Explicit content controls · Threads
Checked August 18, 2026
Limit sensitive content on Threads
In the Threads app, go to your profile, tap Menu, tap Content Preferences, then Sensitive content, and select Less. That lowers sensitive posts Threads recommends in your feed and search. It leaves accounts you follow alone, and nothing locks it.
A platform-side model decides what counts. Misses are common on suggestive content, and the model changes without notice.
The honest line
The Sensitive Content Control only limits sensitive content Threads recommends from accounts you don't follow, in your feed and search. It does nothing to accounts you follow or to messages, and it only catches what Threads' own systems classify as sensitive.
Who can lock it: No lock: anyone using the account can set it back to Standard or More. Lock it from outside with Screen Time, Family Link or DNS.
Availability: Threads' Help Center gives app steps only (Tap Profile, Menu, Content Preferences). It lists no path for threads.com on a computer, and says that if you are 18 or older and don't see the control, update the app. Meta's settings table lists Sensitive content as managed on Threads and affecting Threads only, so set it in Threads even if you set it on Instagram.
On this page
Sensitive Content Control
A three-position setting, More, Standard and Less, that changes how much content Threads' systems classify as sensitive shows up in your feed and search. Standard is the default. Threads says the control limits this content only from accounts you don't follow.
A platform-side model decides what counts. Misses are common on suggestive content, and the model changes without notice.
Threads app (Android and iPhone)
Tap Profile or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
Tap Menu in the top right.
- Tap Content Preferences, then tap Sensitive content. Official Threads destination (opens in a new tab)
If you are 18 or older and don't see it, Threads says to update the app to the latest version.
Tap Select next to Less to see less content you may find upsetting.
Standard is the default. Select next to More shows more of it.
Tap Confirm.
What it covers
- Recommended posts in your feed
- Search
- Photos, videos and comments from accounts you don't follow
What it does not cover
- Only limits content from accounts you don't follow. Threads says you will still see content from friends, family and other accounts you follow.
- Only covers what Threads' systems classify as sensitive under its Recommendation Guidelines. Suggestive posts the classifier does not flag still appear.
- Does not apply to content that goes against Community Standards, which Threads removes separately, or to content that already appears behind a warning.
- Does nothing to messages.
- Anyone using the account can switch it back to Standard or More.
Block a profile
Blocking cuts one profile off from you: they can't see what you post, reply to you, mention you or message you, and their replies to your posts are hidden from others. Nothing new is caught.
Works only for what you name. Nothing new is caught until you name it too.
Threads app (Android and iPhone)
- Tap Options on a post shared by the profile you want to block. Official Threads destination (opens in a new tab)
Tap Block.
Tap Block at the bottom to confirm.
Threads says people aren't notified when you block them.
What it covers
- One named profile: its replies, mentions, messages and access to your posts
What it does not cover
- Only the profile you name; similar or new profiles are not affected.
- Does nothing to what Threads recommends from everyone else.
- Users on other fediverse servers need a separate block request.
Threads questions
Does the Threads Sensitive Content Control affect accounts I follow?
No. Threads says it only limits this type of content from accounts you don't follow, and that you will still see content from friends, family and other accounts you follow.
Is the setting shared with Instagram?
Meta's settings table lists Sensitive content as managed on Threads and affecting Threads. Set it in the Threads app itself, and set Instagram's separately.
Can I change it on threads.com from a computer?
The Help Center only gives app steps: Profile, Menu, Content Preferences, Sensitive content. It also says that if you're 18 or older and don't see the control, update the app.
How do I see only people I follow?
Switch to the Following feed. In the app, tap the feed name at the top of home or swipe left or right; on threads.com, click a feed name at the top of home. Threads says Following shows only posts from profiles you're following, while For you mixes in recommended accounts.
What On Guard adds
On Guard adds the layer Threads does not have: it detects explicit content on the screen itself, on Mac, Windows, and Android, in any app, keeps every frame on the device, puts up a gate, and texts an ally a check-in with no details.
The controls above are worth setting either way. On Guard is the layer for the moment a setting is not enough. How it works, explained.