Can anyone join a private Facebook group

One of the first things you have to do when creating a Facebook Group is to choose your group privacy. And one option you’ll have is to create a Secret Facebook Group; one which doesn’t show up in search results, where only members can find it, and where joining requires being invited by another member.

There are two privacy options for Facebook Groups: public and private (formerly public and closed groups). If you’re creating a private group, you can then adjust the settings to then have it visible or hidden from Facebook search (formerly called secret groups). 

But what are the implications of creating a Secret Facebook Group? What are the pros and cons? How do members join a Secret Facebook Group? And how do you actually create one?

In this article you’ll learn what a Secret Facebook Group is, what it means when your group is set to hidden, and in which instances it would make sense to have a Secret Facebook Group. We’ll also show you how to create one.

Jump to: What is a Secret Facebook Group? I How Members Join I Benefits of a Secret Group I Creating a Secret Group I Moderating a Secret Facebook Group I FAQ

What is a Secret Facebook Group?

A Secret Facebook group is a private group which is not accessible to anybody other than its members. It does not appear in Facebook search, and the direct URL to the group won’t work for non members (as per the above screenshot).

‘Secret’ is actually an outdated term, and Facebook now calls these types of groups ‘hidden’. However this terminology was officially used for so long, that many people continue to use it (which is why we will in this article).

The first thing to know about a Secret Group is that your group must be set to private. Having a public group which is completely open and accessible to everyone on Facebook goes against the whole concept of secrecy. As such, if you create a public group, hiding it will not be an option.

Once you create a private group, you have the additional option of making it visible or hidden. Visible means that anybody can find the group and request to join, while hidden means that only members can find it.

The Difference Between Public and Private Groups

When you create a Facebook group, you’ll first need to choose your group name, and then your group privacy settings. You cannot create a group without making these choices.

A public group is completely open and accessible to everyone on Facebook; all content is visible without first having to join (anyone can see who’s in the group and what they post) and Facebook will start to show the content of a public group even outside of Facebook. 

That means members don’t have to ask for admission to read the content and, in future, admins will be able to choose if they want to allow non-members to contribute to discussions. 

A private group is one where only current members can see the content, and membership must be requested and approved before a user is able to join. Invited members to a private group can see a preview of content for 28 days after they have been invited, though they won’t have full access until they join (this is the same regardless of whether your group is visible or hidden, depending on your membership approval settings. More about that below).

It’s important to really think about which settings will be best for the purpose of your group. While public groups can change to private after they’ve been created, you cannot change a private group to public. This rule is there to protect the privacy of group members who joined a private group, so if you’re creating a private group, this is a permanent decision.

Once you have created a private group you can however switch back and forth between visible and hidden as much as you like. So it doesn’t matter for instance, if you create a visible private group to begin with, and later decide to switch it to hidden (or vice versa).

The Difference Between a Hidden and Visible Facebook Group

The difference between a hidden and visible Facebook group is very simple: a hidden group cannot be found by anyone other than its members. It will not appear in Facebook search, recommendations, and it cannot be discovered. Even with a direct URL, the page that appears for non members will tell them that the content does not exist.

There is no trace of a hidden group to anybody other than its members.

On the other hand, a visible private group still retains its privacy, however the fact that it exists is public; ie, non members can find the group in Facebook search, discover it via Facebook’s recommended / similar groups feature and request to join, but will not be able to see any content or access information about members until they become a member.

Notably, on Facebook’s Help Page for visible vs hidden groups, it states that former members can find, see, and request to join secret groups. However we tested this, and this is not the case. If a member leaves a secret group, they are no longer able to access, see, find, or request to join it. As such, the above table is a more up to date version that you’ll currently find on the Facebook Help Page.

When a member goes to leave a secret group, they are presented with a pop-up which warns them that they will not be able to find the group again unless another member invites them. They also have the option to prevent people from inviting them to join the group again. Once they leave the group, it no longer exists for their access.

Pro tip: If a former member is trying to re-join a Secret Facebook Group, and you are having trouble inviting them to join, they may have previously clicked the option to prevent being invited again in the future. If this is the case, the only way they will be able to rejoin is if you change your group settings to visible, and provide them with the URL to request to join.

So if non members can’t find a Secret Facebook Group, how do they join one?

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