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19 March 2019

How to Deactivate or Delete Your Facebook Account

There are several reasons why you may want to temporarily deactivate or permanently delete your Facebook account. Whatever your reason may be, this guide makes it easy to get rid of your entire Facebook account either temporarily or permanently.

You may have come across the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the British political data-mining firm used the personal data of millions of unwitting Facebook users, and you're now itching to go off the online service. On the other hand, you may just simply be concerned about your online privacy and want to reduce your personal online information; or it may be some other issue totally unrelated to the afore-mentioned reasons.

Whatever is your reason for wanting to leave the Social Media giant, there are two ways to get rid of a Facebook account: either to temporarily deactivate your Facebook account, or to permanently delete your Facebook account.

Facebook

Are you deactivating or deleting your Facebook account

What is the big difference between deactivating or deleting your Facebook account? Deactivating gives you the flexibility to return whenever you wish, while deleting your Facebook account is a permanent action which cannot be reversed.

When you deactivate your account, your timeline, including posts, photos, friends lists and "About" information are hidden, and others cannot search for your account. However, some information, such as messages you've sent, remains visible. Facebook saves all your information (friends, posts, photos, interests) in case you choose to reactive in the future.

Deleting an account, on the other hand, is set in stone. You will not be able to regain access once the account is deleted and everything associated with the user will be permanently removed. For this reason, Facebook delays deletion for a few days after the request is made, in case you change your mind. It can take up to 90 days after your account is removed for all of your data stored in Facebook's backup systems to be completely deleted.

How to deactivate your Facebook account

You can deactivate your account temporarily and choose to come back whenever you want.

To deactivate your account:
1. Click the upside-down triangle in the top right corner of any Facebook page.
2. Select "Settings"
3. Click "General" in the left column.
4. Click "Manage Account."
5. Select "Deactivate Your Account" and follow the written instructions to confirm your choice.

If you’d like to come back to Facebook after you’ve deactivated your account, you can reactivate your account at any time by logging back into Facebook or by using your Facebook account to log in somewhere else like an app or website. Remember, you'll need to have access to the email or mobile number you use to log in to complete the reactivation.

How to delete your Facebook account

Before deleting your account, you may want to log in and download a copy of your information (like your photos and posts) from Facebook. After your account has been deleted, you won't be able to retrieve anything you've added.

To permanently delete your account:
1. Go to the "Delete Your Account" page.
2. Click "Delete Account" in the bottom right-hand corner.

Can you cancel your account deletion?

If it's been less than 30 days since you initiated the deletion, you can cancel your account deletion. After 30 days, your account and all your information will be permanently deleted, and you won't be able to retrieve your information.

It may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all the things you've posted. While Facebook is deleting this information, it's not accessible to other people using Facebook.

To cancel your account deletion:
1). Log into your Facebook account within 30 days of deleting your account.
2). Click Cancel Deletion.

NOTE: Facebook recommends downloading a copy of your information before deleting your account so you have a copy of it and don't lose everything you've posted. This is especially important if there are photos or posts from friends that you want to save. Click here to learn how to download your information on Facebook,

1 comment:

  1. I really enjoyed reading your article. I found this as an informative and interesting post, so i think it is very useful and knowledgeable. I would like to thank you for the effort you have made in writing this article.

    ReplyDelete