With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become one of the most widely used social media platforms in the world. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, share photos and life updates, promote businesses, join groups, and more.
But with so much personal information being posted, many users eventually have regrets about some of their Facebook activity and want to remove certain posts or photos. This raises the question – is it really possible to permanently delete Facebook posts?
Can You Delete Facebook Posts?
Yes, Facebook does allow users to delete their own posts. When you delete a Facebook post, it is removed from your profile, Page, or Group. Other users will no longer be able to see or access that post.
To delete a post, go to the post you want to remove and click on the three dots in the upper right corner. Select “Delete Post” and confirm that you want to remove it.
There are a few caveats to be aware of when deleting Facebook posts:
- Deleting a post only removes it from your view of Facebook. If other users shared or commented on your post, they may still be able to see it on their own Timelines.
- If you delete a post that had photos or videos, it will delete the whole post but the photos/videos may still exist on Facebook’s servers.
- You can only delete your own posts. You cannot delete posts made by other users on their own Timelines.
So in summary – yes, you can remove your own posts from Facebook but that does not guarantee it is erased from existence across the platform.
Are Deleted Facebook Posts Gone Forever?
No, simply deleting a post does not permanently erase it from Facebook’s servers. When a post is deleted, it is removed from view but Facebook still retains some of the data:
- Facebook keeps deleted posts for a period of 90 days in case you change your mind and want to restore it.
- Meta data about the post – such as date, time, location, tagged users, etc – may remain in Facebook’s systems.
- Deleted posts may continue to appear in Facebook search results for a short period of time until caches are refreshed.
- If the post contained photos or videos, the files themselves may persist on Facebook’s servers.
Essentially, when you tell Facebook to delete a post, they simply remove access to it. But the post is not immediately or permanently erased from their databases. It can take up to 90 days for a deleted post to be permanently scrubbed from Facebook’s systems.
How to Permanently Delete Facebook Posts
If you want to ensure a post is permanently deleted from Facebook, here are a few options:
Delete and Report the Post
When you delete a post, you have the option to also report it. Select “I want to report this post” after deleting and choose “I don’t like this post” as the reason. Reporting a deleted post signals to Facebook that you want the content completely removed from their systems.
Request Post Deletion
Go to Facebook’s Help Center and submit a request to have specific posts deleted from their records. Note that Facebook is not obligated to honor these requests, but submitting an official request puts them on notice.
Use a Third Party Deletion Tool
Services like DeleteMe and JustDeleteMe scan your Facebook activity and permanently delete posts, photos, videos, comments, likes, and other data. This is the closest option to permanently wiping your Facebook presence, but it costs money to use these services.
Can Deleted Facebook Posts Be Recovered?
In most cases, no. When a regular user deletes a Facebook post, it cannot be recovered once permanently scrubbed from Facebook’s servers.
However, Facebook does have the technical capability to restore deleted content in extreme cases. For example, Facebook may be able to recover a deleted post if law enforcement makes a valid legal request related to a crime. But standard users cannot resurrect deleted posts.
Does Deleting Facebook Posts Really Matter?
For most casual Facebook users, deleting posts periodically is sufficient. Simply removing unwanted posts from your Timeline protects your privacy and curates your profile. But for those who want posts permanently gone, deleting does not guarantee that.
Here are a few reasons why you may want posts permanently deleted from Facebook’s systems:
- Prevent embarrassing posts from resurfacing later on.
- Stop people from accessing private, sensitive, or controversial content you’ve shared.
- Remove outdated information that no longer represents who you are.
- Eliminate data that could be used by Facebook for advertising purposes.
- Delete incriminating posts that could be used against you legally.
- Completely wipe your presence from Facebook before deleting your account.
For most users, simply removing unwanted posts from public view is sufficient. But for those determined to eliminate all traces of a post from Facebook permanently, deletion alone is not enough.
Can You Permanently Delete Facebook Accounts?
Similar to posts, it is possible to deactivate and delete a Facebook account. But this does not guarantee all your data is permanently erased from their systems.
When you delete your Facebook account, your profile, photos, posts, videos, comments, and other data are removed from active view. But Facebook saves all that data in case you change your mind and want to reactivate your account.
Meta says it may take up to 90 days to delete all data associated with a closed account. Critical information like posts and photos may be erased sooner, but metadata can persist longer.
To minimize what Facebook retains after deleting your account:
- Remove as much content as you can before deactivating your account.
- Submit an official request to delete your data via the Help Center.
- Use a service like DeleteMe to purge your data.
This makes it more likely Facebook will permanently delete your data in a timely manner. However, there is no guarantee everything will be erased from their systems.
Conclusion
Deleting Facebook posts or your entire account does not guarantee permanent erasure of your data from their servers. When you delete content, Facebook simply removes it from active view but retains it for a period of time in case you change your mind.
The only way to ensure permanent removal of Facebook posts, photos, videos, and other data is to manually delete content before closing your account and use a third-party deletion service. However, even this does not fully guarantee that all traces of your Facebook presence will be wiped from their systems.
For most users looking to curate their profiles or start fresh, deactivating and deleting an account is sufficient. But for those determined to eliminate their Facebook presence permanently, deletion alone may not suffice.