into Facebook. Click on See More to see the entire list, and you can Log Out Of All Sessions at the bottom. Odds are you're going to see devices you don't have anymore, and yet you're still logged in. While time-consuming, we'd remove all of those devices except the one you're using. Click on the three dots and click on Not You? or Log Out. You may have to reauthorize apps or log into Facebook again.



Add a Phone Number and Email

Finally, under General account settings, you should see your contact information. Most importantly, you should have your phone number entered, and two email addresses. Don't have two email addresses? Get a free Gmail account. You don't have to use it except for situations like this.



Conclusion

Let's be honest. If your account is hacked, there's a good chance you're using a password that you use on other websites. Securing and recovering your account only takes minutes.

Check out the similar articles below for other ways to clean up your linked Facebook applications, websites, apps, and games, to name a few.

If you have any suggestions or ideas we missed, leave a comment, and we'll be glad to update the article as needed.

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