How to make Venmo private
Venmo is like PayPal, but with a social media bent. Maybe you don’t want people to see the transactions you make, though. You can set your Venmo to private if that’s the case. Luckily, this is a process that’ll take no more than a handful of steps. This guide will show you how.
In short, to make Venmo payments private open the Venmo app and select the “me” tab. Tap the cogwheel to access settings. Tap “privacy,” and select “private” under “default privacy settings.” To do it on your browser, sign in to your Venmo account, click “settings,” then “privacy,” and select “private.”
Make Venmo private on your browser
If you access and use Venmo via a browser rather than the app, here’s how to make it private:
- Sign in to Venmo.
- Click “settings.”
- Choose “privacy.”
- Select “private.”
If you want to switch it back, just do the same thing again, but choose something other than Private.
Make Venmo transactions private on the app
Here’s what you should do if you manage your Venmo payments over the app rather than using a browser:
- Open the Venmo app.
- Select the “me” tab.
- Tap the settings icon (gear) in the top right corner
- Tap on “privacy.“
- Select “private“ under “default privacy setting.”
When you pay someone on Venmo or request money from them, the service will use the more restrictive (read: more private) privacy setting of the two.
Setting these options will only affect future payments you make on Venmo. You may want to hide the payments you already made as well.
Make your past payments on Venmo private
This change will affect all of your past Venmo transactions at once. Again, the process for hiding past payments depends on how you use Venmo.
Note: Venmo states that making your past transactions private is PERMANENT. You will not be able to reverse it later.
Making past payments private via a browser
- Sign in to your Venmo account.
- Click “settings.”
- Choose “privacy.”
- Select “change to private” under “past payments.”
Make past payments private on the app
- Tap the “me” tab.
- Choose “settings” at the top right.
- In the settings menu, tap “privacy.”
- Tap “past transactions.”
- Select “change all to private.”
Why set Venmo to private?
Under the default privacy settings, Venmo displays who made the transaction, the reason for it, and the time the transaction was made. It doesn’t show the payment method or the amount.
Still, even the information revealed is enough to determine:
- Your friends.
- Your marriage status.
- The places you visit.
- When/how often you go somewhere.
- Your likes and hobbies.
Experts confirmed it with Venmo-based experiments in 2018. This information could be useful for anyone from advertisers to scammers. That should be reason enough to keep your Venmo payments private.
How to make other social media profiles more private? Check out these resources:
