TL;DR: Reddit has no fully private profile, but since June 2025 "Curate your profile" lets you hide your posts and comments from your profile page, by community or all at once. Also switch off "Show up in search results," followers and chat requests from strangers. Your username still shows on every post inside communities, and moderators of a subreddit you post in can see your full history for 28 days.
Why Reddit privacy is different
People share things on Reddit they'd never post under their real name: health questions, money problems, relationship fights, work complaints. The risk isn't one post. It's your history. A few comments mentioning your city, your job and your kids' school can be pieced together into a real identity, which is how most doxxing on Reddit starts. Our guide to what doxxing is explains the pattern.
Hide your post and comment history
In June 2025 Reddit added profile curation, reported by TechCrunch:
- Open Settings and find Curate your profile.
- Under Content and activity, choose to hide all communities, or show only the ones you pick.
- You can also hide NSFW activity and your follower count.
Visibility is set per community, not per post. The default is to show everything, so you need to change it.
What curation does not hide
- Your username still appears next to your posts and comments inside each community. Anyone reading a thread can click through.
- Moderators of a community you post, comment or send modmail in can see your full public history for 28 days, whatever your settings.
- Anything already quoted, screenshotted or archived elsewhere stays out there.
Other Reddit privacy settings to change
These are under the Privacy section of settings (the exact labels shift between app versions):
- Show up in search results: turn off so your profile is less likely to appear in outside search engines.
- Allow people to follow you: turn off if you don't want your activity in other people's feeds.
- Chat and message requests: limit to people you know, or nobody. Unsolicited Reddit chats are a common route for scams and harassment.
- Online status: hide it.
- Ads personalisation: review the options. In 2023 Reddit removed the ability for most users to stop ads targeted on their Reddit activity, Gizmodo reported, but you can still opt out of ads based on data from outside Reddit and limit sensitive ad categories.
Habits that matter more than settings
- Use a separate username that you don't use anywhere else. People search usernames across sites; it's one of the easiest ways to link accounts.
- Use an email alias for the account, not your main email. See email aliases and temporary numbers.
- Keep sensitive topics on a throwaway account rather than your main one.
- Delete old comments that give away your location, employer or family details.
- Don't link your Reddit account to Google or Apple sign-in on a work device.
If someone posts your details on Reddit
Posting someone's personal information breaks Reddit's rules, and its help page on personal information says it can get the poster banned. Report the post at reddit.com/report and to the subreddit moderators, and follow the steps in what to do if your info is posted online.
The email behind your Reddit account is another way in. If it has leaked in other breaches, someone can link your anonymous account to your real one. A free email exposure check shows where it appears.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make my Reddit profile private?
Not fully. You can hide your posts and comments from your profile with Curate your profile, turn off search visibility and following, and limit chats, but your username still shows on posts inside communities.
How do I hide my Reddit post history?
Go to Settings, Curate your profile, and under Content and activity choose to hide all communities or show only selected ones.
Can moderators see my hidden Reddit history?
Yes, for a limited time. Moderators of a community you interact with can see your full public history for 28 days regardless of your settings.
Does Reddit show my profile on Google?
It can. Turn off Show up in search results in privacy settings to reduce this.
Can I stop Reddit using my activity for ads?
In most regions Reddit removed that option in 2023. You can still opt out of ads based on outside data and limit sensitive ad categories.
Sources
- TechCrunch: Reddit now lets you hide content from your user profile
- Gizmodo: Reddit removes ability to opt out of ads
- Reddit Help: Posting personal information