Account privacy

While Wattpad needs some information from you to set up your account (your username, password, email address, date of birth, choice of pronoun, whether you are a reader, writer, or both, and at least one preferred literary genre), you do not have to share any other information with Wattpad. Aside from the username and the date on which you joined Wattpad, neither of which can be made private, all other mandatory information is automatically private and cannot be made public. See below for more details on the information that Wattpad needs to set up your account:

• Username is automatically public and cannot be made private. Remember, you do not need to use your real name. You can choose to use an artistic pseudonym (a fictitious pen name)
• Password is automatically private and cannot be made public. You should never share your password with anyone (except your parents if you are under 18 years old)
• Email address is automatically private and cannot be made public
• Date of birth is automatically private and cannot be made public
• Whether you are a reader, writer, or both is automatically private and cannot be made public
• Preferred literary genre(s) is automatically private and cannot be made public
• Pronoun is automatically private and cannot be made public. This is used when Wattpad staff interact with users.
• The date you joined Wattpad is set automatically and public and cannot be made private.

To use Wattpad, you are not required to share any information in your profile. If you choose to add information to your profile, other users will be able to see it. However, you can at any time choose to hide this information from other users. Your profile is not visible to any Wattpadders you have blocked or muted. See below for more details on the optional information that you may choose to provide in your profile, and how you can hide this information from others: 

• Profile picture is automatically public. If you do not want others to see your picture, you must delete it from your account in “Settings” or “Edit Profile”
• Background picture is automatically public. If you do not want others to see your background picture, you must delete it from your account in “Settings” or “Edit Profile”.
• Display name is automatically public, however if you do not wish others to see it you can hide it or delete it in “Settings”.
• Profile description is automatically public. If you do not want others to see your profile description, you must delete it from your account in “Settings” or “Edit Profile”
• Location is automatically public. If you do not want others to see your location, you must delete it from your account in “Settings”
• Links to your personal Facebook or website are automatically public. If you do not want other users to see these links, you must delete them from your account in “Settings”.

Your library and archive are private. However, stories in your library can appear on your Home page in the form of recommendations.

You cannot dismiss or delete stories from your recommendations.

Your reading lists are all public. They cannot be made private. 

They can appear as recommendations and are displayed on your profile. Your reading lists, like the rest of your profile, are not visible to any Wattpadders you have blocked or muted

Your published stories are, by default, public. There is no way to make them private. Your published stories are not visible to any Wattpadders you have blocked.

Story drafts are private. 

Your search results are private to your account. You can delete a result, but there is no function to clear your entire search history at once.

On Android: press the 'x' next to a search result to delete it.

On iOS: swipe the search result to the left, then tap 'Delete'.

You cannot clear 'recommended searches'.