How to manage capture settings for privacy

This guide shows you how to control who can see your screenshots and video clips. You will learn to adjust sharing settings on your console and prevent captures from being automatically uploaded to linked social media or the PlayStation App. The outcome is greater control over your gaming moments.

Note: Steps can vary by console generation, system software, and region. This guide focuses on safe, general methods.

Quick Answer

Go to Settings > Captures and Broadcasts (PS5) or Sharing and Broadcasts (PS4).
Navigate to Captures or Auto-Uploads.
Set Who Can View Your Captures to "Friends" or "No One" for privacy.
Disable Auto-Upload for Twitter/YouTube if linked.
Review Privacy Settings > View and Customize Your Privacy Settings for broader controls.
Manually delete old captures from your console storage if needed.

If this doesn't work, check your account's overall privacy settings in the next section.

What you need

Before you start

Your PlayStation console turned on and signed into your account.
A basic understanding of your console's Settings menu.
Know whether you have linked social media accounts (like Twitter or YouTube).
Access to the user profile you wish to adjust settings for.
If managing online visibility, an active internet connection.

Good to know

Changes affect future captures, not necessarily past shared ones.
Some features, like tournament broadcasting, may have separate settings.
You can have different privacy levels for screenshots and video clips.
Auto-uploads require linked accounts and may fail silently if unlinked.
Storage management is separate from privacy controls.

Diagnose the issue in 2 minutes

Answer these quick questions to pinpoint your capture privacy concern.

1. Are you worried about specific people seeing your captures on PlayStation Network?

What you should see: Your main fix is in Privacy Settings > Who Can View Your Captures.

2. Are captures automatically posting to Twitter or YouTube without your consent?

What you should see: You need to disable Auto-Upload in Captures settings or unlink the social account.

3. Can you see your own captures in the PlayStation App, but don't want them there?

What you should see: Disable the "Auto-Upload" feature that sends captures to PlayStation's cloud for app viewing.

4. Are you running out of storage space due to old captures?

What you should see: This is a storage management issue. Go to Settings > Storage to review and delete.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1 — Access the main settings

From your console's home screen, navigate to the gear icon for Settings.

Scroll to the top menu bar and select Settings (the gear icon).

Step 2 — Find the captures section

Locate the menu dedicated to screenshots, video clips, and broadcasting.

On PS5: Scroll down and select Captures and Broadcasts.
On PS4: Scroll down and select Sharing and Broadcasts.

PS5: The path is Settings > Captures and Broadcasts > Captures.

PS4: The path is Settings > Sharing and Broadcasts > Share Settings or Broadcast Settings.

Step 3 — Adjust who can view your captures

This controls the visibility of your captures on your PlayStation Network profile.

Look for an option named Who Can View Your Captures or similar.
Select it and choose your preferred setting: No One (most private), Friends, or Anyone.

What you should see: A confirmation that the setting has been saved. This change applies to future captures.

Step 4 — Manage auto-uploads to social media

If you've linked social accounts, prevent automatic posting.

Within the Captures settings, find Auto-Upload or Link with Services.
For each linked service (Twitter, YouTube), ensure the auto-upload toggle is Off.
Alternatively, you can unlink the service entirely from Account Management.

Step 5 — Disable auto-upload to PlayStation App

This stops screenshots and clips from being visible in the mobile app.

Look for a setting named Auto-Upload that references the PlayStation App.
Toggle this setting to Off. This often applies to both screenshots and video clips separately.

What you should see: Captures will now only be saved locally to your console.

Step 6 — Review overall privacy settings

For comprehensive control, check your account's master privacy settings.

Go back to Settings > Account Management > Privacy Settings.
Select View and Customize Your Privacy Settings.
Scroll to options related to your profile, activities, and shared data.

Step 7 — Manage existing capture storage

Privacy also involves cleaning up old captures stored on your console.

Go to Settings > Storage > Console Storage > Captures.
Browse and select captures to delete individually, or in bulk.
You can also transfer them to a USB drive for backup before deleting.

Common scenarios and fixes

Scenario: Strangers can see my trophy screenshots on my PSN profile.

Likely cause: Your "Who Can View Your Captures" setting is set to "Anyone".

Fast fix: Change the setting to "Friends" or "No One" in Captures settings.

When to escalate: If the setting doesn't stick after a console restart.

Scenario: Every screenshot I take automatically posts to my Twitter.

Likely cause: Twitter auto-upload is enabled in your capture settings.

Fast fix: Disable auto-upload for Twitter in Captures and Broadcasts settings.

When to escalate: If the setting is off but posting continues, unlink Twitter from your account.

Scenario: My friends can't see any of my shared video clips anymore.

Likely cause: You may have accidentally set capture visibility to "No One".

Fast fix: Check and adjust the Who Can View Your Captures setting to "Friends".

When to escalate: If friends still can't see after 24 hours, check their privacy settings.

Scenario: I don't want my captures showing in the PlayStation App at all.

Likely cause: The "Auto-Upload" feature for the PlayStation App is enabled.

Fast fix: Turn off Auto-Upload for screenshots and video clips in the console's capture settings.

When to escalate: If captures already in the app need removal, you may need to delete them from the app manually.

Scenario: My video clips are set to private, but my screenshots are still public.

Likely cause: PS5 allows separate visibility settings for screenshots and video clips.

Fast fix: Go into the visibility settings and configure screenshots and videos independently.

When to escalate: Not applicable; this is a standard feature to be configured.

Quick reference

Capture Privacy Setting Levels

Setting	Who Can See	Best For
No One	Only you on your console.	Maximum privacy, personal archives.
Friends	Users on your friends list.	Sharing moments with trusted players.
Anyone	All PSN users viewing your profile.	Content creators or open sharing.

Safe defaults for privacy

Feature	Recommended Safe Default	Reason
Who Can View Your Captures	Friends	Balances sharing with privacy control.
Social Media Auto-Upload	Off	Prevents unintended public posting.
PlayStation App Auto-Upload	Off	Keeps captures local unless you choose to share.
Broadcast Settings	Set to "Only Me" or "Friends" for visibility.	Controls who can see live streams from your console.

Mind map summary

Manage Capture Privacy
|
|— On-Console Visibility
|   |— PS5/PS4 Settings > Captures/Broadcasts
|   |— Option: Who Can View Your Captures
|       |— No One (Private)
|       |— Friends (Limited)
|       |— Anyone (Public)
|
|— External Sharing
|   |— Social Media Auto-Upload (Twitter/YouTube)
|       |— Disable to prevent auto-posting
|   |— PlayStation App Auto-Upload
|       |— Disable to keep captures off cloud/app
|
|— Overall Account Privacy
|   |— Settings > Account > Privacy Settings
|   |— Customize overall profile/data visibility
|
|— Storage & Legacy Captures
    |— Settings > Storage > Console Storage > Captures
    |— Review and delete old captures for space/privacy.

Troubleshooting checklist

Console & Settings

Is your system software updated to the latest version?
Have you restarted your console after changing settings?
Did you check both "Captures" and "Privacy Settings" menus?
Are screenshots and video clips configured separately (PS5)?

Account & PSN

Are you signed into the correct PSN account?
Is your PSN account in good standing (no suspensions)?
Have you unlinked social media accounts if auto-upload persists?
Is your console set as your primary console for the account?

When to escalate

Most capture privacy issues are solved in console settings. Escalate in these cases:

Contact PlayStation Support: If you believe your account was compromised and captures were shared maliciously, or if critical privacy settings are grayed out and cannot be changed.
Use Safe Mode (last resort): Only if console settings menus are persistently unresponsive or corrupted, preventing access to privacy controls. Try Rebuild Database first.

What to collect before contacting support:

Your PSN Online ID (username).
The exact names of the settings you tried to change.
Console model (e.g., PS5 Model Number CFI-1200).
System software version (found in Settings > System).
A note of when the issue started and what changed.

FAQ

Do these settings affect captures I've already shared?

Usually no. Changing "Who Can View Your Captures" typically applies to new captures. Old shares may remain visible where they were posted. You may need to manually delete previously shared content.

Can I set different privacy for screenshots vs. video clips?

On PS5, yes. You can often set separate visibility levels for screenshots and video clips. On PS4, the setting is usually applied to all captures.

If I set visibility to "No One", can I still share manually?

Yes. You can still manually share captures via messages, parties, or social media using the Share button. The privacy setting controls automatic profile visibility only.

Will disabling auto-upload delete my existing captures?

No. It only stops future captures from being uploaded automatically. Captures already saved to your console storage or the cloud will remain.

Where are my captures stored if I turn off all uploads?

They are stored locally on your console's internal SSD or any connected external USB drive configured for capture storage.

Can my friends download my shared captures?

If your visibility is set to "Friends" or "Anyone", friends can usually view and download captures from your profile, depending on their own privacy settings.

Does blocking a user hide my captures from them?

Yes, blocking a user typically removes your profile and shared content (including captures) from their view on PSN.

Why can't I change some capture privacy settings?

Parental controls (if you are a child account) or certain account restrictions can limit these settings. Check your account management or family settings.

Sources and references

Official PlayStation Support documentation for PS5 system settings.
Official PlayStation Support documentation for PS4 system settings.
PlayStation Network Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
General best practices for digital content privacy and sharing.
Console user manuals and on-screen help guides.

Menu

How to manage capture settings for privacy

AI Assistant

Was this tool helpful?