Learn how to permanently delete or temporarily deactivate your Facebook account.
Before deleting your Facebook account, you have the option of downloading a copy of your data.
Want to take a vacation away from Facebook? You have two choices: you can choose to temporarily deactivate your Facebook account or request its permanent deletion. Summary of the procedures to follow to carry out these actions.
How to deactivate your Facebook account?
The deactivation of a Facebook account is temporary and you can decide to recover it at any time. To deactivate it:
From your profile, click on the down arrow, located on the far right of your screen and which activates a drop-down menu,
- In this menu, select Settings and privacy , then Settings ,
- In the left column, click on Your Facebook information ,
- Tap Deactivation and deletion , select Deactivate account ,
- Click Proceed with Account Deactivation and follow the instructions.
Note that when you choose to deactivate a Facebook account:
- No one but you can see your profile,
- You can continue to use Facebook Messenger,
- Your name still appears in the friends list of your Facebook contacts,
- Group admins can still see your name, posts and comments,
- You can no longer use your Facebook account to access Oculus products,
- Pages that you manage alone are automatically deactivated.
To reactivate your account, simply log back into Facebook. To do this, you must have access to the e-mail address or telephone number that allows you to connect to your account. If you forget the password, you can reset it to access your Facebook account again.
How to permanently delete your Facebook account?
Deleting a Facebook account is irrevocable and you will not be able to recover it. To delete your account:
From your profile, click on the down arrow, located on the far right of your screen and which activates a drop-down menu,
- In this menu, select Settings and privacy , then Settings ,
- In the left column, click on Your Facebook information ,
- Tap Deactivation and deletion , select Delete account ,
- Click Proceed with account deletion ,
- Select Delete Account , enter your password and click Continue .
When you choose to delete your Facebook account:
Your profile, your photos, your publications, your videos, as well as all the elements you have added will be permanently deleted and you will not be able to recover these contents,
You will no longer have access to Facebook Messenger,
You won't be able to use Facebook for apps you signed up for with your account, like Spotify or Pinterest,
This action will also delete your Oculus information, including your purchases, if you use your Facebook account to log in to Oculus,
Pages managed solely by you will be deleted.
Namely: it takes 30 days to delete a Facebook account, once the procedure has been launched. It is possible to request the cancellation of the deletion within this period. Once the 30 days have passed, your account and all of your information will be permanently deleted, and you will no longer be able to recover it.
How to download a copy of your Facebook data before deleting your account?
If you wish, you can request a copy of the information you have added or shared on Facebook. For it :
- Click on the down arrow, located on the far right of your screen,
- In the menu, select Settings and privacy , then click on Settings ,
- Click on Download your information ,
- Choose the file options (format, content quality, period) and check the information to download,
- Select Create File to initiate the download request.
When the procedure is launched, the download request will have the status "Pending", visible in the "Available copies" section within "Download your information".
Be aware that it may take several days before you can download your data. A notification will notify you when the file is ready to download.
