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How to delete a Facebook account
In This Article
There are many reasons why you’d want to delete Facebook, whether you’re concerned about your personal data falling into the wrong hands, or you simply don’t want friends and family snooping on old posts and photos.
Whatever your reason, we’ve created this guide to show how you delete your account in a few easy steps. It’s important to note that deleting your account will permanently erase all of your posts, photos, videos and pages associated with your account.
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If you’ll potentially want to use your Facebook account again in the future, we strongly recommend deactivating your account instead. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to find the Troubleshooting section, which details how you can deactivate your account instead of deleting.
And lastly, it’s important to note that deleting Facebook will stop you from being able to Meta’s Messenger app, losing all of your contacts and saved messages. You’ll also lose the ability to use Facebook Login for linked accounts such as Spotify and Pinterest. Fortunately, deleting Facebook will have no effect on Instagram, WhatsApp andThreadsdespite all being owned by Meta.
If you’ve read the above and are still willing to permanently delete your Facebook account, then keep on reading for a detailed guide on how to do so.
What you’ll need:
The Short Version
How to delete a Facebook account
Step1
Go to your Facebook feed
We’ll be using screenshots from the desktop browser version of Facebook, but you can also do this on your phone.
Step2
Click the arrow in the top right corner
This should show you a drop-down menu with your account settings.
Step3
Select Settings & Privacy
The icon will look like a cog.
Step4
Select Settings
Or click the cog icon again.
Step5
Go to Your Facebook Information
The tab will be on the left side of the page.
Step6
Choose Deactivation And Deletion
You can also download a copy of your data at this stage.
Step7
Select Delete Account and Continue To Account Deletion
Alternatively, you can choose to deactivate your account at this stage. Deactivating will disable your account temporarily, but you’ll still be able to use Messenger and recover the account later.
Step8
Click Delete Account
This is your last chance to download or transfer any of your account data.
Step9
Enter your password and hit Continue
That’s it! You’ve permanently deleted your Facebook account.
Troubleshooting
If you’re mostly just looking to take a break from Facebook, or want to use Messenger but don’t want people to visit your profile, there is the option to deactivate your account. You’ll still be able to use Facebook Login to access apps like Spotify and Pinterest but you won’t be able to log into Oculus (now Meta) headsets anymore.To temporarily deactivate your account, just choose Deactivate Account at step 7. You can then return whenever you feel like it.
If you’ve deleted your account and changed your mind within 30 days, you can cancel the process and recover your account. However, if 30 days have passed, you’re out of luck and will need to create a new account.To cancel your account deletion, just log into Facebook and click Cancel Deletion.
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Hannah joined Trusted Reviews as a staff writer in 2019 after graduating with a degree in English from Royal Holloway, University of London. She’s also worked and studied in the US, holding positions …
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Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
