TL;DR
Yes, you can delete your Facebook account and most of its associated data. It’s not instant, and some things are retained even after deletion (for legal/security reasons), but a full removal is possible with careful steps. This guide explains how.
How to Delete Your Facebook Account & Data
- Back Up Your Information: Before deleting anything, download a copy of your data. Facebook provides this feature.
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information.
- Choose the date range and information types you want (posts, photos, videos, messages etc.).
- Select a format (HTML is easiest to view) and quality level.
- Click Request Download. You’ll receive an email when it’s ready.
- Deactivate vs. Delete: Understand the difference.
- Deactivation temporarily disables your account. Your profile is hidden, but you can reactivate it anytime. Data remains stored.
- Deletion permanently removes your account and data (after a waiting period). This process cannot be undone easily.
- Start the Deletion Process:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information > Deactivation and Account Deletion.
- Select Delete Account (not deactivate).
- Facebook will present options to download your information again, if you haven’t already.
- You’ll be asked to confirm your password.
- Waiting Period: Facebook doesn’t delete your account immediately.
- There is a 30-day grace period where you can cancel the deletion request.
- During this time, your profile will be hidden from other users.
- To cancel, simply log back into Facebook within the 30 days.
- What Data Remains After Deletion? Even after the 30-day period, some data is kept.
- Logs of past activity: Facebook retains logs to prevent fraud and abuse.
- Data shared with others: If you sent messages or posts to other users, those recipients may still have copies.
- Metadata: Some anonymized data might be used for research purposes (Facebook’s Data Policy explains this).
- Deleting Connected Apps & Services: Facebook allows login with your account on other apps.
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Apps and Websites.
- Remove any apps or websites you no longer use that have access to your Facebook data.
- Deleting Activity Logs: Before deleting the account, manually delete key activity logs if desired.
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information > Activity Log.
- Review and delete posts, comments, likes etc. individually or in bulk. This can be time-consuming.
Additional Considerations
- Messenger: Deleting your Facebook account does not automatically delete your Messenger account. You may need to delete that separately through the Messenger app settings.
- Instagram: If you linked Instagram to Facebook, deleting your Facebook account might affect your Instagram access. Review Instagram’s help documentation for details.
- WhatsApp: WhatsApp is owned by Meta (Facebook’s parent company), but deleting your Facebook account does not delete your WhatsApp account.