Guides · Updated 27 October 2026

How to turn off sensitive content on X (web, Android and iPhone)

"Turn off sensitive content" can mean two opposite things on X: hiding sensitive media so you don't see it, or turning off the warning so you see it without tapping. Here's how to do each one on the web, Android and iPhone, plus the search filter most people miss.

The one setting that controls it

X has a single viewer setting for sensitive media: Display media that may contain sensitive content. X's Help Center describes it under Privacy and safety → Content you see (X Help: sensitive media).

• Unticked: photos and videos that the poster or X marked as sensitive appear blurred, with a warning and a Show button. You decide each time whether to open them.
• Ticked: that media appears normally in your timeline, replies and profiles, without the warning screen.

The setting belongs to your account, not to a device. Change it once on any device and it follows you everywhere you're signed in. It only changes what you see. It doesn't mark your own posts as sensitive and doesn't change anyone else's view of your posts.

How to hide sensitive content (turn the filter on)

On x.com (computer or phone browser)

1. Sign in at x.com and open More in the side menu (on a phone, tap your profile picture).
2. Choose Settings and privacy, then Privacy and safety.
3. Open Content you see and untick Display media that may contain sensitive content. It saves automatically.

In the X app for Android

1. Tap your profile picture or the menu, then Settings and privacy.
2. Tap Privacy and safety and find Display media that may contain sensitive content.
3. Untick it.

On iPhone and iPad

The iOS app doesn't offer this box. X's Help Center tells iOS users to adjust media settings by signing in on x.com. Open Safari, sign in with the same account, follow the web steps above, then close and reopen the app. Because the setting is stored on your account, the app picks it up.

Hide sensitive content in search, too

Search has its own filter, and it's separate from the media setting above. To use it, run any search on X, open the search options (the settings or three-dot icon next to the search box), choose Search settings, and make sure Hide sensitive content is on. You can also turn on Remove blocked and muted accounts there.

In a submission to the UK regulator Ofcom, X explained that its Safe Search filters "are designed to exclude from search results any potentially sensitive content", and that Safe Search is switched on automatically for anyone whose birth date shows they're under 18 (X's response to Ofcom). X notes that search changes can take a few minutes to apply.

How to stop seeing the warning (turn the filter off)

If you're an adult and you'd rather not tap Show on every marked photo, do the opposite: tick Display media that may contain sensitive content, using the same steps. If you also want sensitive results in search, switch off Hide sensitive content in Search settings.

If ticking the box doesn't seem to work, the usual reasons are your age details or the iPhone app. X restricts people under 18, and people with no birth date on their profile, from viewing sensitive media. In the UK, Ireland, the EU and Australia, X may also need to confirm your age first. Our guide on why you can't see sensitive content on X goes through every cause.

Filter more than X's label covers

The sensitive media setting only works on media that has been marked, either by the poster or by X. A suggestive post nobody labeled will still show up, and text and links aren't covered. For tighter control:

• Mute words and phrases. In Settings and privacy → Privacy and safety → Mute and block → Muted words, add words or hashtags you don't want to see. You can apply a mute to your Home timeline, notifications or both, for a set time or forever.
• Mute or block accounts that keep posting things you don't want to see.
• Use the Following timeline instead of For You if you mostly see unwanted posts from accounts you don't follow.
• Tell X "Not interested in this post" from the three-dot menu. That feedback helps tune what X recommends to you.

Turning off the warning on your own posts

If what you actually want is to stop your photos being blurred for other people, that's a different setting: Settings and privacy → Privacy and safety → Your posts → Mark media you post as having material that may be sensitive. Untick it if your media doesn't need a warning. It applies to new posts only. Our guide to removing the sensitive content warning covers posts that are already up and labels X added itself.

For parents and teens

Teen accounts have most of this handled automatically. X says it restricts users under 18 from viewing sensitive media and turns Safe Search on for them. Make sure the birth date on the account is correct, because that's what X uses. Muted words and the Following timeline are still worth setting up, since the label only covers media that someone marked.

Will It Flag? is an independent tool and is not affiliated with X Corp. X's rules and app menus change from time to time; this guide reflects X's published Help Center policies as of 27 October 2026. When in doubt, X's own Adult Content and Violent Content policies are the source of truth.

Frequently asked questions