A week after Facebook introduced a tool to add a French flag filter to profile photos, many are seeing their pictures automatically lose their overlaid colours. But for those that didn’t use the special tool are finding it more difficult to change their picures back.

Facebook now allows people to opt to add the filter only temporarily, adding options including those to have the picture for just one hour or one week. But that setting can only be used when changing the photo.

Instead, the quickest way to change the profile picture back is to go to your Facebook profile photo and hover over it. That will bring up an option to “Update Profile Photo”, where you can choose to select a new one or a picture that has been used before.

The unfiltered version of your profile photo should be the second one along, found immediately after the one featuring the red, white and blue of the French flag.

Users can change their picture to an entirely different one using the same menu, choosing to upload or take a new photo in the same way.

Facebook’s support pages have a number of users complaining that it is too difficult to remove the filter from profile photos. The site gave an easy option for adding the filter but there is no obvious way to remove it again.

The tool has been highly popular since it was introduced in the wake of the Paris attacks last week, when Facebook also turned on its Safety Check feature. But it was controversial, too, with some even arguing that the site was celebrating white supremacy.

World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Show all 30 1 /30 World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris National Portrait Gallery, London, UK World's monuments show solidarity with Paris London Eye, UK World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Sydney Opera House, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The HSBC building, Hong Kong, China World's monuments show solidarity with Paris California State University, Long Beach, USA World's monuments show solidarity with Paris US Embassy, Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Swiss Parliament, Bern, Switzerland World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Chhatrapati Shivaji train station building, Mumbai, India World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Eiffel Tower, Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Wembley Stadium, London World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The fortress 'Tsarevets', Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The SSE Hydro arena, Glasgow, Scotland World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Story Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Perth Council house, Perth, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Plaza Francia (France's Square), Caracas, Venezuela World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Penshaw Monument, Sunderland, UK World's monuments show solidarity with Paris St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Chile's presidential palace La Moneda, Santiago, Chile World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris De La Salle university, Manila, Philippines World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Greenland Centre, Jinan city, China World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Calagary Tower, Alberta, Canada World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Senate building, Mexico City Reuters/Tomas Bravo World's monuments show solidarity with Paris One World Trade Centre, New York, USA World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Angel de la Independencia monument, Mexico City

The automatically removable filters feature was added soon after the huge success of the rainbow profile photos that were created to support Pride. Many people added those pictures, but were unable to remove them easily – and the question of when to do so caused some anxiety.

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