{{tag>faq privacy}}
====== How do I send a private message or DM or otherwise restrict my audience? ======
Mastodon provides several options to control post privacy, but there are several important things to know about private messaging on Mastodon: it may work differently than you expect, and [[faq:privacy:direct_message_privacy|messages aren't end-to-end encrypted]].

<div important>Be aware that mentioning someone in a private message **will include them in the conversation**. This behaviour is different vs. Twitter/many other apps.

If you need to report an abusive user or post, use the Report functionality rather than a ''Mentioned people only'' post.</div>

To control audience for a particular post, select Post Privacy options.

Options should be fairly self-explanatory, but there are some cosmetic and functional differences between the web app and the official Mastodon mobile app:
^Post Privacy Option^Description^Available on desktop^Available on mobile app^
|Public|This post will be visible to anyone|  Yes  |  Yes  |
|Followers only|This post will be visible to your followers only|  Yes  |  Yes  |
|Mentioned people only \\ Only people I mention|Visible only to accounts which you mention in this post|  Yes  |  Yes  |
|Unlisted|This post will be visible to anyone, but is opted out of discovery features|  Yes  |  No  |
===== Where do I find Post Privacy options? =====
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==== Desktop web UI ====
{{faq:post-privacy-web-button.png?direct|Change post privacy button - Mastodon web UI}}

{{faq:post-privacy-web-options.png?direct|Post privacy options - Mastodon web UI}}
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==== Mastodon mobile app ====
{{faq:post-privacy-ios-button.png?direct&300|}}
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