Tap Menu, then Dating, tap Profile in the top right, and tap Dating profile. Tap the Edit profile tab, scroll to the category you want to update, tap any item to add or change it, and tap Save in the top right. The changes you make there stay in Dating and do not appear on your main Facebook profile.

The steps

Open the Facebook app and tap Menu, then tap Dating. Tap Profile in the top right corner, then tap Dating profile.

Tap the Edit profile tab. Your details are grouped into categories, so scroll down to the one you want. Tap any item to add something new or change what is there.

When you are done, tap Save in the top right. If you leave without saving, your changes are lost, which is an easy way to waste twenty minutes of careful rewriting.

Your edits stay inside Dating

Editing your Dating profile does not touch your main Facebook profile. A new photo, a rewritten prompt, or a change to your details shows up in Dating and nowhere else.

That gives you room to experiment. You can try a bolder prompt answer or a different lead photo without your family, coworkers, or old classmates seeing a thing.

What you cannot edit

Some details are fixed. Facebook says you can't change some things in Dating, and your name and age are the two most men run into.

So do not go hunting for a hidden setting to adjust your age. Work with the number you have. A man who looks healthy, dresses well, and shows an interesting life gets the benefit of the doubt on age far more often than a man who fudges it.

Edits worth making first

Most men edit the wrong things first. They tweak small details and leave the photo that is sinking them in first place.

Start with the order of your photos. Your first photo should be just you, with your face clear. Tap and hold a photo to move it, and put your strongest face shot at the front. A full-length photo belongs near the top as well.

Next, take out any photo that is old, hides your face, or shows you as one of several similar men. A smaller set of strong photos beats a big set with weak ones mixed in.

Then look at your details. Make sure they are accurate and current, from your job to your height. An out-of-date detail is a small lie she discovers on the date.

Rewrite prompt answers that say nothing

Once the photos are right, your prompt answers are the next thing to fix. They are where she finds something to write to you about.

The weak ones share a problem. They list qualities instead of showing them. "I'm easygoing, loyal and love to laugh" tells her nothing, because every man says it. "My friends call me when their car breaks down, and I have never once known what's wrong with it" says the same things with a smile, and gives her an easy reply.

Aim for answers that are specific, slightly playful, and short enough to read in a glance. One good detail beats three adjectives.

Edit on a schedule, not on a mood

Men tend to edit their profile after a bad week, changing everything at once out of frustration. That makes it impossible to learn what works.

Make one change at a time. Swap one photo or rewrite one prompt answer, then leave it alone for a few days and watch what happens to your likes and conversations. If it helps, keep it. If it hurts, put the old one back.

Keep a short note of each change and its result. After a month, you will know more about what works for you than any list of tips could tell you.

Look at it the way she does

Before you save a big round of edits, look at your Dating profile the way she will: on a phone, quickly, with a dozen other men waiting.

Better still, hand your phone to a woman friend and ask her one question. What is the first thing she notices, and does it make her want to know more? Her answer is worth more than an hour of your own guessing.

Listen without arguing. If she says your second photo looks like a passport picture, she is probably right, and she has just saved you a month of wondering why nobody writes back.