How to Delete a Facebook Account: Deletion and Deactivation

Facebook offers two ways out: hiding your profile temporarily, or erasing it along with everything on it. The first is undone by logging back in; the second is irreversible and reaches further than people expect — into Pages, groups and every service you signed into with Facebook.

The short answer

Open Settings → Accounts Center → Personal details → Account ownership and control and choose deactivation or deletion. You'll be asked which profile you're closing, prompted for your password, and offered a copy of your data.

Meta renames these sections periodically, so searching the settings for "delete" is usually faster than navigating.

Deactivation or deletion

• Deactivation. Your profile, posts and photos are hidden and you can't be found in search. The data is preserved and logging in restores it. One Facebook-specific detail: during deactivation you can keep Messenger running so you don't lose your conversations.
• Deletion. The account is queued for erasure. Logging in during the cancellation window restores everything; after it closes, posts, photos, friends and settings are gone for good.

If the goal is simply to stop visiting, deactivation handles it with no risk. Deletion makes sense when you don't want the profile at all and you're ready for what it does to linked services.

What to do before deleting

1. Download a copy of your information. Settings include an export: photos, posts, messages, your friends list. It isn't prepared instantly, so request it in advance.
2. Hand over your Pages. A Page where you're the only admin is deleted along with the account. Appoint another admin if the community is meant to continue.
3. Sort out your groups. Groups left with no admins go unmanaged; transfer the role beforehand.
4. Move third-party services onto another login. Anywhere you signed in "with Facebook", set an email and password — otherwise access to those accounts disappears with your profile.
5. Check paid subscriptions and ad billing. They exist separately and don't cancel themselves.
6. Save the contacts you need. People you only ever spoke to in Messenger become unreachable afterwards.

Deleting, step by step

1. Open settings and go to the Accounts Center.
2. Choose the personal details section with account ownership in it.
3. Tap "Deactivation or deletion".
4. Pick the profile, if the Accounts Center holds several.
5. Choose deletion and, if you like, give a reason.
6. Confirm with your password.

The order is the same in the app and on the web. The profile is hidden the moment you confirm, and the countdown to permanent erasure starts from there.

What happens after you confirm

• the profile stops opening and search no longer finds it;
• any login during the cancellation window halts the process — the platform states that window on the confirmation screen;
• once it closes, your posts, photos and your side of Messenger conversations are deleted;
• messages you sent remain with their recipients — as in any messenger;
• fully erasing the copies on the servers takes additional time, set out in the privacy policy.

Pages, groups and linked services

The most underestimated part of deletion is everything that follows the profile out the door.

• Pages. They disappear with the account if there are no other admins, and can't be recovered afterwards.
• Advertising. Campaigns stop and access to the ads manager is lost; outstanding invoices don't disappear with it.
• Login with Facebook. Sites and apps you entered with that button lose their way of identifying you.
• Linked Meta profiles. Instagram and other services exist separately, but when accounts are combined in the Accounts Center it's worth confirming which one you're actually deleting.
• Devices and ecosystem subscriptions. Some Meta services are tied to the account, and access to them may be lost after deletion — check this in advance if you use any.

How to confirm the process started

After confirmation the profile leaves search and stops opening by link — that's the first sign. If you try to log in, the platform shows a reminder that the account is queued for deletion and offers to cancel: that window is itself the proof that the process is running.

Which leads to a practical warning: checking the status by logging in is risky. One wrong tap in that window restores the profile and you'd have to start over. Asking someone else to open your page is the safer check.

If you can't get into the account

Deletion requires a password, so the first step is regaining access — through your linked email, phone number or identity confirmation.

For hacked profiles the help centre has a dedicated form, designed for cases where an attacker changed the email and phone number. The same place covers accounts of people who have died: relatives can request deletion or have the profile memorialised, with supporting documents. The platform sets its own requirements for those.

When deleting isn't necessary

• You want a break. Deactivation hides the profile and is undone by logging in.
• You're tired of the feed. Unfollowing Pages, hiding people and tuning your feed all help — and all are reversible.
• Privacy is the concern. Limiting past posts, setting who sees future ones and reviewing apps with access achieve more than deletion does.
• The account exists only for work. Plenty of people keep a profile purely for the ads manager and their Pages while wanting nothing to do with the personal side. Splitting the two is the better move: lock the personal part down with settings and run the work side from a separate profile — the Facebook accounts on Fire Accs cover that, so yours doesn't have to go.

Common mistakes

• Deleting the app instead of the account. The profile stays active and visible to everyone else.
• Forgetting the Pages. A sole admin takes the community down with them.
• Not detaching "login with Facebook". Some third-party accounts become inaccessible afterwards.
• Logging in "for a minute". Any login during the cancellation window stops the deletion and the process has to be started again.
• Skipping the data export. Once the window closes there's nowhere left to collect it from.

FAQ

Can the deletion be cancelled?

Yes, but only within the cancellation window: logging in with your old credentials is enough.

Does Messenger keep working after deactivation?

Yes, deactivation offers to keep it running. With full deletion, Messenger goes along with the account.

Will my friends see that I deleted my profile?

No notifications are sent. Your page simply stops opening and you vanish from friend lists.

What happens to my comments and tags?

Public activity belongs to the profile and disappears with it, though individual mentions in other people's posts can survive as plain text.

Will Instagram be deleted if it's linked?

No, they're separate accounts. But when they're combined in the Accounts Center, double-check which profile you're closing.

Can I register again with the same email?

Once the deletion completes, the address is freed and creates a new, empty profile with none of the old data.

Will the account delete itself if I stop using it?

No. An inactive profile stays exactly where it is, posts included — the platform doesn't remove accounts for dormancy.

What if I change my mind after the window closes?

The profile can't be brought back: neither support nor a new registration restores posts, friends or messages. A new account starts from scratch.

How long until the data is fully erased?

The profile disappears immediately; erasing the copies takes longer — the platform sets out the timeframes in its policy.

The takeaway

Both paths live in the same Accounts Center section, and the choice comes down to whether you'll want the profile later. Deactivation costs nothing and is undone by logging in; deletion needs preparation — export the archive, hand over your Pages, and move third-party services onto another login. And if the decision is final, stay out of the account during the cancellation window.