Facebook Stories allow users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. They appear at the top of the News Feed. While Stories can be fun, some users may want to remove a Story after they’ve posted it. There are a few ways to delete a Facebook Story on desktop and mobile.
Overview of Facebook Stories
Facebook Stories were introduced in 2017 as a way for users to share moments of their day. Stories appear at the top of the News Feed in a bar above posts. When you post a Story, it’s visible to your friends for 24 hours. Friends can react and reply to Stories with text or stickers.
Some key things to know about Facebook Stories:
- They disappear after 24 hours. You can’t view old Stories.
- Friends are notified when you post a new Story.
- Stories are different from posts. They don’t appear on your profile or timeline.
- You can choose who can see your Story using your audience selector.
- Stories are ephemeral, meaning they are temporary. They are meant to share casual, everyday moments.
Overall, Stories provide a way to share quick updates without cluttering up timelines. However, you may sometimes want to delete a Story after posting it.
Why Delete a Facebook Story?
There are a few reasons why you might want to remove a Facebook Story:
- You shared something accidentally.
- You changed your mind and no longer want the Story up.
- You noticed a mistake or typo in the Story.
- You want to tighten your privacy and remove content.
- The Story is no longer relevant or timely.
With regular Facebook posts, you have the option to delete or edit the post at any time. However, Facebook Stories disappear on their own. To delete a Story, you have to manually remove it.
How to Delete a Facebook Story on Desktop
If you’ve shared a Facebook Story that you want to remove, here is how to delete it on a computer:
- Go to Facebook and log into your account.
- Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
- Select “View Profile.”
- In the left sidebar, click “Stories.”
- Hover over the Story want to delete.
- Click on the three dots that appear in the top right corner.
- Select “Delete Story.”
- Confirm that you want to delete the Story.
This will instantly remove the Story from Facebook so that it is no longer visible to your friends. Do keep in mind that if any friends have viewed or interacted with your Story already, they may still have a notification about it on their own News Feed even after you delete it.
Step-by-Step Example
As you can see in the example above, deleting a Story on desktop just takes a few clicks once you locate the Story in your profile. This is the quickest way to remove a Facebook Story.
Deleting a Facebook Story on Mobile
You can also delete Stories from Facebook’s mobile app for iPhone or Android. Here is how:
- Open the Facebook app and log in.
- Tap on the hamburger menu (three line icon) in the top right.
- Go to your Profile.
- Tap on the Story that you want to delete.
- Tap on the three dots in the bottom right corner.
- Select “Delete Story.”
- Confirm that you want to delete.
This will remove the Story just as if you had deleted it on desktop. The process is very similar.
Step-by-Step Example
As you can see, the Story deletion process is straightforward on mobile as well. Just navigate to your Profile, open the Story, and delete it.
What Happens When You Delete a Facebook Story?
When you delete a Story, here is what happens:
- The Story immediately disappears from the Facebook app and is no longer visible to anyone.
- The Story will not appear in any of your friends’ News Feeds anymore.
- If friends viewed your Story before you deleted it, they may still see a notification about it on their own News Feed.
- Deleting prevents any further views or interactions with the Story.
- Friends will not be notified that you deleted the Story.
In summary, deleting instantly removes your Story from visibility on Facebook. Friends who already saw it may still have notifications, but deleting prevents any new views.
Can You Recover a Deleted Facebook Story?
Once you delete a Story, it is gone for good. There is no way to recover or access deleted Stories on Facebook. Some things to keep in mind:
- Deleted Stories cannot be retrieved, as Facebook designed them to be ephemeral.
- Stories do not get saved in archives or backups when you delete them.
- If you want to keep a copy of the Story, you must screenshot or record it before deleting.
- You cannot undo deleting a Story or find it in Trash or Saved folders.
In general, it is impossible to recover a deleted Story unless you saved a copy externally before removing it. When Stories are gone, they are gone for good.
How Long Do Deleted Facebook Stories Stay on Your Phone?
When you delete a Facebook Story, it disappears from the Facebook app and website. However, deleted Stories may continue to exist temporarily in the Facebook app’s cache on your phone.
Here is how long deleted Stories stick around on your phone:
- iOS – Deleted Stories remain in the cache for up to 3 days
- Android – Deleted Stories remain in the cache for up to 24 hours
This means if you quickly reopen the Facebook app, you may briefly see your deleted Story again until the cache refreshes. But it will disappear permanently within 3 days on iOS or 1 day on Android.
The Story will not be visible to anyone during this time – only briefly to you if you reopen the app before the cache clears. This is normal behavior for the Facebook app. The Story will be permanently gone from all locations within a few days.
Mistakes to Avoid When Deleting Facebook Stories
When you are deleting a Facebook Story, here are some mistakes to avoid:
- Don’t delete the wrong Story. Double check you are removing the one you want.
- Don’t rely on being able to recover it. Make sure you have a copy if you want one.
- Don’t assume it disappears instantly. Friends may still have notifications about it.
- Don’t clear your cache right after. Reopening the app briefly shows deleted Stories.
Overall, be sure you mean to delete the Story, know it can’t be recovered, and understand your friends may still see notifications about it for a short time. Avoid deleting the wrong one by accident.
Other Ways to Remove Facebook Content
While this article focused on deleting Facebook Stories, there are also options to remove or limit visibility of other content:
- Delete old posts – You can remove posts from your Timeline the same way you would delete a Story.
- Turn off notifications – Disable notifications about your profile activity to share more privately.
- Adjust privacy settings – Limit which friends see your future posts or narrow your audience.
- Deactivate your account – You can temporarily deactivate your Facebook account.
So if you want to tidy up your old posts, tighten your privacy, or take a break from Facebook, you have options. Deleting specific Stories is just one piece of customizing your settings.
Conclusion
Deleting Facebook Stories is straightforward once you are in your Profile on mobile or desktop. Tap the three dots or hover icon, select delete, and confirm. Deleted Stories disappear instantly from Facebook and cannot be recovered. Friends may have notifications about your Story after you delete it, but it will no longer be visible. Be sure you want to remove a Story before deleting, as they cannot be retrieved. Overall, deleting Stories allows you to curate and update the moments you broadcast to friends.