Facebook allows users to deactivate their accounts temporarily while still saving their information. This can be useful if someone wants to take a break from Facebook without deleting their profile entirely. But what happens to a deactivated account from the perspective of their Facebook friends?
Do friends see when you deactivate Facebook?
When you deactivate your Facebook account, your friends will not receive any notification about it. Your name and profile picture will simply disappear from their friends list quietly. Some signs that a friend has deactivated their account are:
- Their name and profile picture are missing from your friends list.
- Their timeline or profile is no longer accessible.
- You can no longer tag them in posts or pictures.
- You are no longer Facebook friends with that person.
So while friends don’t get a specific notice, they will likely notice when one of their friends suddenly goes missing from their list. However, since no notification is sent, some friends may not even realize you deactivated unless they were checking your profile or trying to tag you.
Does deactivating remove you as a friend?
Yes, deactivating your Facebook account removes you from your friends’ friends lists. But this is just temporary – if you reactivate your account later, your friend connections will all be restored.
Friends don’t have to “re-add” you when you come back to Facebook after deactivating. You’ll simply reappear as a friend on their list once again.
Can friends still see your old posts and photos?
No, friends will not have access to your profile, posts, photos or any other information while your account is deactivated. Your entire account, including your timeline activity, essentially becomes hidden until you reactivate it.
However, you should be aware that any content you shared still exists on Facebook’s servers. And if your content was shared by other people on their own timelines, that will still be visible. But friends will not be able to directly click through to your profile or any original posts you made before deactivating.
Do you appear in old photos and tags?
Yes, previous photos and tags where you were identified by friends will still show your name, even while deactivated. Clicking on your name will lead to an error message rather than your profile. But the tag itself will remain visible.
Keep in mind that facial recognition may still identify you in photos friends post after you deactivate. You can opt out of facial recognition in your settings to prevent this.
Can people message you while deactivated?
No, friends will not be able to send you new messages on Facebook while your account is deactivated. They will simply see an error message that you cannot be reached.
Any old message threads will remain in your Facebook inbox if you choose to reactivate. But no new ones can be started until your account is reactivated.
Do you stop receiving notifications?
Yes, all notifications will stop once you deactivate your account. This includes friend requests, messages, timeline tags, gaming invites, and any other Facebook notifications.
You may still receive email digests for a short period until Facebook processes the deactivation. But those should stop within a few days at most.
Can you view friends’ profiles while deactivated?
No, you will not be able to log in or view any Facebook content in any way while your account is deactivated. It’s as if you no longer have an account at all during that time.
You also cannot make any changes to your account, such as updating information or uploading new profile pictures. Your account is essentially frozen until you choose to reactivate it.
Do your friends get notified if you reactivate?
Just like when you deactivate, your Facebook friends will not get any specific notification when you reactivate your account. Your profile will simply become visible on their friends list once again.
The only exception is if you changed your profile or cover photo while deactivated. Friends may then receive a notification that you updated your photo. But no other indication will be given about your account being reactivated.
Can you tell if someone deactivated their account?
Here are the signs that a Facebook friend may have deactivated their account:
- Their profile is no longer accessible, giving an error message.
- They no longer appear on your friends list.
- You can no longer tag them in posts or pictures.
- You are no longer Facebook friends with that person.
- You cannot send them new messages on Messenger.
If you notice these signs, they likely deactivated their account. There’s no guarantee without asking them directly, but these indications mean your friend most likely deactivated their Facebook profile temporarily.
What happens if you had a message thread with a deactivated friend?
If you had an existing Facebook message thread with someone who deactivated their account, you will still be able to view the old messages in your inbox.
You will see their name in your message list, but their profile picture will disappear. When you click on the message thread, you will see a notice that the person is unavailable and you can no longer send them messages until they reactivate their account.
So you cannot start a new conversation, but you can look back at your message history if you were connected on Messenger before they deactivated.
Can you share posts on a deactivated profile?
No, if one of your Facebook friends has deactivated their account, you will not be able to share any new posts directly to their profile timeline. You will get an error message that the content cannot be shared.
However, you may still tag a deactivated friend in a new post or photo if their tagging option was not disabled. But no notification will be sent to them, and the tag will simply serve to identify them by name in your content.
What happens to Facebook Messenger?
When you deactivate your Facebook account, it also deactivates Messenger. Friends will no longer be able to message you, and you will stop receiving notifications.
If you reactivate your Facebook down the road, your Messenger will automatically be restored as well. All your message history and friends will still be there when you log back in.
So Messenger works hand-in-hand with your main Facebook account. Deactivating one deactivates the other.
Can you still use Facebook to log in to other apps?
No, once you deactivate your account, you can no longer use Facebook Login to access any third-party apps or services. Since you are essentially logged out, Facebook cannot authenticate you to other apps during that time.
When you reactivate your account down the road, you can resume logging into apps with Facebook. You may need to re-authenticate some apps once your account is restored. But Facebook Login access will resume working as normal after reactivating.
Do advertisers still have your data?
Any of your data that was collected by advertisers before deactivating will still be retained by those third parties. Deactivating your account does not delete that data from external ad networks.
However, your data will no longer be updating in real time since advertisers can no longer track your activities and behaviors while your account is deactivated. So the external data on you will become increasingly outdated over your time off Facebook.
Conclusion
Deactivating your Facebook account temporarily removes you from your friends’ lists and hides your profile and past posts entirely. Friends will no longer be able to interact with you until you choose to reactivate your account.
The main signs friends may notice are your disappearance from their list and inability to message, tag or search you. But no notification alerts them of your deactivated status.
While deactivated, you cannot do anything on Facebook, including logging into other services with Facebook authentication. It is as if you no longer have an account during that time.
Once you reactivate your account down the road, all previous friend connections and data are restored. You appear on friends’ lists again as normal without any specific alerts.
So deactivating provides a clean break from Facebook interactions temporarily while still preserving your account for when you want to return. Just be aware that external advertisers may still have old data on you from before deactivating.
References
[1] Facebook Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/help/250563911970368
[2] Facebook Newsroom: https://about.fb.com/news/2021/08/facebook-accounts-deactivate-delete/
[3] Facebook Terms of Service: https://www.facebook.com/terms.php
[4] Facebook Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/help/212802592074644?helpref=faq_content
[5] Facebook Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/help/356107851084108?helpref=related