Privacy is paramount on the internet; however, if you’re merely beginning your journey on Twitter and would like to gain followers in huge numbers, a private or protected Twitter account might not be the best choice for you.

Among other things, tweets (including media) of a private account are only available to its followers, and those followers can’t retweet or quote-tweet. The said tweets are also not indexed by search engines, which means they won’t surface on a Google or Bing search.

All Twitter accounts are public by default, but if you changed the setting and can’t figure out how to revert it, here we’ve discussed how to make your Twitter account public and what happens when you do so, including the key differences between public and private (protected) Twitter accounts.

Also read: How to pin any tweet on Twitter?

How to make a Twitter account public?

Log in to your Twitter account on the web, Android or iOS apps and follow the steps mentioned below to make your Twitter account public.

Tap on your profile icon on the top-left.
Select Settings and Privacy.

On the next page, select Privacy and Safety.
Then tap on Audience and tagging.

Tap on the toggle button beside Protect your Tweet to make the Twitter account public.
- Uncheck the box on web.

Your Twitter account will now be public. Read on to learn what happens once a protected Twitter account is made public.

Also read: How to fix ‘s.mzstatic.com iTunes error’?

What happens once you make your Twitter account public?

All of your tweets, including those published when your account was protected, will now be public.
All the pending follower requests will not be automatically accepted. Any requests left pending will be discarded.
All your tweets will be available publicly via search engines.
Anyone with or without a Twitter account will be able to see your tweets.

Public vs Protected (Private) Twitter account

Here are the primary differences between public and private Twitter accounts.

Differences	Public Twitter	Private Twitter
Tweet visibility on Twitter	All your tweets, including media, is available to everyone on and off Twitter.	All your tweets, including media, are only available to your followers.
Tweet visibility on the Web	All of your tweets are indexed on search engines and are available to everyone.	Your tweets won’t be indexed by a search engine and can only be searched by your followers.
Followers	People can freely follow or unfollow your profile.	People have to request to follow you and will be shown a warning that your account is protected when unfollowing.
Retweet/Quote Tweet	Anyone using Twitter can retweet or quote tweet your tweets and media on the platform.	Not even your followers can retweet or quote tweet your tweets. They can only like and reply.
Other actions	Anyone can see and reply to your comments.	Any account that’s not following you won’t be able to see your comments.

Note that if you’ve got a protected account and are yet your tweets appear on the search engine, change your password immediately and review the third-party apps that have authorised access to your profile.

Also read: Restrict vs Block on Instagram: Key differences and Privacy guide