How to Deactivate or Delete your Facebook Account

Ash (362)

Feb 17, 2021

3 minutes

Facebook is one of the biggest social media platforms around. If you want to deactivate your Facebook account, it's important to know that deactivating your account is not the same as deleting it.

Deleting vs Deactivating your Facebook account

Deleting your Facebook account completely removes your account. Your posts and images will no longer be accessible, but be aware that it can take up to 90 days for all of your data to be purged from Facebook's backup systems. It is possible to cancel a deletion request within 30 days of the request.

Deactivating your Facebook account temporarily hides the account. Your profile does not appear in search results or friends lists. You can reactivate the account again by logging in to it.

h/facebook • 6 guides

Deactivating your Facebook is a temporary way to hide your profile. If you don't want to totally purge your account and plan to return in the future, this is the option for you.

Go to the official Facebook website from a browser. Mobile apps don't always have the menus we need.
Log in to the profile you want to deactivate.
Open the drop-down arrow in the upper-right hand corner.
Choose Settings
Go to Your Facebook Information on the left.
Select Deactivation and Deletion.
Click Deactivate Account.
Confirm the Account Deactivation again.

If your Facebook account is in a deactivated state, you can easily reactivate it.

Go to the official Facebook website from a browser. Mobile apps don't have all of the options we need.
Log in to the profile you want to reactivate.
Confirm your identity using the email or phone number attached to the account.
Follow the prompts to complete the reactivation.

If you want to permanently remove an account, you need to delete it.

Go to the official Facebook website from a browser. Mobile apps don't have the options we need.
Log in to the profile you want to delete.
Click the drop-down arrow in the upper-right hand corner of the page.
Go to Settings.
Choose Your Facebook Information on the left.
Click Deactivation and Deletion.
Select Delete Account.
Click Continue to Account Deletion.
Confirm your password and click Continue.
To complete the process, choose Delete Account.