Deleting your Facebook account is a big decision that requires some preparation and understanding of what will happen to your information and pages you have created. Here is a comprehensive look at what happens to your Facebook pages when you delete your account.
Your Profile Page
Your personal Facebook profile page will be permanently deleted when you delete your account. This includes all posts, photos, videos, and other content you have shared on your timeline. Friends will no longer be able to search for you or view any part of your profile.
Pages You Have Created
If you are an admin of any Facebook pages for a business, organization, or community, these pages will not be deleted when you delete your personal account. However, you will no longer be an admin for these pages. The other admins will remain in place.
If you are the only admin for a page you have created, then you will need to assign another admin before deleting your account. Otherwise, the page will no longer have an active admin and will be unpublished. No one will be able to access the page until a new admin claims it.
Assigning Another Admin
To keep your pages active when deleting your Facebook account, follow these steps:
- Go to your page and click “Settings” at the bottom of the left sidebar.
- Click “Page Roles” on the Settings page.
- Click “Add Admins” and type in the name of the person you want to make an admin. Choose the person from the dropdown results.
- Click “Add” next to their name.
- The new admin will get a notification that they have been added. Once they accept, they will have full admin access.
You can also assign additional page roles like Editor or Moderator if you want to limit access. Just repeat the steps above choosing the role you want to assign.
Facebook Groups
Similar to pages, any Facebook groups you have created will remain intact when you delete your account. However, just like with pages, you will no longer be an admin in these groups unless you assign a new admin.
To keep your group active, go to the group and add another admin under the Member Management settings. If you are the only admin, your group will become unpublished when you delete your account until a new admin claims it.
Leaving vs Deleting a Group
If you are a member but not an admin of any Facebook groups, you have two choices when deleting your account:
- Leave the groups – You will no longer be a member. Your past posts will remain visible.
- Delete your membership – This will remove you completely from the group as if you were never a member. All your past posts will be deleted.
Consider which option you prefer for any groups you are a part of but don’t manage before deleting your account.
Your Facebook Comments
All comments you have made on other Facebook pages, public posts, ads, and media will be anonymized when you delete your account. This means your name and photo will be removed from the comment and replaced with “Facebook User” as the name.
The text of your comments will remain. However, no one will know they were made by you since your identity will be anonymous. Comments made on your own posts or on friends’ private posts will be deleted.
Events
If you are hosting any events on Facebook, these will be deleted when your account is. No one will be able to view the event page or details. If you created events for a business or organization page that you administer, then the events will remain active under that page.
For any events you were invited to or joined, your RSVP and any posts in the event feed will be removed. The event itself will remain active for other participants.
Your Messenger History
Your entire Messenger history – including chats, group conversations, calls, and stories – will be permanently deleted when you delete your Facebook account. Friends will no longer be able to search for you or view your messaging history.
Notifications and Reminders You Set
All notifications and reminders you have set on Facebook will stop once your account is deleted. This includes:
- Birthday reminders for friends
- Event reminders
- Reminders about your saved posts
- Notifications when friends post or comment
- Notifications from pages and groups
No future notifications will be sent to your email or phone.
Your Friends List and Tags
Your friends list will immediately become empty when you delete your account. You will be removed from your friends’ lists as well. Friends will no longer be able to tag you in posts, photos, or comments.
Saved Items
All items you have saved, such as posts, photos, videos, and links, will be permanently deleted. Your saved list will be erased.
Marketplace Listings
If you have any active listings on Facebook Marketplace, these will be removed once your account is deleted. Buyers will no longer be able to view your listings.
If you have sold items recently, you will still need to coordinate with buyers to complete any transactions initiated prior to deleting your account.
Your Facebook Payments Profile
If you have made any purchases on Facebook or sent/received payments through Messenger, you have a Facebook Payments profile. This will be deactivated when your account is deleted.
Any pending payments you have sent or received will be canceled. You will need to coordinate outside of Facebook to settle these transactions.
Advertisements
Any current ad campaigns you are running as an individual through Facebook will stop running and be removed once your account is deleted.
If you manage ad campaigns for a business or organization page you administer, these will remain active after you delete your personal account.
Apps and Logins
When you delete your Facebook account, you will be logged out automatically from any apps or websites where you used Facebook Login. Your access will be revoked.
Developers of these apps will no longer have access to your Facebook profile data and permissions you granted. You may lose access to certain app features tied to Facebook Login.
Oculus and Instagram
Deleting your Facebook account will not delete your Oculus account or any Oculus devices and content you have purchased. You will remain logged in to Oculus separately.
Similarly, your Instagram account will not be deleted if you delete Facebook, as they are separate services. You will stay logged in to Instagram.
Downloading Your Information
Before deleting your account permanently, you may want to download a copy of your Facebook data for your records. Here’s how:
- 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 “View” next to “Download Your Information”.
- Click “Create File” to start your data download.
Facebook will compile all your posts, photos, profile info, and other data into a downloadable file. It may take up to a few days before the file is ready to download.
Reactivating Your Account
If you regret deleting your Facebook account, you may be able to recover it within 30 days. Simply log in with your old email and password and your account will be restored with all previous data intact.
After 30 days, Facebook permanently deletes all data from its servers and there is no way to recover your account or any of its content.
Conclusion
Deleting your Facebook account erases your profile, messages, media, and all other personal data from Facebook servers. Pages and groups you created will remain online if you assign other admins. Comments you made on public content will be anonymized. Apps you logged into with Facebook will revoke access.
Be sure to download your data, settle payments, and assign page/group admins before deleting your account permanently. Within 30 days you can still reactivate your account to restore everything, but after that your data and account will be gone forever.