How to Permanently Delete Your Facebook Account: A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you ready to say goodbye to Facebook for good? Perhaps you’re concerned about privacy, overwhelmed by the constant notifications, or simply looking to reclaim some of your time. Whatever your reasons, deleting your Facebook account is a significant step, and it’s important to understand the process fully. This guide will walk you through every step of permanently deleting your account, ensuring you don’t accidentally miss crucial preparations and giving you the knowledge to make the right choice for yourself.

Understanding the Difference: Deactivating vs. Deleting

Before we delve into the deletion process, it’s crucial to understand the difference between deactivating and deleting your Facebook account. These are two distinct actions with different consequences:

• Deactivation: Deactivating your account is like putting it on hold. Your profile, photos, and other content become invisible to other users, but Facebook retains all your data. You can reactivate your account anytime by simply logging back in. This is a good option if you need a break but think you might want to return later.
• Deletion: Deleting your account is permanent. Once your account is deleted, Facebook initiates a process to erase all your data from their servers. This process can take up to 90 days (though some data may remain in backups longer). Importantly, you can’t reactivate a deleted account; if you want to use Facebook again, you’ll need to start from scratch.

This guide focuses solely on the permanent deletion of your Facebook account. If you are unsure whether deleting is the right choice for you, perhaps you want to explore temporarily deactivating your account first. You can then consider deletion once you are sure.

Preparation Before Deletion: Essential Steps

Deleting your Facebook account is a big decision, and rushing into it can lead to regrets. Therefore, you must prepare properly beforehand. Here are the crucial steps to take before initiating the deletion process:

1. Download a Copy of Your Information

Facebook stores a vast amount of information about your activities on the platform, including your posts, photos, videos, messages, and even your facial recognition data. If you want to keep any of this information, you must download it *before* deleting your account. Once the deletion process is complete, this data will no longer be available.

Here’s how to download your Facebook data:

1. Log in to your Facebook account: Using a web browser on a computer (this process is easier to perform on a computer than on a mobile device)
2. Click the arrow at the top right of the page: This will bring up a drop-down menu.
3. Select “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings”: You’ll be taken to your general settings page.
4. Click on “Your Facebook Information” on the left-hand side menu: You will see several options relating to your Facebook information.
5. Click on “Download Your Information”: This will bring up the download options.
6. Choose your desired settings:
   • Date Range: You can choose to download all your data or specify a particular period.
   • Format: Choose between HTML (easy to view in your browser) or JSON (more technical data format). HTML is generally recommended for most users.
   • Media Quality: Select the quality for your media (High, Medium, or Low). Note that higher quality will require more storage space.
7. Click “Request a Download”: Facebook will start preparing your data archive. This can take time, ranging from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the size of your data.
8. Download your archive: Once the archive is ready, Facebook will send you a notification. Return to the “Download Your Information” page to download the file. You may need to verify your password to download the file.
9. Keep your downloaded data in a secure location: Once the download is complete, make sure to save the file somewhere safe, such as on an external hard drive or encrypted cloud storage.

2. Review Apps and Websites Linked to Facebook

Many apps and websites allow you to log in using your Facebook account. Before deleting your account, it is vital to identify and manage these linked services. Deleting your Facebook account will prevent you from logging into those services with your Facebook credentials. You need to update these services with a new login method (like email or phone number) and verify your access before proceeding with the Facebook account deletion.

To manage your linked apps and websites:

1. Go to Settings: As before, go to your Settings page via the drop-down menu at the top right of the page.
2. Click on “Apps and Websites” on the left-hand side menu.
3. Review your connected apps and websites: You’ll see a list of all the apps and websites that have access to your Facebook data.
4. Update login methods: For each app and website that you intend to keep using, check and update your login details and methods to be different from your Facebook credentials (e.g. update with an email address or phone number and password) and make sure you can still log in.
5. Consider removing apps and websites you no longer need: For apps that you no longer use, you can remove them completely to ensure their access is revoked before you delete your Facebook account.

3. Other Considerations

• Inform friends and family: If you use Facebook primarily to communicate with friends and family, notify them of your intention to delete your account and suggest alternative methods of communication. Provide your updated email address, phone number or links to other social media profiles you use.
• Back up important data: If you have any important information stored on Facebook, such as shared posts, specific photos or videos that are not in your downloaded archive, save these elsewhere. Screenshots can be useful for some kinds of content.
• Check if you are an admin of any pages or groups: If you are the admin of any Facebook pages or groups, you will lose access to them when you delete your account. You will need to appoint another person as an admin or delete the pages or groups if they are no longer needed. Otherwise these will remain on Facebook without anyone to manage them.

Step-by-Step Guide to Permanently Deleting Your Facebook Account

Now that you have completed the necessary preparations, it’s time to delete your Facebook account. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Log in to your Facebook account: Using a web browser on a computer (again, the process is easier on a computer).
2. Click the arrow at the top right of the page: This brings up the drop-down menu.
3. Select “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings”: As before.
4. Click on “Your Facebook Information” on the left-hand side menu.
5. Click on “Deactivation and Deletion”: This is usually the last option in the list.
6. Select “Permanently Delete Account”: Facebook will give you the option of either deactivating or deleting your account. Choose the “Delete Account” option.
7. Click “Continue to Account Deletion”: The screen will display additional information related to the delete process.
8. Facebook will ask you again if you want to download your data before deleting: (This is a final prompt in case you forgot to do so earlier). You should have already performed this in the Preparation steps above.
9. Click “Delete Account”: A final pop-up message will ask for your password to confirm the deletion.
10. Enter your Password and click “Continue”: This confirms that you understand the consequences and wish to proceed with the deletion.

After Initiating the Deletion

After you’ve submitted your deletion request, your account will immediately begin the deletion process. Facebook states that the process can take up to 90 days to complete, though it usually happens much faster. It may take several days before your profile becomes fully invisible on the platform. Importantly, you can cancel the deletion process by simply logging back into your account during this grace period. If you log in at any point before the process is complete, the deletion will be automatically cancelled, and you will need to start over if you still want to delete your account.

Important Considerations and FAQs

Can I Reactivate a Deleted Account?

No, once your account is permanently deleted, you cannot reactivate it. All your data will be removed from Facebook’s servers after the 90 days period. If you change your mind, you will have to create a completely new Facebook account. Be absolutely certain before you proceed with deletion.

What happens to my Facebook posts and comments?

Your posts and comments will eventually be removed. However, there is a period of time (up to 90 days) when your posts may still be accessible by others. Your name and profile picture may also still be visible during this period, but clicking on your profile will lead to a broken link and will not allow access to any account. These residual elements will be removed completely by Facebook after the deletion period ends.

What about my messages?

Messages you sent to others may still be visible to the recipients in their inbox. Deleting your account does not delete the content from other people’s inboxes. Similarly, messages others have sent to you will also remain visible to them, even after the deletion is complete. The message will still display your name and profile picture to others until your account deletion process is complete.

Will I get any notifications from Facebook after deleting my account?

No, once your account is fully deleted, you will no longer receive any notifications from Facebook, including emails related to the account you deleted.

Is it possible to have my data completely removed from Facebook?

Facebook states that while they initiate the deletion process, some data might remain in backup systems for longer periods (beyond the 90 day delete process). This is for internal purposes and is not intended to be accessed or shared with anyone. Facebook does aim to remove all user data as thoroughly as possible when an account is deleted permanently.

Conclusion

Deleting your Facebook account is a serious decision, but it’s often the right one if you want to protect your privacy, reduce distractions, or simply move away from the platform. By carefully preparing and following the steps outlined in this guide, you can ensure that the deletion process goes smoothly and that you retain a copy of your data. If you have carefully prepared and follow each step, you will ensure that you do not experience any unexpected complications when you delete your Facebook account permanently. Remember to take your time and make sure it is the right decision for you.