PostEaseThe short answer
A Facebook Group is a shared space for people with a common interest. Facebook’s Help Center calls groups “a place to connect, learn and share with people who have similar interests,” for anything from stargazing to parenting, “with people across the globe or across the street.”
Where a Page is one voice speaking to followers, a group is many people talking to each other, run by admins and moderators. Every group is either public or private, and a private group is either visible or hidden.
Public and private groups
From Facebook’s Help Center:
| Question | Public group | Private group |
|---|---|---|
| Who can see posts, comments and shares | Anyone on or off Facebook | Current members |
| Who can see who is in it | Anyone on Facebook | Current members |
| Joining | Anyone joins automatically | Requests need admin approval, unless limited membership is on |
| Taking part without joining | Yes, though admins can require approval of posts and participants | No |
| Sharing content out of the group | Yes | No |
| Changing privacy later | Can go private, unless it has 10,000 or more members and is 30 or more days old | Can go public; older posts stay visible only to people who were members at the switch, admins and moderators |
Visible, hidden and limited membership
A private group’s admins choose whether it is visible, so anyone on Facebook can find it and ask to join, or hidden, so it can only be found by people invited or already in it. Facebook’s Help Center also describes limited membership, which some private groups can turn on: people join without approval as limited members who can see all content and react, but cannot post, comment or chat until an admin approves them to participate.
Members of some private groups can approve their own posts and comments to be shown publicly through group highlights, where those are available.
| Option | Who can find the group | What a new person can do |
|---|---|---|
| Visible | Anyone on Facebook | Ask to join, and take part once approved |
| Hidden | Only people invited or already members | Join by invitation |
| Limited membership on | Anyone, if the group is visible | Join automatically, see content and react; post, comment or chat after an admin approves |
How to create a group
From your Feed, click Groups in the left menu, then Create new group. Enter a name, choose the privacy option and, for a private group, whether it is visible or hidden. Invite people and click Create; you can then add a cover photo and description. Facebook recommends that admins share any commercial or business affiliations in the group, and update it if they change.
What admins should know
A few details from Facebook’s Help Center that matter once a group grows:
- The public-to-private switch closes for a group of 10,000 or more members that is at least 30 days old, unless it was private before.
- When a Page joins a group, all of that Page’s admins can see and interact with posts and members of the group.
- Facebook may review group content, including private groups, for integrity and safety, as its Privacy Policy describes.
Groups for creators and businesses
A group suits a community that wants to talk with each other, not only hear from you: customers helping customers, a course cohort, or regulars of a local business. Pick public for discovery and private for anything personal; Facebook’s own examples are a public group for a TV show’s fans and a private one for a health concern or a neighborhood.
PostEase plans Facebook beside every other platform on one calendar, so posts that send people to your group sit in the same plan as everything else. YouTube, X, LinkedIn (personal profile), Pinterest, Bluesky, and WordPress publishing are live today; Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Threads are pending each platform's own API approval.
Questions
Can people outside a private Facebook Group see its posts?
No. Only current members can see what is shared in a private group, unless members approve a post for group highlights where available.
Can a private group be made public?
Yes. Content from when it was private stays visible only to people who were members when it became public, plus admins and moderators.
Can a large public group go private?
Not if it has 10,000 or more members and was created 30 or more days ago, unless it was converted from private earlier.
What is the difference between a visible and a hidden group?
Both are private. Anyone on Facebook can find a visible group and ask to join; a hidden group can only be found by people invited or already in it.
Sources
- Facebook, Groups, checked October 2026.
- Facebook, Differences between public and private Facebook groups, checked October 2026.
- Facebook, Create a group, checked October 2026.