A profile is generally consists of a photo or photos (optional) of yourself and a description of what you are like and what you are looking for. It can be really revealing, some are extremely revealing both in the pictures and in the descriptions or just a simple description ("I like dining out and the color red, email me sometime." etc)
There are a number of reasons you might consider for taking down your information, at least temporarily, on POF. Here's a couple I thought of but there are many more.
-If you have been on POF a long time you might want to take a break.
-You may have found someone you really like and want to see where things go. Keeping your information up on the site might send the wrong message to this person that you are still 'looking'
One Snafu....You might have someone bothering you and you just want to remove your entire profile from everyone's view until things cool off. Keep in mind though, if they have contacted you (ie they have mail in your inbox) or have you on their favorites list, this won't work. They can still see you. It's a weird thing POF does and I'm not sure why. If someone repeatedly contacts you, can block them from emailing you. Scroll to the bottom of this post and find the link below to learn more about keeping POF members from emailing you.
OK, here are the steps that will let you hide your profile on Plenty of Fish ( POF )
Note... here's an odd update.... as of recently (10/9/13) someone mentioned that you can no hide your profile unless you are an 'upgraded' (ie paying) member. Isn't that strange? So you have to pay to hide your profile. The only workaround I can think for this, without paying, is to severely edit your profile so no one can find you. Delete all of your pictures, change your address to the North Pole or something and make other alternations so no one knows you or can find you. I'd suggest saving on your hard drive, copy and paste whatever, anything you don't want to reproduce in terms of your story, pictures, interests, etc.
If you are a paid member or if you just want to try without paying, do this:
Log in
Got to “Edit Profile” at top of screen
The page that opens will be a section where you can modify what your profile says. You should already be on the “Edit Profile” tab but if not click on that tab
Here’s the tough, part, the part where I thought for a moment that I was going blind. Find the link “To hide your profile from others click here” and click the “Click here” portion of that link. I had a tough time finding this but it is really just below the "Edit Profile" tab and next to the text “Hiding your profile"
I included an image below to show you the link is (circled) to make your profile invisible.
I included an image below to show you the link is (circled) to make your profile invisible.
That’s it. You are now removed from all searches.
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I can not find that button?! All i see on that page is to upgrade for money or to buy credits????
ReplyDeletePlease help
Thanks for stopping by! Getting that profile off is particularly hard since this link to remove it is kinda hard to locate. I included a picture above to help out. The link is between the credits and the edit tab. Just go about a millimeter below the edit tab and toward the right. You'll see it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for this! I saw one of my good friends on there and had to immediately hide my profile, but I'm still sending messages to the guys in my inbox that I want to talk to.. can they still see my profile?
ReplyDeleteIf you send a message to omeone with your profile hidden, they will see your profile in their inbox messages because you have now made contact exchange notes.
DeleteHi! That is a good question that I am not entirely sure of the answer. That said, I suspect that they can not see it. I'm saying this because once you hide your profile, no one can see it. I've noticed on other sites, like Match.com, you can completely hide your profile and still send and receive emails to people you've contacted but they will not be able to see your profile, they'll just see the email.
ReplyDeleteTry asking one of the guys if they can still see it.
Hope that helps. Sorry I don't have a more definitive answer. Thanks for stopping by !
If a person has previously viewed your profile but has made no interactions with you (such as message you, favorite you, or click meet you) will you also be removed from their searches as well?
ReplyDeleteTo my understanding, only people who have previously messaged you will be able to see and interact with you? no?
Thank you for the question about hiding your POF info. Once your profile is hidden no one will be able to see your profile. It is removed from everyone's view regardless if they viewed your information or not. You will not be found in searches.
ReplyDeleteThanks again
All I see is the goldfish credits bar. There is no option on my account to hide it and trust me I looked.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! I just checked again in the Edit Profile tab and it is definitely there at least for me. It is just above the Goldfish Credits bar just like the circled image I have in my post above. Keep trying. If you don't see it, check the rest of the "Edit Profile" tab. Maybe it is in a different position for you or you are using a phone app or something with a different format. Even when I checked with POF help it was confirmed that this is found in the edit tab.
ReplyDeleteThanks again. Good luck!
hey, I just wondered, if I hide my profile and block people from seeing when I have looked at their profiles, does this work retrospectively? i stumbled across a profile belonging to my mum's friend (cringe) and have now put my settings so that people cannot see when I looked at their profiles... will this work or will she know I browsed her? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOK... I have to be a little careful here as I'm not exactly sure .... but... I do believe if you hide your profile no one will see that you viewed them as your picture will not be available. Something else that works in your favor here is that Plenty of Fish profile views really aren't very organized. A service like Match for example has profile views organized and if someone just saw you, you'll know it the next time you log on. POF just basically throws a collage of pictures on there.
ReplyDeleteAll that said :-) My best guess is that you'll be OK. Your profile is hidden so your image on profile views won't be available.
POF will hide user profiles and remove the unhide command. There was also an exteranl link to hide/unhide. Just point out some of the scams that POF runs and your profile will experience the same problem.
Deleteif i log on to pof to change my username will it show me as being logged on that day??
Deleteif I sent someone a message, then hid my account.. will they still get my message?
ReplyDeleteHi! Yep, they will. I do believe they will actually see your profile too even though it is hidden, though I'm not completely sure of that. They'll get the email from your though.
ReplyDeleteThey're removed the hide/unhide profile button. I don't suppose you have a direct link at all?
ReplyDeleteCheers.
The unhide/hide command is not actually a button. It is link but it is hard to see. It is not underlined (at least not until you hover your cursor over it, then it is underlined) and is not a different color from the rest of the text. I just checked my account and it still appears at least on my account just as shown in the picture I have in the post (minus the underline beneath "click here" until you put your cursor over it.
ReplyDeleteIf you are still not seeing it above the Goldfish credits, you might want to try to contact POF directly. Another comment above mentions the missing "click here" wording / link so maybe this is an isolated problem for some. It's there on mine though I have to look hard to see it. Good luck! Thanks
Pof does remove the link from the account. I am not sure why they do it, but I have used the link specifically on high Internet traffic days so as to avoid my profile being clicked 100 x in one night by all the "Meet Me" trolls.... You know, those people that just scroll down the list and click yes or no based on looks never looking at your profile to check interests. ..
DeleteAnyway, I did inquire with pof why the feature was removed from my account as it was there and then it was gone.
Pof did not reply . So days later I asked for the link to be restored..
One day later my profile was deleted and I was a paying member.
They never answered my question. But they did delete my profile because I questioned their service.
Pof customer service phone number is a cell phone... fact.
Their customer service is very poor.
I am not a disgruntled customer. I am.simply stating some facts.
If you had the hide me button and you don't anymore, just deal with it.
If you dont, they will likely delete you. And all your connections with whomever you are chatting with will be gone.
i'm trying to delete my account but it won't recognise my email therefore I can't remember my password either..ive not been on the site for nearly two years and I have met someone so I would like my profile removed ..please help. Thankyou
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm not sure what you can do under than circumstance other than try to contact POF directly. Another thought is to go back and find any email that was sent to you in the past by POF. If you can find that email, you can find the email that they recognize. It might be an issue of being case sensitive or you just forgot which email account you were using. Good luck
ReplyDeleteIf i have hid my profile & then log in will people i have messaged be able to see when I last logged in if they have upgraded their profile?
ReplyDeleteAre you aware that POF will intentionally hide profiles and remove the unhide command from that users profile?
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!!! "click here" not easy to find, though you made it uber easy!! thanks for sharing (esp the screen grab.) Thanks again!
ReplyDeletesorry to jump in late, but some of your information is inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteHiding your profile will only hide it from new views. If someone has sent you a message and/or you emailed them, has added you to favorites, etc they can still view your profile.
What's more, they will also be able to see when you're online.
Thanks so much for jumping in. You are awesome and I'm sorry if my post comes off that way. Actually, I address this in another post I did a long time ago http://turtledogsblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/block-user-from-my-pof-profile-view-and.html where I lay down the disappointing news that you can't keep certain people from seeing your profile.... you can however block them from contacting you.
ReplyDeleteActually to clarify your comment a bit (which is outstanding by the way), you can still 'hide' from old views but, as you mention in the the next sentence only if they've not emailed or favorited you as well as you not doing the same. Good point. Glad you stopped by! Thanks
If someone blocked me. Can they still see g
ReplyDeleteThat im online. And that i have an account still
my new BF from POF is in my favorites list. He said he deleted his profile because we are serious now but it's only hidden and not actually deleted. My question is....when you DELETE your profile, will your profile still come up in the person that saved you as a favorite OR will it disappear?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this advice.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous.... yes they can. You can NOT block an individual memmber from seeing you or you from seeing them on POF. You can only block them from emailing you.
ReplyDelete@Susana the Deaf Lady... you are soooooo welcome!
ReplyDelete@Anonymus (from April 5th post) If you DELETE your profile (as you mention) it should disappear completely. "Delete" is the very important word here....
ReplyDeleteIf you meant to say 'hide' profile, then yes everyone who has favorited that profile, even if it is hidden, will still be able to see it. Kinda dumb they do it that way, but it is what it is.
Thanks for stopping by
Does POF automatically say that people are online that day? I got an email telling me I had a message and when I went to check it, I noticed it said the guy I have been dating was online that day. Just curious if that's actually accurate or if they just put that there for social purposes? Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteDoes POF automatically say that people were online that day? I was watching my friend go on his profile and it said that I was "Online today" when I really didn't check it that day. I also noticed it said that by my boyfriends profile. So it that actually accurate, or do they just put that there for social purposes? Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteThey don't automatically say it. It does mean that the guy are are dating was on line that day (just as it will say that You were online that day for checking your email). If you log in, POF will show you as being recently on line either right now, that day, the last few days, last week, however recent they were on.
ReplyDeleteI also had my hide/unhide link removed. I knew exactly where it was supposed to be...in the "edit" profile section. Not only that, but my profile wouldn't show when I clicked the username search feature...even though I was still able to log on to my account. So I deleted my account, but now they won't let me rejoin. I sent them an e-mail, but no reply. And this happened after being on that site for several years. Any suggestions how to get back on?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've heard of this problem but I've never come across the missing button. I've been on sites that suggest deleting your cookies and missing buttons / links will appear but I'm skeptical of that as it never worked for me. You might actually want to try it in a different web broswer.... using IE? Try Chrome or Mozilla.
ReplyDeleteCan't say that'll do it but it might. I ran into an issue signing up for a new blog site and I couldn't even get in using IE.. I switched to another (ether Chrome or Mozilla, I forget ) and it worked. Maybe just a fluke.
As far as signing up again, I would think there is a way to do this. It's been a long time since I signed up so I can't tell exactly how they can ID you as the same person. Create a different user name or use a different phone number (if they ask for that) or something so your sign up looks different than your original. Just a guess. Good luck sorry I can't help more.
If a user on pof blocks you, can they still see that you viewed them.
ReplyDeleteBefore I make a POF user profile, I would like to know exactly shows up? name, birthday, city, age? What would others be able to see about me?
ReplyDeleteI had my profile public and someone viewed my profile and didn't contact me. My profile is now hidden can they still see me or search me?
ReplyDeleteHi MissE They should not be able to see you any more if there was no contact and I do believe if you don't have them favorited. Thanks
ReplyDeleteAnonyumous July 25th .... sorry but you can not block a specific person nor hide from a specific person on POF
ReplyDeletewhen I went to hide my profile it told me I had to pay to upgrade. are they for real. help please
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteit says the same for me...that I have to pay to upgrade. (and yes, I clicked exactly where your picture shows) Maybe newer members have to pay to hide?
ReplyDeleteAh! I think you are correct. I just noticed it too. As of today's date it states you need an upgraded membership to hide your profile. I have an idea how to remedy but it isn't pretty. I'll edit my post above
ReplyDeleteI had a notification of a girl "wants to meet you" I went on and sent a message but got a message saying the message was not sent due to error. I wrote down her username and exited my app and then went to search her. POF said she does not exist. Her tag line was, "smart anyone?" and I think she is messing with me. I favorited her and looked at her profile but she is no longer under people you have viewed or under my favorites. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteAnonymus 11-14-13 Do not take the 'wants to meet you' feature seriously. It isn't really a direct message from someone who necessarily wants to meet you. Girls (or guys) vote on pictures of a variety of profiles. If they click 'yes' , as in they like the picture, you get a meet me from POF. I think a lot of people who click yes don't understand that POF sends the message and not the 'clicker'. I would skip it and move on
ReplyDelete12-6-2013. Tried to change my user name. In order for me to do that, I had to upgrade. I deleted my account instead.
ReplyDeleteWill POF show someone as an "upgraded member" even if they haven't paid for the service?
ReplyDeleteNo. Thanks for stopping by Anonymus 12-6-13
ReplyDeleteA couple comments. As to the meet me feature, be careful. when someone gets the meet me, rate my picture, they have three choices yes, no and maybe. if they choose yes or maybe, POF sends an email to that user saying so and so wants to meet you, which is very misleading. The other person has at that point not even viewed your whole profile, just your main profile pic and could be a complete opposite to you.
ReplyDeleteas far as being on-line, every time you sign on, even for a few mins, POF keeps you appeared as tho you are logged in for 30 mins. if you use the mobile/android app, you cannot log off at all, you appear on 24/7. They also have a very long day. I have not been on-line for 2.5 days, still next to my name it says "on line today" which is not correct and is annoying as it may appear to some that I am ignoring messages.
I'm Anonymal, I viewed someone's profile recently and was able to see them in people I've viewed later when I went back in to see who I've view they were gone. They're profile hasn't changed and I'm able to see others ive viewed that same day....I'm curious, were the able to hide from just my view?
ReplyDeleteHi! No, you can not block a specific user from seeing you or vice versa. I'm not convinced the who viewed screens actually show everyone or are all that reliable but I can not say that for sure. Maybe they hid their profile (if they are a paying member that is)?
ReplyDeleteMy pof profile was deleted by pof. Whilst i was a member i had posted comments on forums. Will my comments still be on the forum? And more importantly my photo?
ReplyDeleteIs there anyway to prevent being able to see if you're online or not? my bf is being sooooooo shady
ReplyDeleteNo not unless you hide your profile from everyone. Thanks for the question!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous March 2... that is a good question. I do not know. I'd suggest attempting another profile and logging into the forum to find out
ReplyDeleteIf a guy blocked you and added him as a favorite after, will he get notified or no?
ReplyDeleteYou can not block someone on POF
ReplyDeleteThe link to 'Hide Your Profile' is not where you said it was. I can't find it anywhere, any ideas ?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous 4-23-14 Every once in a while I get this same complaint. I did just check my profile again and the "Hide Your Profile" is still right there in the edit tab as shown on my screenshot above. That said, I do believe you though. I hate to even suggest clearing the cookies from your computer as that sounds like some second-rate so-called help desk suggestion that never works, but I've experienced in the past missing info on websites and that was the solution I was told to do (never for POF though as I've never been missing any links, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe other thought could possibly be that I've heard rumors that POF now charges you to be an upgraded member in order to hide your profile. I am not sure if this is true as I've since been active and not upgraded since I heard this. That very well could be your reason and then the choice is yours. I do have a suggestion in bold in my post above but I can't be sure this is the solution you need. I've also heard your issue of not being able to see the Hide Your Profile long long before any upgrade requirements. It might be that it is different for some but I don't know why minus, the cookies, upgrade, website glitch, etc.etc. Sorry I can't be more of a help on this.
If I put my profile on hide after I view someone will they be able to still see I viewed their profile ?
ReplyDeleteI used to be a POF user but deleted my profile. I noticed I can still look up a user name (someone I like to keep an eye on...) and I can access his profile. However, if I am not a register user, what does it show on his end? If i view his profile will he know? Obviously since I don't have an account it won't show up as me, right? Do you think it even shows up at all? Do you ever get anonymous views?
ReplyDeleteAnonymus May 7 ..... Nope... won't see anything if you aren't logged in
ReplyDeleteCan a POF member tell if they viewed by a non-member? Will it show up anywhere to the user if I view them on POF but I am not a registered user and I view their profile through the search page?
ReplyDeleteAnonymus 9/10.14 I guess the simple way to answer is, as far as I know if you are logged on (whether you are a free or paying member) and view someone, they can see you viewed them. If you aren't logged in they can't see you viewed
ReplyDeleteIf I block someone who was previous in my Ultra Match or Top Prospect List will they still continue to show up in both lists or will they be deleted from those list all together. It gets annoying that i can see this person every time i log on to POF. Keeps saying they are my match.
ReplyDeleteIf i block one of my supposed "Ultra Matches" and they they pay to upgrade and change their screen name will they show up in my Ultra Matches list again??
ReplyDeleteYou can not block someone from seeing you. They will show up. When you block someone you are only 'blocking' them from contacting (emailing you).
ReplyDeleteNo you can not
ReplyDeleteIf someone is on my favorites. Why is his thumbnail photo blank. Once I click on his photo his profile and pics are there
ReplyDeleteY do I have to leave the site to avoid unwanted messages? Its ridiculous. This site should protect its users and not let them be victims of abuse.
ReplyDeleteIf i delete my pof account can member's see that I've previously viewed them or does my username disappear?
ReplyDeleteHe is still getting matches sent to him from POF and I can see his hidden profile using username search. Is he still paying?
ReplyDeleteIf a user blocks you from emailing them on POF and you add them as your favorite after they have done so will they get notified? Also, when your blocked from emailing a user can they see when you last viewed their profile?
ReplyDeleteDoes POF send a notice to users that have you as a favorite or that have sent you messages when you add a profile picture? If yes, does it also do that if you have hidden your profile?
ReplyDelete@anonymous 10/25 yes and im not sure
ReplyDeleteI have hidden my POF profile. A guy that I've been seeing will still show up in my Top Prospects (has been online recently), but doesn't show up in "My Viewed" list or "view me" list, or in searches.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible he has hidden his profile or blocked me?
if my profile is hidden on POF and I view someone, will it come up on their profile?
ReplyDeleteHi! What are the pictures at the bottom of the screen and at the top of the mesage screen for? They change often. Are they random pictures or only pictures that are from people that are online or near by?
ReplyDeletei think they are other suggestions locally in hopes of keeping you captivated on pof with choices. sort of a marketing ploy so-to-speak
ReplyDelete