Change a payment to private in three steps
Open the Venmo app or website, find the payment you sent or received, tap or click the three dots next to it, and select "Make Private." The payment will no longer appear on your public feed or in search results. Friends who were tagged in the payment can still see it in their own transaction history, but strangers cannot.
This works for payments you sent, payments you received, and requests you made. You can change a payment to private at any time after it posts—there is no time limit. The person on the other end of the transaction will not be notified that you made it private.
If you want to prevent future payments from showing up publicly in the first place, you can set your default privacy setting to private before you send. That way every new payment starts private unless you deliberately change it.
Key Takeaways
- You can make any past payment private by opening it, tapping the three dots, and selecting "Make Private"—this hides it from your public feed and search results.
- Friends tagged in the payment can still see it in their own transaction history even after you make it private; only strangers lose access.
- You can change your default privacy setting so all future payments start private instead of public, which you adjust in your Venmo settings.
- Making a payment private does not notify the other person, and you can do it any time after the payment posts.
Where to find the privacy button on mobile
In the Venmo app, go to your main feed or tap the "☰" menu icon and select "You" to see your transaction history. Scroll to the payment you want to change. Tap the three vertical dots (⋮) to the right of the payment amount.
A menu will appear with options including "Make Private," "Edit," "Delete," and "Report." Tap "Make Private." The payment will move off your public feed when ready. You will see a small lock icon next to the payment in your own history to show it is now private.
Where to find the privacy button on desktop
Log into Venmo.com and click on your profile or transaction history. Find the payment in your list and hover over it. A three-dot menu will appear on the right side of the payment row. Click those dots and select "Make Private" from the dropdown.
The change takes effect right away. If you navigate to your public profile (the version other people see when they search for you), that payment will no longer appear.
Set your default privacy to private for all future payments
If you do not want to change each payment individually, you can make private your default setting. On mobile, tap the "☰" menu, select "Settings," then "Privacy." Choose "Private" as your default transaction privacy. On desktop, click your profile picture, select "Settings," then "Privacy," and set transactions to private.
Once you do this, every payment you send or request you make will start private. You can still change individual payments to public if you want—the default just saves you the step of changing them one by one.
What "private" actually hides and what it does not
When you make a payment private, it disappears from your public profile and from Venmo's search results. Anyone who does not know you cannot find the transaction by searching your name. The payment also will not show up in the public feed that appears on Venmo's home page.
However, private does not mean secret from everyone. Friends you tagged in the payment can still see it in their own transaction history. If you sent money to someone, they can still see the transaction in their own account. The payment is private from strangers and from people who are not directly involved—not from the person you paid.
Why you might want to make payments private
Some people make payments private because the note describes something they do not want public—a medical expense, a loan, a personal matter. Others do it because they do not want their transaction history visible to employers, landlords, or people scrolling their profile. Some straightforward prefer not to broadcast their financial activity at all.
Venmo defaults to public, which means your payment history is visible to anyone unless you change it. Making payments private is a straightforward way to keep that information between you and the person you paid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make a payment private if the other person already saw it?
Yes. Making a payment private does not undo the fact that the other person received the money or saw the transaction in their own account. It only removes the payment from your public profile and search results. The other person will still see it in their transaction history.
What happens if I make a payment private and then delete it?
Deleting a payment removes it from both your history and the other person's history. Making it private first does not change what deletion does—it just hides it from the public before you delete it. If you want to remove a transaction entirely, you can delete it directly without making it private first.
Will the other person know I made our payment private?
No. Venmo does not send a notification when you change a payment's privacy setting. The other person will not see any change on their end unless they look at your public profile and notice the payment is no longer there.
Can I make old payments private, or only new ones?
You can make any payment private, no matter how old it is. There is no time limit. You can go back months or years and change the privacy on past transactions.
If I set my default to private, can I still make individual payments public?
Yes. Setting your default to private just means new payments start private. You can still change any individual payment to public by opening it, tapping the three dots, and selecting "Make Public" instead of "Make Private."