How to Control Sensitive Content on X (Twitter): A Complete Guide (2025)

Managing sensitive content on X (Twitter) lets you personalize your feed and search results to match your comfort level. Whether you want to view or hide potentially sensitive material, Twitter has easy-to-use settings to put you in control of what appears in your feed and searches.

This guide'll walk you through every step of adjusting your sensitive content preferences on X (Twitter). These settings allow you to filter out (show, or hide) media that Twitter flags as sensitive, which basically means you can decide what appears in your feed and searches on the platform to a certain extent.

How Sensitive Content Settings Work

X (Twitter) uses content warnings to help users avoid potentially disturbing material while keeping the content accessible. By adjusting the sensitive content settings and using the available filters, you have more control over your viewing preferences.

What Counts as Sensitive Material

Here’s what X (Twitter) considers sensitive content:

• Graphic violence (injury videos, death scenes)
• Adult content (nudity, erotic material)
• Hate speech (discriminatory language toward protected groups)
• Strong profanity (explicit language, swear words)
• Disturbing events (natural disasters, accidents)
• Medical procedures (surgical content)

Wondering how Twitter decides on the sensitivity of the content? Content sensitivity ratings are set by the warning levels, summarized in the table below:

How Content Warnings Work

Twitter flags posts as sensitive in several ways:

• Automated detection: AI flags potentially sensitive posts.
• User self-labeling: Creators/users mark their content as sensitive.
• User reports: Others can report unmarked sensitive material.
• Content filtering: This option hides flagged posts until clicked.
• Search restrictions: Sensitive content appears less in search results.

Viewing Sensitive Content on Your Feed

Want to see more or less of sensitive content? If you’re using X (Twitter)on the web browser, you can customize your sensitive content display settings. What’s even better news is that the platform offers specific controls to manage both feed content visibility and search results filtering.

How to Change Your Content Preferences

The process starts at Twitter's website, so you can follow the steps listed below:

1. Go to Twitter.com in a web browser.
2. Click "More" in the left sidebar menu.
3. Select "Settings and Support" >"Settings and Privacy."
4. Choose "Privacy and Safety" from the menu.
5. Click "Content you see."
6. Toggle "Display media that may contain sensitive content."

In short, the table summarizes what you need to set up your content preferences.

How to Manage Search Settings

If you want to control what appears in your search results, that filtering follows a similar path, only with additional steps:

1. Access "Settings and Privacy" through the "More" menu.
2. Select "Privacy and safety" options.
3. Click "Content you see."
4. Choose "Search Settings."
5. Find "Hide sensitive content" toggle.

• Tip: If "Hide sensitive content" is unchecked, sensitive content clearly appears in searches. But, if it’s checked, that filters out sensitive material.
• Pro Tip: You can only change and adjust these settings through Twitter's desktop website interface. This means that mobile app users must log in through a web browser to make changes.

Modifying Content Warnings for Your Posts

If you post media that might be considered sensitive, Twitter gives you options to mark it at both individual tweet and account levels. This way, you’re making sure that other users are also safe from seeing the potentially unwanted, disturbing content.

How to Mark Individual Tweets as Sensitive

Here's how to mark specific tweets containing sensitive content:

1. Open the tweet composer.
2. Upload your image or video.
3. Click the edit button (desktop) or paintbrush icon (mobile).
4. Select the flag icon in the editing tools.
5. Choose relevant warning labels:

• Nudity
• Violence
• Sensitive (general)
• Select multiple labels if needed.

How to Apply Sensitive Labels to All Your Media

To automatically mark all media posts as sensitive:

1. Go to "Settings and Privacy":

• Click "More" in the sidebar.
• Select "Settings and Support."
• Choose "Settings and Privacy."

2. Navigate to "Privacy and Safety" settings.
3. Select "Your Posts."
4. Enable the option to mark media as sensitive.

If you’re interested in what types of content have warning labels available on the platform, take a look at the table below.

Note: Twitter's system may still add warnings to content that meets sensitive criteria even if you don’t manually mark them as such.

How to Manage Privacy and Safety Controls

Twitter's privacy settings give you even more control over sensitive content visibility in your feed and search results. Here's how to customize these controls effectively.

How to Customize Your Experience

Twitter's content management system lets you easily control how sensitive content shows up through the Privacy and Safety menu. To adjust these settings:

1. Open the "Settings" menu:

• Tap your profile picture (mobile) or click "More" (desktop).
• Select "Settings and Support."
• Choose "Settings and Privacy."
  
  

2. Configure Content Display:

• Click "Privacy and Safety."
• Select "Content You See."
• Toggle "Display media that may contain sensitive content."

Understanding Content Filters

Content filters on Twitter function through two primary mechanisms, whose features you’ll find listed below:

1. Timeline Filtering:

• Controls sensitive media in your main feed
• Applies to photos, videos, and embedded content
• Affects recommended tweets content
  
  

2. Search Filtering:

• Independent from timeline settings
• Manages sensitive content in search results
• Customizable through Search Settings menu

These settings sync across devices once configured through your account settings. Changes take effect immediately after saving your preferences.

Content Management Tips for a Safer X (Twitter) Experience

Twitter's sensitive content settings help keep your browsing safe and protected Here's how to take control of what you see while protecting your account.

Protecting Your Account

Keep in mind these tips if you want to 

• Enable two-factor authentication for an added layer of security.
• Review connected apps monthly to remove any unauthorized access.
• Set strong passwords with 12+ characters, including numbers, symbols, and letters.
• Keep track of login activity through the security settings panel.
• Report suspicious activities immediately through Twitter's built-in reporting tools.
• Update email notifications to receive alerts about account changes.
• Keep personal information private by limiting who can see your profile and personal info.

• Customize content filters to match personal comfort levels.
• Block accounts that share sensitive material you’d rather not see.
• Mute specific keywords related to sensitive topics you want to avoid.
• Create lists of trusted sources to organize content.
• Report tweets that violate Twitter's content guidelines.
• Use the "Not interested in this tweet" feature to train the algorithm and improve your recommendations.
• Check media settings regularly for any automatic changes that may affect your feed.

If you want to check why some of these steps are key in keeping your account safe, check out their impact in the table below.

How to Control Sensitive Content on X (Twitter)

Controlling sensitive content on Twitter is simple once you know where to look. Try using all the tools and settings available to you to create a more comfortable browsing experience that suits your preferences..

Remember that these settings are flexible, and you can adjust them anytime as your preferences change. Whether you're looking to protect yourself or others from sensitive content, Twitter's built-in features give you the easy-to-use tools to customize your feed. 

Take a few minutes to explore these settings and find the perfect balance for your Twitter journey.