Protecting Your Online Reputation After a Divorce
Lock down your accounts first, then deal with what's public. In the first few days, change your passwords and cut off your ex's access to shared accounts, devices, and location sharing. Next, look at what the divorce itself puts online, such as court filings, your new address on people-search sites, and old photos and posts, and remove what the platforms' rules allow.
While the case is open, post as little as possible. Anything you write online can end up in front of the other side, so check with your attorney before you post, delete, or reply to anything related to the divorce.
Week one: take back your accounts
Your email account comes first, because it can be used to reset the password on nearly everything else. After that, work through the rest:
- Google account: run the Security Checkup. It lists signed-in devices and third-party apps that have access. Sign out any device you don't recognize, and check your recovery phone number and email.
- iPhone: go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. Apple's Safety Check guide explains the two options: Manage Sharing & Access lets you review each person and app one by one, and Emergency Reset stops all sharing at once.
- Location sharing: check Find My, Google Maps location sharing, and any family-tracking apps.
- Shared passwords: password managers, streaming services, shared cloud photo albums, smart-home apps, and doorbell cameras.
- Two-factor authentication: make sure codes go to a phone number only you control.
Social media: go quiet, but don't wipe it
The urge to delete everything is understandable. During a pending case, though, deleting posts can cause its own problems, so ask your attorney before you delete anything. Instead:
- Use Facebook's Take a Break feature to see less of your ex and limit what they see of you, without blocking or unfriending.
- Before you change your relationship status, set that field's audience to Only me, so the change doesn't show up in anyone's feed.
- Review photos and posts you're tagged in, and remove the tags you don't want.
- Tighten the audience on past posts instead of deleting them.
- Ask close friends and family not to post about the divorce, or about you, for now.
What your case puts on the public record
In many states, divorce files are public court records. Depending on the state, the file can include your address, your finances, and allegations made by either side. Some courts allow sensitive documents to be sealed or certain details to be blacked out, often on request, and the rules vary a great deal from state to state. Ask your attorney before anything is filed whether sealing or redaction is worth requesting.
Once something is in a court's official system, Google generally won't remove it from search results, and its personal information policy says it considers whether content is part of an official public record. Third-party sites that copy court records work differently, and some of them will take requests. Our court record suppression page explains the options. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Keep your new address off the internet
People-search sites build profiles from property records, voter files, and other data, and they often pick up a new address within months. You can't stop that entirely, but you can shrink it:
Our personal info removal page covers the broker opt-out process in more detail.
- Use Google's Results about you to find and request removal of search results that show your address, phone number, or email, and turn on alerts for new ones.
- Opt out of the major people-search sites one by one. Removal from Google Search does not remove the listing from the site itself.
- If you live in California, the state's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) sends one deletion request to every registered data broker. Brokers have been required to process those requests since August 1, 2026.
- If you have safety concerns, most states run an Address Confidentiality Program that gives survivors of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault a substitute address for many public records. The program is usually run by the Secretary of State or the Attorney General.
If intimate images are posted or threatened
This is the one situation where the law now gives you a clear takedown route. Under the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, covered platforms (sites and apps built around content their users post) have had to run a removal process since May 19, 2026, and they must remove reported intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request. The FTC enforces it; see its compliance guidance.
Google also has a removal process for explicit or intimate personal images in Search. If you're worried images might be shared, StopNCII.org creates a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device, so the image itself is never uploaded. It shares only that fingerprint with participating platforms so they can block matches. Save screenshots with URLs and dates before you report anything, and consider going to the police as well. Our image removal page has more.
What not to do
- Don't post about your ex, even without using their name. Mutual friends will know who you mean.
- Don't reply to comments or posts about you while you're angry. A reply keeps the thread alive and can push it higher in search results.
- Don't log into your ex's accounts, even if you still know the password.
- Don't ask friends to post defenses of you. That usually spreads the story further.
When outside help makes sense
Most of this checklist you can do yourself in an afternoon or two. Outside help makes sense when your name is showing up on many people-search or court-record sites, when someone is actively posting about you, or when you just don't have the energy to chase dozens of opt-outs in the middle of a divorce. If safety is the issue, contact a local domestic violence advocate first. They can help with the Address Confidentiality Program and protective orders in ways a reputation company can't.
Want this handled for you? See our online reputation repair service.
