How-To

How to Add a Temporary Profile Picture on Facebook

By Brian Burgess

Published November 30, 2022

Sometimes you want to change your Facebook profile picture for short periods. Learn how to add a temporary profile picture on Facebook here.

Want to personalize your Facebook profile? You’ll want to start with your profile picture. Without a photo, how will anyone know that your profile belongs to you?

There may be times when you want to change your profile picture, however. Instead of going through the entire process of editing your profile and popping in a new profile picture, you can add a temporary profile picture on Facebook.

The image will automatically change after the set amount of time you select and return to the original. Here’s how to do it.

How to Add a Temporary Profile Picture on Facebook

Instead of manually changing your profile picture all the time, it’s easier to set it to a temporary picture. The other nice thing about this feature is that you can configure the photo to change from an hour to a full month later.

The temporary image will appear at the top of your profile page and timeline.

To add a temporary profile picture on Facebook:

1. Open your web browser and navigate to the Facebook website.
2. If you haven’t already, sign in.
3. Once you’ve signed in, select your profile image in the top-right corner and click your profile name.
4. Click the Edit Profile button to the right of the Add to story button.
5. When the Edit profile screen appears, click the Edit button in the top right corner of your profile picture.
6. Now, choose the photo you want to use from the existing pictures you’ve uploaded or upload a new one.
7. Adjust the image you selected to look how you want in your profile. After adjusting it, click the Make Temporary button.
8. Choose the amount of time you want the picture to display on your profile. You can choose between 1 hour to a month. If you’re going to back out of it, select the Never option from the dropdown menu.
9. It’s also important to note that you can set the picture to display for a custom amount of time—select Custom from the menu.
10. Choose the date and time you want the picture to display before switching to the previous one.
11. Once you’re happy with the time, click the Confirm button.
12. Click the Save button to complete the process.

How to Set a Temporary Facebook Profile Picture Frame

In addition to creating a temporary profile picture on Facebook, you can use the Frames feature to add an overlay to the photo. You also can set the length of time the frame displays on your profile picture.

To set a temporary profile picture frame on Facebook:

1. Open the Facebook website and sign in.
2. Visit your profile page, navigate to the location of your photo profile, and then click the Edit button.
3. On the Update profile picture screen, click the Add Frame button.
4. Now you can choose from various frames that stand for different causes, sports, gaming, music, or generic frames from the column on the left. Note that you can also type in a description of the profile picture if you want to.
5. After selecting the frame, you want to use, click the time dropdown menu and decide how long you want it to display on your profile picture.
6. Click the option to use the frame you chose, and it will appear on your Facebook profile.

You can do some interesting things by setting up temporary profile pictures on Facebook. For example, you can set the picture to display for a week and set the frame to only an hour or week (and vice versa).

Adding a Temporary Profile Picture on Facebook

The ability to add a temporary profile picture on Facebook is a brilliant feature, especially if you’re not a heavy social network user. When the time you set for the temporary profile picture expires, it returns to the original picture you used.  Also, note that if you want a permanent profile picture it returns to, you’ll need to change your profile picture manually.

Whether you’re a new Facebook user or a seasoned vet, there are probably some Facebook features you’ve not used yet. For example, learn how to change your Facebook username, or check out how to delete videos on Facebook.

Of course, as with all social networks, you might be tired of hearing from troublemakers. In that case, you can mute someone on Facebook. And if you’re done with it, download a copy of your Facebook pictures, videos, and data. After getting your data, go ahead and permanently delete your Facebook account.

Or if you are hanging on to your account, ensure you have two-factor authentication enabled on Facebook to keep your account and data secure.