Deleting your Facebook account permanently can be a daunting task. Facebook doesn’t make it easy to delete your account, trying to persuade you to deactivate it instead. However, it is possible to completely delete your Facebook account if you follow the right steps.
Why You May Want to Delete Facebook Permanently
Here are some common reasons why people want to permanently delete their Facebook accounts:
- Privacy concerns – Facebook has frequently been in the news for privacy violations. You may not want them having so much personal data about you.
- Too distracting – For many, Facebook can be addictive and end up taking too much time out of the day.
- Don’t use it anymore – If you’ve stopped logging in to Facebook, having an unused account floating around doesn’t make much sense.
- Don’t like the company – Due to privacy issues, political issues, or other concerns, you may not like the way Facebook does business.
Whatever your reasons, deleting your account permanently can give you peace of mind knowing your data is no longer in Facebook’s hands.
How to Download Your Facebook Data
Before deleting your Facebook account, you may want to download a copy of your data for your records. Here’s how to download your Facebook data:
- Click on the down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page and select “Settings”.
- On the left sidebar, click “Your Facebook Information”.
- Click “Download Your Information”.
- Decide the date range you want to download – you can do all time or a custom range.
- Select the types of information you want to download – everything or just specific things like photos.
- Click “Create File”. Facebook will prepare a download of your data and notify you via email when it’s ready.
This lets you have a copy of your data before deleting your account permanently.
How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account
Before permanently deleting your account, the first step is to deactivate it. Here’s how:
- Click the down arrow at the top right and select “Settings”.
- Click “Your Facebook Information” in the left sidebar.
- Click “Deactivation and Deletion”.
- Choose “Deactivate Account” and click “Continue to Account Deactivation”.
- Select a reason for deactivating and optionally enter feedback.
- Click “Deactivate”.
Deactivating your account hides your profile and removes your name and photos from most Facebook pages. You can reactivate your account at any time by logging back in.
How to Delete Facebook Permanently
If you are sure about deleting Facebook forever, here are the steps to permanently delete your account:
- Click the down arrow at the top right and select “Settings”.
- Click “Your Facebook Information” in the left sidebar
- Click “Deactivation and Deletion”.
- Choose “Permanently Delete Account” and click “Continue to Account Deletion”.
- Enter your password to confirm your identity.
- Click “Permanently delete account”.
Facebook will try to talk you out of deleting with prompts to deactivate instead or have a trusted friend manage your account. Stay strong and keep clicking to continue with the deletion process. After around 1 month, your account will be permanently deleted along with posts, photos, messages, etc.
How to Delete Facebook Without Logging In
If you can’t log into your Facebook account to delete it, such as if you forgot your password, you can still submit a deletion request without logging in:
- Go to Facebook’s deletion page at facebook.com/help/delete_account
- Click “Let us know” to submit a deletion request without logging in.
- Enter your email or phone number used for your Facebook account and click “Search”.
- Select your account to confirm you want it deleted.
- Click “Submit Request”.
Facebook will email you a confirmation code to enter on the page to verify your deletion request. After you enter it, your account will be scheduled for deletion just like if you had logged in and deleted it.
How Long Does It Take to Delete a Facebook Account?
After you submit a Facebook account for permanent deletion either by logging in or without logging in, it takes around 1 month for Facebook to fully delete your account and data from their systems. During this 1 month grace period your account is deactivated but still recoverable if you change your mind.
Here is a timeline of what happens after deleting a Facebook account:
| Time Elapsed | Account Status |
|---|---|
| Immediately | Account is deactivated |
| 1-3 days | Account scheduled for deletion queue |
| 1 week | Account removed from most Facebook systems |
| 1 month | Account completely deleted from all Facebook systems |
So give it around 1 full month after submitting the permanent deletion request for your Facebook account to fully disappear. And don’t log back in during this time or it will cancel your deletion request!
How to Delete Facebook After Death
If the account owner is deceased, Facebook will delete an account with proof of death and proof you are an immediate family member or executor. Here is how to delete a deceased person’s Facebook account:
- Go to Facebook’s dedicated portal for this at facebook.com/help/contact/228813257197480
- Select “Deceased person’s account” for the topic.
- Enter the deceased person’s name and Facebook URL.
- Attach a copy of the death certificate and your ID.
- Click “Send”. Facebook will review then delete the account.
Facebook also allows appointing a legacy contact to manage your account if you pass away. This person can delete your account once Facebook confirms your death.
What Happens When You Delete Facebook
Here’s what happens after you delete your Facebook account:
- Your profile, photos, posts, videos, and everything else is deleted.
- Friends will no longer see you listed in their friends list.
- You can no longer log in – if you try, it will say the account does not exist.
- Your Messenger conversations are deleted.
- You are removed from any Facebook Groups you had joined.
- You lose access to any Facebook apps or games you used.
- Your Facebook events are removed from invites and calendars.
In summary, it will be like you never had a Facebook account in the first place. All of your content and data will be wiped from Facebook servers.
What Facebook Still Retains After Deletion
According to Facebook policies, they keep some information even after account deletion:
- Deleted information may persist in backup copies for up to 90 days.
- If you shared info with others they may have copies.
- Some things like IP logs and metadata may be retained.
So while most of your personal information is deleted, some basic logs and metadata related to account security and integrity may still be retained by Facebook internally.
Can You Recover a Deleted Facebook Account?
If you accidentally deleted your Facebook account, you may be able to recover it if you act quickly and it has not been 1 month since deletion.
To recover a recently deleted Facebook account:
- Log into Facebook with the email formerly associated with the deleted account.
- Facebook will give you options to recover the account or create a new account.
- Click the recover link and your account will be restored as it was before deletion.
However, after approximately 1 month from requesting deletion, your Facebook account is purged completely from their systems and is no longer recoverable.
Creating a New Facebook Account After Deletion
If you change your mind later on, you can always create a brand new Facebook account with your same or different email and sign-up information. Your old account and all its data will still be permanently deleted. Just create a new account like you’re joining Facebook for the first time.
Conclusion
Deleting your Facebook account permanently requires submitting a deletion request in your account settings and then waiting around 1 month for Facebook to fully delete all your data from their systems. Be sure you really want to delete Facebook for good before going through with it, as the deletion can’t be undone after approximately 30 days.
But if you are ready to delete your account forever for privacy, productivity or other reasons, following Facebook’s deletion steps will let you permanently erase your presence from their platform.
Just be sure to download any data, photos or posts you want to keep for your records before deleting. Once your account is gone after 1 month, it’s gone for good along with everything you ever posted.