Cash App has a social feed that can display your transactions to friends and other users, but you can turn this off in a few taps. The key setting is Privacy Mode, found under Privacy & Security in your profile. Enabling it, along with a couple of related toggles, keeps your payment activity visible only to you and the person you transacted with.
Turn On Privacy Mode
Privacy Mode is the single most important setting for hiding your transactions. To enable it, tap your profile icon on the Cash App home screen, then go to Privacy & Security and toggle on Privacy Mode. This prevents your payments from appearing in the app’s social feed, where friends and other Cash App users could otherwise see them.
While you’re in the Privacy & Security menu, turn off the social feed feature entirely. Cash App’s social feed works similarly to Venmo’s public feed, showing transaction activity to people in your network. Disabling it ensures that even casual browsing won’t reveal who you’ve been paying or receiving money from.
Hide Your Contacts
Cash App can sync with your phone’s contact list, which makes it easier to find people to pay but also makes your connections visible to others. In the same Privacy & Security settings, toggle off the option that makes your contacts visible. This stops other users from seeing who you’re connected to on the platform, adding another layer of separation between your Cash App activity and your social circle.
Change Your Display Name and $Cashtag
Even with privacy mode on, the person you send money to (or receive money from) will still see your name and $Cashtag. If you want to limit how identifiable you are in those direct interactions, you can adjust both.
To change your $Cashtag, tap your profile icon, select Edit Profile, tap the $Cashtag field, choose a new one, and tap Set to confirm. Keep in mind that Cash App only lets you change your $Cashtag twice. Previous versions become inactive so no one else can claim them, and you can switch back to an old one at any time. Picking a $Cashtag that doesn’t include your real name gives you a degree of anonymity when sharing your payment handle.
Your display name can also be edited from the same Edit Profile screen. Cash App does require your legal name for identity verification and tax purposes, but the name shown to other users in transactions can be adjusted through your profile settings.
Lock the App on Your Device
Privacy isn’t just about what other Cash App users can see online. Anyone who picks up your unlocked phone could open the app and scroll through your full transaction history. To prevent that, enable Security Lock. Go to your profile, tap Privacy & Security, and toggle on Security Lock. You’ll be prompted to set up a PIN, Touch ID, or Face ID. Once enabled, Cash App will require that authentication before completing any payment or opening the app, so someone borrowing your phone can’t casually browse your transactions.
What Shows Up on Bank Statements
Making transactions private within Cash App doesn’t affect what your bank sees. Any Cash App transaction funded by or deposited to your linked bank account will appear on your external bank statement. The entry typically shows up as a transfer to or from Cash App, though the exact formatting depends on your bank. If you share a bank account with someone or if someone has access to your banking login, they can still see that money moved through Cash App, even if the details within the app itself are locked down.
If this matters to you, using your Cash App balance (rather than pulling directly from your bank account) for certain transactions can reduce the trail on your bank statement. Money that stays within Cash App, moving from your balance to another user, won’t generate a separate line item at your bank.
Tax Reporting and Transaction Records
Privacy settings control what other users see, but they don’t affect what Cash App reports to the IRS. For personal accounts, Cash App does not issue tax forms because personal, non-commercial transactions (splitting dinner, sending a gift) aren’t taxable events. Business accounts are a different story: if you receive more than $20,000 in gross payments and more than 200 transactions in a calendar year, Cash App will issue a 1099-K form reporting that income to both you and the IRS.
No privacy toggle changes these reporting obligations. They’re built into federal law and apply regardless of your in-app settings.