On your PS5, open Settings → Users and Accounts → Privacy. Choose Adjust Privacy Settings by Choosing a Profile for a preset, or View and Customize Your Privacy Settings to control individual options such as profile visibility, friend requests, messages, online status and game activity. These settings belong to your PlayStation account and apply across devices.
Menu wording can vary slightly by region or system language; PlayStation’s United States pages generally use “Customize,” while other locales may use “Customise.”
Change privacy settings directly on your PS5
- From the home screen, select the gear icon in the upper-right corner.
- Select Users and Accounts.
- Select Privacy.
- Choose Adjust Privacy Settings by Choosing a Profile or View and Customize Your Privacy Settings.
- Select a setting, choose the audience or permission level you want, and confirm if prompted.
PlayStation documents the current menu and controls at PlayStation privacy settings support.
Choose a preset privacy profile
Presets are useful starting points, but review individual controls afterward if you need a precise result.
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| Profile | Practical effect |
|---|---|
| Social and Open | Broadest access to profile information, requests and messages. |
| Team Player | Relatively open profile visibility; some chat invitations require at least a friend-of-a-friend relationship. |
| Friend Focused | Primarily limits profile visibility and chat invitations to friends. |
| Solo and Focused | Most restrictive preset. Other players cannot see profile information or invite you to chat, including existing friends. This does not guarantee that every game or third-party service cannot expose interaction. |
Select Review and Customize when the preset does not match the way you play.
Customize individual privacy controls
Real name and profile picture
Choose who can see your real name and profile picture in search results, within games, as a friend suggestion and in the friends lists of close friends.
Your information
Control who can see your friends and whether you can edit your profile. Hiding your friends list changes visibility of that information; it does not delete your account or eliminate every possible interaction.
Activity and gaming history
Set who can see your online status and current game, who can see your gaming history, and which games are hidden from other players.
Communication and multiplayer
Adjust who can send friend requests, who can interact with you through parties, games and messages, which players are blocked, and whether you can receive crossplay game invitations.
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Followers and following
Where the control is available for your account, review who can see your followers and following lists.
PlayStation Stars
In supported regions, you can control who sees your PlayStation Stars level and display case. PlayStation says these controls are unavailable on child accounts and are not offered in every region.
Stop strangers from adding or messaging you
- Open Settings → Users and Accounts → Privacy.
- Select View and Customize Your Privacy Settings.
- Open the communication-related controls.
- Set friend requests and interaction through parties, games and messages to Friends Only or a more restrictive option that suits you.
Privacy controls reduce unsolicited contact, but they are not a substitute for blocking a particular harasser. From the player’s profile, use Game Base → Friends or Parties → select the player → … (More) → Block. PlayStation’s blocking guidance is at Block players on PlayStation. Blocking limits profile, activity and personal-information visibility between the two accounts and restricts certain party interactions, but it may not keep you out of the same game server or third-party service.
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PS5 has two separate “hide” functions. Do not confuse hiding a title in your own library with hiding its activity from other people.
Hide a game in your Game Library
- Open Game Library.
- Open the Your Collection tab.
- Highlight the game.
- Press the Options button.
- Select Hide.
This hides the game from your library on all consoles, but it does not change profile visibility.
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Hide a game from other players
- Go to Settings → Users and Accounts → Privacy.
- Select View and Customize Your Privacy Settings.
- Select Hide your games from other players.
- Select the games to hide.
PlayStation says activity in a hidden game is not displayed to other players. See PlayStation’s game-hiding instructions.
“Appear Offline” is not full privacy
For a temporary status change, open Profile → Online Status → Appear Offline. This changes your presence indicator, not your complete privacy configuration. PlayStation notes that you may still appear online to other players inside a game, and this setting does not automatically hide gaming history, trophies, profile details or every form of activity. Online-status guidance is available at Change your online status.
Change privacy settings in a browser
- Sign in to Account Management.
- Select Privacy settings.
- Choose the feature to edit.
- Select Edit.
- Choose who can see the information or activity, or who can contact you.
- Select Confirm.
Use PlayStation Account Management support if the console is unavailable or a larger screen is more convenient.
Child accounts, the Family app and parental controls
A child account may not be allowed to change every privacy setting. The family manager, parent or guardian can manage the child’s settings and decide which options the child may change; PlayStation says the family manager is notified when the child changes an allowed setting.
Change a child’s privacy settings in PlayStation Family
- Open the PlayStation Family app and select the child.
- Select the Settings icon next to the child’s name.
- Select Privacy Settings.
The app provides controls for the privacy profile, friend requests, interaction through parties, games and messages, friends visibility, read receipts, games and trophies, online status and currently playing information, activity, crossplay invitations, and followers and following lists. Details are in PlayStation Family app support.
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Privacy settings versus parental controls
Privacy settings decide who can see account information or interact with the player. Parental controls govern a child’s access to games, apps, communication, user-generated content, spending and playtime.
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Recommended starting setups
These are practical recommendations, not PlayStation presets.
Balanced everyday privacy
- Start with Friend Focused.
- Review who can see online status and current game.
- Limit messages and party or game interaction to friends or friends of friends.
- Restrict friend requests from unknown players.
- Hide selected games from activity and review real-name visibility.
Maximum privacy
- Start with Solo and Focused, then inspect each individual control.
- Restrict messages, parties, game interaction, friend requests and crossplay invitations.
- Hide selected games from other players.
- Use Appear Offline when you need temporary status privacy.
- Block and report specific abusive users.
Child-safety setup
- Have the family manager configure the child’s privacy settings.
- Use parental controls to restrict online communication where appropriate.
- Decide which settings the child may change.
- Review activity and privacy controls in the Family app.
- Use supervision, blocking and reporting as additional safeguards.
Choose settings by goal
| Goal | More permissive choice | More restrictive choice | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find teammates | Broader friend requests and interaction | Friends only or no requests | Easier matchmaking versus fewer unsolicited contacts |
| Receive party invites | Friends, friends of friends or anyone | Friends only or nobody | More social access versus more control |
| Show current activity | Allow friends or a broader audience | Restrict or hide | Friends can join more easily versus reduced visibility |
| Display your real name | Broader visibility | Friends only or nobody | Easier recognition versus greater personal privacy |
| Receive crossplay invitations | Allow | Restrict | More opportunities with other platforms versus fewer invitations |
| Hide games | Leave activity visible | Hide selected games | More transparency versus less activity exposure |
Individual games can have their own matchmaking, voice, account or cross-platform systems, so the most restrictive PS5 choice does not guarantee that every interaction is blocked everywhere.
When a privacy setting seems not to work
The Privacy option is missing or locked
Check whether the account is a child account, whether the family manager controls the setting, whether parental controls override it, or whether the feature is limited in your region. The family manager should use the Family app or Account Management for a child account.
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You still appear online
- Confirm that you selected Appear Offline, rather than only changing profile visibility.
- Check whether you are signed in on another PlayStation device.
- Remember that a game may expose its own in-game presence.
- Check the game’s separate account or cross-platform presence system.
PlayStation says online-status changes apply across signed-in PS5 and PS4 devices, while in-game presence can still differ.
A hidden game remains visible
Verify which function you used: Game Library → Hide affects only your own library, while Privacy → Hide your games from other players controls whether selected game activity is shown to others.
Messages or voice chat remain available in one game
For a child account, review Parental Controls → Online Communication in the Family app and check the game’s communication settings or an approved exception. Privacy settings and parental controls are separate systems.
A linked service still exposes activity
Changing PS5 visibility does not necessarily revoke access already granted to Discord, streaming, companion or other services. On PS5, open Settings → Users and Accounts → Authorized Apps, select the service, choose Unlink, then confirm with Yes, Unlink. Authorized apps may receive data such as online status and gameplay information; see Manage authorized apps.
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