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Whether it's temporary or permanent, we've got you covered.
Last Updated: January 2, 2025
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Ready to say goodbye to Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook?
You may want to delete your Facebook account permanently for many reasons, unfriending Mark Zuckerberg forever. Maybe it’s the polarizing effects of being on the social media app, or you need more online privacy.
Unfortunately, Facebook is reluctant to let you or any other user leave the social app. Hence, deleting your account is a bit complicated. There’s also a not-so-drastic way of getting rid of your Facebook account, known as account deactivation.
In this article, I’ll show you how to delete your Facebook account permanently and deactivate it.
First, let’s examine the difference between permanently deleting and deactivating your Facebook account. That way, you’ll know which route to take.
Facebook offers two ways to delete or deactivate your account. The primary difference is that deleting your account is permanent and irreversible after 30 days. Meanwhile, deactivating your account allows you to return to and access your Facebook account and friends whenever possible.
Importantly, you can continue using Messenger unaffected if you deactivate your Facebook account, but you can’t use Messenger anymore if you delete your Facebook account.
If you delete your account, you’ll need to set up a new one to use Facebook again. So, if you are unsure about permanently deleting your account, you should temporarily deactivate it instead.
We’ll start there since deactivating is an easier process without permanent consequences.
Deactivating your account instructs Facebook to hide your account information from the general public. Your friends’ list, timeline, “about” information, previous posts, and photos will be hidden immediately after deactivating.
However, some information will remain visible, such as messages sent to your friends on Facebook Messenger, comments, and group posts. Also, deactivating your account won’t prevent your name from appearing on Mutual Friends lists.
When you temporarily deactivate your account, Facebook stores all your data, friends, messages, log records, and personal identifiers. It will keep them safe for when you’re ready to come back. However, you can’t use your deactivated Facebook account to log into third-party apps or services.
Follow the simple steps below to deactivate your account.
1. At the top right corner of any page, click on your profile picture and then click Settings & privacy.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click on Meta Accounts Center.
4. Select Personal details on the lefthand menu.
5. Click Account ownership and control.
6. Click Deactivation or deletion.
7. Select the profile you want to deactivate.
8. Check that Deactivate account is selected by default and click Continue.
9. Enter your password and click Continue.
10. Select your reason for deactivating your account (optional) and click Continue.
11. You’ll be offered suggestions to improve your experience on Facebook. Click the drop-down labeled Automatically reactivate my account in and select the option you prefer. Then click Continue.
12. If you’re the sole admin of a group, you’ll be warned that you’ll lose adminship after some time and that the group may be archived. Confirm deactivation by clicking Deactivate my account.
Deactivating your account might be a much-needed break from Facebook. Whenever you’re ready to regain access to your account, simply use your Facebook login details for the same account, and you can use Facebook again.
If you’re ready to cut ties with Facebook entirely, the way to do that is to delete your account. Note that this decision is irreversible after 30 days, and you won’t be able to reactivate your account or access any content related to your Facebook account, not even Messenger. This means you can’t use your Facebook account to log in to third-party services once your account is deleted.
Before you make such a big decision, consider if there is any data on the Facebook servers, like messages with friends, that you would like to keep. Facebook is known to store and share memories. If you are keen on preserving these memories and messages, consider downloading the files on your device before you delete your account.
The files you may download include videos, photos, likes and reactions, posts, stories, messages, and friends lists. Since you can’t reactivate your account once it’s permanently deleted, it is a good idea to download your Facebook information first.
Before deleting your account, let’s see how to save your Facebook data.
This process is somewhat complicated, so I’ll break down every step below. Just a heads up, Facebook often takes time to prepare your files for download or transfer.
Go to your Facebook account and follow the guide below to download or transfer an archive of your data and activities on the site.
1. Go to the Meta Account Center. (You can also get there by going to your profile picture in the top-right corner > Settings & privacy > Settings > Meta Account Center.)
2. Click on Your information and permissions.
3. Clicking Download your information will allow you to download or transfer any or all of your Facebook data once or on a regular schedule.
Clicking Transfer a copy of your information will allow you to initiate a one-time transfer of only your photos and videos to a cloud storage service.
I’ll show you each process below.
Note: If you selected Transfer a copy of your information, skip to the next section on one-time photo and video transfers.
1. If you click Download your information on the previous screen, you’ll see the window below. The tabs at the bottom, labeled Current Activity and Scheduled, will just show you data downloads and transfers being processed or scheduled, so both tabs will likely be empty. When you’re ready to proceed, click Download or transfer information.
2. Select the profile to get the data from and click Next.
3. Choose whether you want Available information (all information) or Specific types of information.
4. If you choose Specific types of information, scroll through the list and select the information you want before clicking Next. If you choose Available information, proceed to the next step.
5. You should now be on the window below. Selecting Download to device and clicking Next will add the files to your device. Clicking Transfer to destination will add the files to a cloud storage service of your choice.
6.a. Transfer only, otherwise skip: If you click Transfer to destination, select a Destination and click Save. If you want to set up a transfer schedule rather than transferring just once, click Schedule frequency, select a frequency, and click Save. Then click Next on the window shown below.
6.b. Transfer only, otherwise skip: Click Connect on the next screen and follow the instructions to log in to the cloud service where you’ll transfer the files.
7. Now, whether you initially clicked Download to device or Transfer to destination, you should see the options below. Select the Date range and the Media quality. I recommend leaving the Notify and Format fields as they are, but feel free to change them if you’d like. Click either Create files or Start transfer to proceed.
That’s it! You’ll be notified via the chosen email when your files are ready to download to your device or have transferred to your cloud storage.
1. You’ll see the window below if you click Transfer a copy of your information on the previous screen. Click Next.
2. Select the information to transfer, whether it’s all Your photos and videos or you want to Create custom transfer of only certain data.
3. If you clicked Create custom transfer, you’ll see the window below. Select the information to transfer and click Next. If you selected Your photos and videos, skip to the next step.
4. Now, you should be in the window below. Select the destination for your transfer.
5. Click Connect to link the cloud storage account of your choice so Facebook can transfer the data.
6. Click Start transfer to initiate the transfer process for your selected data.
You can more confidently delete your account if you downloaded or transferred your Facebook data and files. You can delete your Facebook account from your desktop computer or your mobile device. Let’s have a look at both methods.
1. Go to the Meta Account Center. (You can also get there by going to your profile picture in the top-right corner > Settings & privacy > Settings > Meta Account Center.)
2. Select Personal details on the lefthand menu.
3. Click Account ownership and control.
4. Click Deactivation or deletion.
5. Select the profile you want to deactivate.
6. Select Delete account and then click Continue.
7. Select your reason for deleting your account (optional) and click Continue.
8. Based on your chosen reason, you’ll be offered suggestions to improve your experience on Facebook. Click Continue to proceed with deleting your account.
9. Before deleting your account, you can review steps you may want to take, such as transferring your Facebook data. Review the suggestions if you want, scroll down, and click Continue.
10. Enter your password and click Continue.
11. The next window will inform you about Facebook’s 30-day deactivation period before your account is deleted forever. This allows you some time to change your mind about leaving Facebook. To continue, click on Delete account.
If you forgot to save your data or immediately have second thoughts about deleting your Facebook account, don’t fret! You can easily reverse the deletion process, which we’ll cover in the next section (after the steps to delete your account on mobile).
Deleting your Facebook account on your mobile device is a similar process. It may look a bit different depending on whether you use the Facebook app or the mobile site, but the actions you need to take are the same. I’ll show screenshots from the Facebook mobile app for Android.
Follow the steps below to delete your account on a mobile device.
1. Go to the top right corner of your screen and click on the three horizontal lines.
2. Tap Settings & privacy toward the bottom.
3. Tap Settings at the top.
4. Tap Meta Accounts Center.
5. Tap Personal details.
6. Tap Account ownership and control.
7. Tap Deactivation or deletion.
8. Select the account you want to delete.
9. Tap Delete account and then tap Continue.
10. If you have additional profiles or pages for which you’re the only admin, you’ll be notified that those will be deleted too. Click Continue. If you don’t see this window, just proceed to the next step.
11. Select a reason for deleting your account (optional) and click Continue.
13. Before deleting your account, you can review steps you may want to take, such as transferring your Facebook data. Review the suggestions if you want, scroll down, and click Continue.
14. Enter your password and click Continue.
15. The next window will inform you about Facebook’s 30-day deactivation period before your account is deleted forever. This allows you some time to change your mind about leaving Facebook. To continue, click on Delete account.
If you forgot to save your data or immediately have second thoughts about deleting your Facebook account, don’t fret! You can easily reverse the deletion process, which we’ll cover in the next section.
Facebook understands that its users can sometimes be indecisive. As such, the social media network offers a grace period of 30 days for users who permanently delete their Facebook account. You can reactivate your account easily if you experience a change of heart within 30 days.
To reverse your account deletion:
1. Go to Facebook and log in to your account.
2. Click Cancel deletion.
This simple process will cancel your account deletion and let you use your Facebook account again. But if you don’t reverse your account deletion within 30 days, your account will be lost forever. You may also lose additional accounts or pages for which you’re the only admin, so keep that in mind.
A common reason people temporarily deactivate or permanently delete their Facebook accounts is concern over their online privacy. Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg has promised several times to boost security across social networks.
Still, users’ privacy is occasionally compromised. One reason is that many apps and websites can access and exchange users’ data. Hence, it’s easier for hackers, governments, and other foreign entities to access this data pool through these apps and websites. These third parties can also monitor users’ activities and current locations.
For these reasons, you must know how to protect your online privacy, especially if you enjoy surfing Facebook and would rather not deactivate your account temporarily or delete it permanently. Here are some proactive steps you can take to protect your online privacy without bidding adieu to Facebook.
Your personal information on Facebook is automatically set to be viewed by the general public. This means anyone across the globe can search for your name and read up about you. Your information can be stolen, misused, or used to commit a fraudulent crime. To afford yourself the privacy you need, you can change your Settings & Privacy options and limit others’ access to your information.
Cybercriminals and hackers often guess common phrases to gain access to accounts on websites and social media platforms, including Facebook. You can mitigate this risk significantly by using strong and unique passwords on all your online accounts.
You may consider using a service that creates unhackable passwords and stores them for you securely. One popular password management service is ExpressVPN Keys, which is free with an ExpressVPN subscription.
Ensure that the apps you use to communicate with friends, family, or business associates support end-to-end encryption so your texts and media are protected from access by any third-party app or bad actor. As such, ads won’t target you, and your data won’t be stolen or misused.
Apps that encrypt user messages include WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.
A virtual private network (VPN) allows you to remain anonymous and private when surfing the internet. Downloading and installing a VPN on your device is one of the easiest and most reliable ways to protect online privacy.
A VPN creates a secure and encrypted tunnel over the Internet between you and the receiver, effectively blocking third-party access to your data. A VPN also hides your IP address, making your online activities untraceable while masking your current location.
There are many premium VPN providers to choose from. But as experts in the field, we recommend the following top three. All of them offer easy-to-claim, watertight money-back guarantees.
ExpressVPN is probably the most popular VPN provider on the market. Users prefer ExpressVPN because of its sophisticated security features, high speed and performance, wide range of servers, and unblocking capabilities. If you want to surf Facebook and other sites without worrying about your online privacy and security, ExpressVPN is your best bet.
As I mentioned earlier, ExpressVPN comes with a service called Keys that can generate and securely store strong passwords for you, further enhancing your online security.
Private Internet Access (PIA) ranks second on our list of the best VPN providers, given its impressive privacy and security features. While PIA doesn’t offer the best speeds, it efficiently secures your online information and can be highly customized. You can rest assured that your connection is anonymous while on one of PIA’s VPN servers.
CyberGhost is a reliable and easy-to-use VPN service. Its wide range of servers spread across the globe combined with industry-standard security features allow for easy access to geo-restricted content, anonymous surfing and torrenting, and essential privacy.
There are many reasons you may want to delete your Facebook account. However, if your primary reason is privacy concerns, even about Facebook itself, I wouldn’t recommend such a drastic step, especially if you have much to gain from being on Facebook. Instead, I recommend installing a premium VPN service to address your privacy concerns across all sites.
As I’ve mentioned, ExpressVPN, PIA, and CyberGhost are your best options for a VPN provider. Their VPN services can give you the privacy and security you seek while using Facebook and other sites. They also offer money-back guarantees that I’ve tested myself, so there’s no risk in trying them out.
There are also other ways to improve your online security without deactivating or deleting your Facebook account, which I addressed in this article. Using some or all of those methods is an excellent way to protect yourself online and eliminate some of your stress.
If you’re still determined to deactivate or delete your Facebook account, this article shows you exactly how. But after you say goodbye to Facebook, you may want to consider getting a VPN anyway, given the plethora of online benefits VPNs offer.
Deactivating your Facebook account temporarily disables your profile and hides your information from other users but does not delete your data. You can reactivate your account at any time by logging back in.
Deleting your Facebook account, on the other hand, is a permanent action that removes your profile, posts, photos, and all other data. Once you initiate account deletion, you have 30 days to change your mind. If your account is deleted after those 30 days, it cannot be recovered.
If you deactivate your Facebook account, you can reactivate it at any time by simply logging back into Facebook with your existing login credentials. When you reactivate, your profile will be restored, including your friends, posts, photos, and any other data you had before deactivation. It will be as if you never left.
You can use Facebook's "Find Your Account" feature to search for your account by email or phone number.
After you delete your Facebook account, Facebook begins the process of permanently removing your data. This process can take up to 90 days to complete. During this time, your account is not accessible by you or other users. Some data may remain accessible even afterward; for example, messages you’ve sent to friends will remain visible to them even after your account is deleted, as the messages are stored in their accounts.
Yes, you can download a copy of your Facebook data before deactivating or deleting your account. The steps to do so are outlined in this article.
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