How to Permanently Delete Facebook Account – Deleting your Facebook account used to be a long and tedious process, but not anymore. We’ll show you how easy it is to deactivate your account or delete it forever if you no longer need social media – yes, there’s a big difference between the two. To find out more about this, as well as learn how to remove certain content from your Facebook profile, check out our thorough guide below.
How to Permanently Delete Facebook Account 2023
Let’s be honest: Facebook really does nothing for your online privacy. You may remember the big scandal that happened recently.
The chaos of Cambridge Analytica, from which millions of Facebook users’ data was taken, is still fresh in our minds – and even if Zuckerberg and his company get away with calling it a “breach of trust,” the social media giant has dubious actions too.
There are plenty of examples, ranging from giving dozens of companies “special access” to sensitive user info, to requesting customers’ financial data from US banks. As it turns out, it’s not super hard to spot Facebook acting dishonestly – because it often is.
The latest bad news for Facebook users is a massive security breach, in which the security tokens of 50 million people were leack. If this is your last warning and you’re ready to leave the social media platform, then you’ve come to the right place.
Now is the time to restore your digital privacy. Let’s Begin!
Deactivating vs Deleting Facebook – What You Need to Know
Before we dive into the step-by-step guide, it’s important to understand the two options Facebook gives you when you want to close your account.
You can choose to deactivate your profile, or completely delete it. As you might expect, the first option saves your data on the platform, while the second option erases your data completely.
If you remove a Facebook account you :
- No one can see your profile except you.
- Specific information, such as sending messages, will remain visible.
- Your name will appear on the friend’s list, but only for your friends.
- Your name, posts, and comments will be visible to admins of groups you’re in.
- You will still be able to use
You can deactivate your account for as long as you like, but logging back in or using your account to sign in to a connected app/service will initiate a reactivation process.
If you choose to completely delete your Facebook account:
- You will not be able to reactivate your account.
- All content that you have added/uploaded to Facebook will be lost forever, but it is possible to retrieve it (unless you have downloaded your archive of data previously).
- Applications that use your Facebook account will no longer be accessible via Facebook Login.
- Specific information, such as messages you have sent to friends, will not be completely deleted and will remain visible to them.
- You will not be able to use
Facebook gives you 30 days to think about your decision and cancel the deletion process if you change your mind. After that period expires, your account and all related data will be lost forever. Please note that it may take 90 days for all of your information to be permanently deleted – during this period, Facebook users will not be able to access it.
How to Delete Your Facebook Account Forever
NOTE: We recommend that you download your information first before you completely delete your Facebook profile. For more detailed information on this matter, please read the following section.
If you’ve thought it through and are ready to leave Facebook forever, here are the steps you need to take to permanently delete your account :
1. Go to your settings page. Also, you can click the arrow in the top-right corner and access your settings from there:
2. On the left side, you can see a list of available settings. Click Your Facebook Information (Your Facebook Information) > Delete Your Account and Information :
3. A page will appear with suggestions for deactivating your account or downloading your information. If you are not interested in both of these options, click Delete Account ( Delete Account) :
4. You will be asked to enter your password. Do it, and then click Continue ( Continue) :
5. And it’s done! If you want to cancel the deletion, you have 30 days to sign in to your account and click Undelete ( Cancel Deletion ). Otherwise, you’ll just have to be patient for a month, before your Facebook account is permanently deleted.
If you’ve tried deleting a Facebook account before, you may find it a pointless confusing process, involving a lot of back and forth between the help center and fairly hidden settings. Now that’s gone because Facebook makes it so much easier to close your account in just a few simple steps.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about accidental logins automatically canceling the deletion process. You must confirm that you are logged in yourself (see step 5 above).
How to Download Your Facebook Information Archive
You’re not a fan of Facebook, but love to save content posts on your profile? You can do this easily – just follow these steps:
1. On your settings page, Click Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information :
2. You will be taken to the information archive page. Here, you can choose what you want to download, as well as the date range, archive format, and media quality:
3. Your own information appears first, but scrolling down will allow you to select and retrieve information about you as well :
4. Once you have finished selecting your information, click the blue button that says Create File ( Create File) . The filing process is in progress.
5. You can check its progress on the Available Files tab. If your file is in progress, you’ll see the archive is “Pending” until it’s ready to download:
As mentioned above, Facebook’s archive feature is highly customizable. You can download one type of content, such as your photos, or choose to perform a full backup – the choice is up to you.
How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account
If you want to be free from Facebook for a while, but aren’t ready to part ways forever (or you still want to access Messenger), deactivating your account is a better option than permanent deletion.
Please note that along with this option, all of your information is still available on Facebook, and you may be subject to security breaches or theft of your personal data by unknown persons.
To temporarily deactivate your Facebook account, you need to follow these steps:
1. Perform steps 1 and 2 of the Permanent Deletion wizard (Settings > Your Facebook Information > Delete Your Account and Information or Settings > Your Facebook Information > Delete Your Account and Information).
2. Click Deactivate Account :
3. Alternatively, you can select Settings > General > Deactivate your account or Settings > General > Deactivate your account.
4. Enter your password when the prompt appears, and click Continue:
5. And it’s done! To reactivate your account, just log in to Facebook (or sign in to the app/service that uses your Facebook account). You will be asked to enter your password – After that, your profile will be fully operational again.
How to Delete Your Own Facebook Information
Alright, so you want to completely erase your tracks from Facebook activity. If you choose to permanently delete your account, Facebook will do it for you – you don’t have to bother with this process.
However, if you want to contribute, you can make the process faster by manually deleting certain parts of your Facebook content. This will reduce the 90-day deletion process somewhat faster. It will also help you tidy up your browsing history and connected apps, even if you don’t plan on parting ways with Facebook anytime soon.
Have you ever deleted the history on your internet browser? On Facebook the process is pretty much the same – just a bit slower and more time-consuming.
Fortunately, the social media giant has made improvements in this aspect as well. Today, it’s much easier to view, manage, and delete your information.
It all starts with the activity log/activity log . There are two ways to access it:
1. On your settings page, click Your Facebook Information > Activity Log or Your Facebook Information > Activity Log :
2. Also, you can click the “Activity Log” button on your Facebook profile (top-right corner of your cover photo, next to “Update Info”).
Your activity log is part of the “Filters” panel that allows you to view and delete posts and comments, delete likes (by selecting unliking), and delete browsing history. There’s still a lot you can do, from deleting group posts to managing the content that connected apps have served on your behalf:
TIP: Some of the options in the “Filters” panel are hidden. To view it, click the “MORE/OTHER” menu in the related category.
Sorting through all your Facebook activity and content is a time-consuming and tiring job. To help you out, we’ve prepared some quick guides to the most popular types of content that Facebook users frequently delete. Check out the guide below!
How to Delete Connected Apps on Facebook
Removing apps where you use your Facebook account to log in to apps is a good idea if you aim to permanently delete them. Here’s what you need to do:
1. On your Settings page, click Apps and Websites.
2. You will be presented with a list of active, expired, and uninstalled apps. To remove an active application, check the box next to it and click Remove :
3. Expired apps no longer need your personal information, but you can still log in to them using your account. You can edit the information they request, or you can delete it.
TIP: Deleting your connected apps is not necessary if you want to permanently delete your Facebook account. However, accessing the application connected to your Facebook account will require you to cancel the Facebook account deletion process that you have started.
How to Delete Your Search History on Facebook
To permanently delete part or all of your search history, follow these steps:
1. click the search bar and click the “EDIT” button near “RECENT SEARCH”:
Another way is that you simply access your activity log and navigate to the bottom of the filter list, where you will find the “Search History” button.
2. You can now delete searches, one by one, by clicking Edit > Delete or Edit > Delete :
3. To delete all your search sets, click Delete Search in the upper-right corner.
In general, the process is the same for mobile device users. Just navigate to your search history (Settings & Privacy > Settings > Activity Log > Category: Search History or Settings & Privacy > Settings > Activity Log > Category: Search History). Again, you can choose to delete one by one or delete the entire list.
How to Delete Photos, Videos, and Albums on Facebook
You can easily review and delete photos, videos, and albums that you have uploaded to Facebook via the Filters panel. Here’s how:
1. Access your Activity Log.
2. Navigate to Photos and Videos, right in the middle of the list.
3. A list of your uploaded media will appear in chronological order. To delete an item, click the pencil-shaped icon on the right:
TIP: Your profile photo, cover, and features cannot be deleted. You can only choose it to show or hide on your timeline.
If you chose to delete an entire album, navigate to the Photos > Albums tab ( Photos > Albums ) on your profile. There you can quickly view and delete your collections.
How to Delete Facebook Comments and Posts
If you want to delete your comments and replies on Facebook without waiting 90 days, you need to do the following:
1. Access your Activity Log.
2. Select the menu Comments / Comments, right under Photo and Video (Photos and Videos).
3. Follow the same procedure: click the pencil icon-form on the right, then Delete / Delete :
You can do the same for all your Facebook posts. The difference is – you need to click on Posts not Comments in the list. You can find the Posts button at the beginning of the list, under the Activity Log option.
Make Good Use of Facebook’s Privacy Settings
Maybe you’re still not ready to deactivate/delete your Facebook account, but you’re still interested in keeping things as tight as possible.
The quick guide above is still the first step to modifying/removing your Facebook content. But there’s more you can do.
In the Settings page, you will see the Privacy tab. It’s basically central to your general privacy settings on Facebook.
Here is what you can change here:
- Visibility of future posts. You can make all of your future posts visible to the public, to yourself, or to your Facebook friends, with the option to opt-in or prevent certain people. Custom settings are also available:
- Review posts you’ve created or tagged. This is done via the Activity Log, so if you’ve followed any of our guides above, you should be familiar with the process.
- Visibility of the post. You can also change the privacy settings on older posts you’ve made (but not ones you’ve flagged – that’s within the control of those who created the post). Honest warning: this can take a while, as you will need to review each post separately.
- How you can be found and contacted on Facebook. Half of the privacy settings let you choose who can send you friend requests, view your friend’s list, or find your profile via your email/phone number. Most importantly, you can decide whether or not external search engines will link your Facebook profile.
By using the Privacy tab/link, you can limit future content you will post to the visitors you want to reach. Therefore, keep in mind that this list mostly includes general visibility settings – there is no way that you will allow your new privacy settings to apply to ALL of your posts. If you want your old publications to follow the same settings, you will spend an hour or two reviewing them.
TIP: Not interested in posts from a few years ago and want to save time? You can use Activity Log to delete large amounts of content. Then you can review posts from a year or two ago and change their privacy settings to your most appropriate.
Other Ways to Keep Your Online Data Private
Lastly, saying goodbye to Facebook has become a much easier decision. Part of the reason is that users now have better access to tools and settings, but the biggest reason is that the social media giant isn’t friendly enough with your privacy.
With recent events tarnishing his reputation even further, it’s no surprise that more and more people are leaving the Facebook scene and closing their accounts. But make no mistake – there are still a lot of serious digital threats out there. Just look at Google as an example:
It may seem like a huge challenge to stay private online today, but don’t let this make you apathetic about your own sensitive data. You can always look at some of the best alternatives to Google services that have no interest in harvesting as much information about you as possible. For more helpful info on living a peaceful digital life, we recommend taking a look at the in-depth guide to online privacy.
Did you find this article useful? If so, share it with those who may be interested in deleting their Facebook account. Even on Facebook.
