Facebook allows users to either temporarily deactivate their accounts or permanently delete them. Both options remove your profile and content from Facebook, but there are some key differences between deactivating and deleting an account.
What happens when you deactivate your Facebook account?
When you deactivate your Facebook account, it is hidden from other users on the platform. Your profile, photos, posts, videos, and all other account content is no longer visible to other people using Facebook.
However, all of your information remains stored on Facebook’s servers. Your contacts, messages, timeline posts, photos, videos, and everything else associated with your account is saved by Facebook. Nothing is actually removed when you deactivate an account.
Deactivating an account is meant to be a temporary break from Facebook. It’s useful if you want to take some time off from the platform without permanently closing your account.
Your account can be reactivated at any time by simply logging back into Facebook with your username and password. When you do this, your profile and all account content will reappear, just as you left it before deactivating.
Key things to know about deactivating a Facebook account:
- Profile and account content is hidden but not deleted
- Information remains stored on Facebook’s servers
- Account can be reactivated at any time
- Useful for temporary breaks from Facebook
What happens when you delete your Facebook account?
Deleting your Facebook account is a permanent action. When you delete an account, your profile, photos, videos, posts, and all other personal account information is removed from Facebook’s servers after a period of 90 days.
Unlike deactivation, deleting an account completely closes it and begins the process of erasing your information from Facebook.
When you first choose to delete a Facebook account, it is deactivated for 30 days. This gives you a month to reactivate it if you change your mind. After 30 days, if the account remains deactivated, Facebook initiates permanent deletion.
Over the following 90 days, all personal information associated with the account is removed from Facebook’s storage systems. After the full deletion process is complete, your account is closed and your information no longer exists on Facebook’s platform.
Key things to know about deleting a Facebook account:
- Account is deactivated for 30 days before permanent deletion
- All personal information is removed from Facebook after 90 days
- Process cannot be reversed once complete
- Useful for permanently closing an account
How to tell if an account is deactivated vs. deleted
There are a few clear ways to discern if a Facebook account has been temporarily deactivated or permanently deleted:
Signs an account is deactivated:
- Profile and timeline do not show up in searches
- Old links to profile result in an “account unavailable” page
- Name appears grayed out in mutual friends’ friends lists
- Private messages say “Facebook User” instead of name
Signs an account has been deleted:
- Entering the person’s name in search shows no results
- Visiting a direct link to their profile results in a “page not found” error
- Mutual friends’ friends lists no longer show the person
- Messages to their account fail to send
In most cases, you can discern if an account has been deleted or temporarily deactivated by searching for it on Facebook and attempting to navigate to the person’s profile page.
How to deactivate your Facebook account
If you wish to temporarily deactivate your own Facebook account, follow these steps:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings” and go to the “Your Facebook Information” section
- Click on “Deactivation and Deletion”
- Select “Deactivate Account” and follow the on-screen instructions
This will hide your profile and information from other users until you log back in to reactivate your account.
How to delete your Facebook account permanently
If you want to permanently delete your Facebook account, follow these steps:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Click on “Settings” and go to the “Your Facebook Information” section
- Click on “Deactivation and Deletion”
- Select “Delete Account” and follow the prompts to confirm
Your account will be deactivated for 30 days before being permanently deleted. All personal information associated with your account will be removed from Facebook’s systems within 90 days of initiating deletion.
Recovering a deactivated account
If you change your mind after deactivating your Facebook account, recovering it is simple:
- Go to Facebook.com and log in with your account email and password
- Your account will be reactivated with all previous information intact
You can log back in any time in the future to recover a deactivated account. Just use your existing login credentials.
Can you recover a deleted Facebook account?
If your account has been permanently deleted from Facebook, it cannot be recovered. The deletion process permanently closes your account and removes your information from Facebook’s systems.
However, if your account is still in the 30-day deactivated phase before permanent deletion, logging back in will stop the deletion process and reactivate your account.
So if you want to recover a “deleted” Facebook account, attempt to log in as soon as possible. If the 30-day window has passed, permanent deletion has likely already completed and the account cannot be restored.
Should you deactivate or delete your Facebook account?
Whether to deactivate or delete your Facebook account depends on your specific reasons for wanting to take a break from the platform.
Reasons to deactivate your account:
- Temporary social media break
- Avoid online distractions for school, work, etc.
- Reduce social media usage without losing information
- Take a break from notifications and updates
Reasons to delete your account:
- Permanently close unwanted or old accounts
- Stop using Facebook entirely
- Privacy and security concerns
- Prevent access to personal information
In general, deactivation is best if you want to take a temporary break, while full deletion should be used for permanently closing your account.
Conclusion
Deactivating and deleting Facebook accounts temporarily hides or permanently removes your profile and information from the platform. Deactivation is temporary, deletion is permanent.
Check if an account is deactivated by looking for profile unavailability and grayed out names. Deleted accounts will show no search results and page not found errors when trying to access the profile.
Use the steps outlined above to either deactivate or delete your own Facebook account based on your specific reasons for wanting to take a break from the platform.