Facebook, just like many other social media platforms, has seen some significant changes over the past few years. I’d go so far as to say that using Facebook hasn’t really been the same – at least for me – since Facebook’s massive data breach, exposing the personal details of more than 500 million users. I also don’t find Facebook particularly useful or interesting anymore, and it’s mostly just a bubble of distractions and ads about things you might have discussed with a friend on WhatsApp or Instagram.
Like me, if you don’t enjoy your time on Facebook and rarely log in to check your feed, why not delete your account? Better to shut it down and put it to rest for good than dismiss the idea until the next data breach or privacy scandal. Alternatively, you can also temporarily deactivate your Facebook account if you just want a short break and come back to it again at a later time. You’ve come to the right place no matter what you choose to do with your Facebook account because I’m going to explain how to deactivate or delete your account.
How to delete or deactivate your Facebook account in 2023
The option to delete or deactivate your Facebook account is, as you might expect, buried deep in the account settings of your profile. Here is a step by step guide on how to access it through the website:
- Open a web browser and head to www.facebook.com.
- Log in to your account and click on your profile picture in the upper-right corner of the screen to open a pop-up menu.
- Click Settings and privacy > Settings to open your account settings on a new page.
- click See more in the Account Center Highlighted in blue to open the Account Center page.
- Now click on personal details in the left sidebar menu then Account ownership and control.
- Click deactivation or deletion Select the account you want to delete or deactivate.
- Now select if you want to delete or deactivate your account, and click Complete.
- click Complete Again when you are shown the list of your Facebook Pages (if you have any), then enter your password for final confirmation.
And that’s it. You have now successfully deleted or deactivated your Facebook account. The process is fairly simple once you land on the right page with the required settings.
You can follow the same steps to find the option to delete or deactivate your account in the Facebook apps on Android and iOS as well. Just head over to the Settings page within the app and follow the steps above to find the option within Account Center.
Delete or deactivate your Facebook account
I would recommend deactivating your Facebook account rather than deleting it if you just need a short break from the platform or just social media in general. Sometimes all you really need is just a short break to decide the right course of action, so you might want to deactivate it temporarily if you’re thinking of permanently deleting it for good. Deactivating a Facebook account will essentially hide your profile from the public, and you won’t be able to access the platform until you restore it. It will also deactivate any Facebook Pages you alone control, so I’d recommend handing them over to someone else if you want the Page to remain active during the time you’re away from the platform.
Deactivating a Facebook account will also remove the ability to log into the sites and services you access using your Facebook login, so keep that in mind. However, Facebook Messenger will remain active, which means you can continue to use it and stay in touch with your friends and family. And if you don’t want that either, you can deactivate it separately.
On the other hand, deleting your Facebook account will permanently erase your account – at least that’s what Facebook says – and you won’t be able to recover the content and information you’ve shared on the platform. It will also delete Messenger and all your messages, so only go with this option if you absolutely want to delete your Facebook account and never use it again. You can change your mind and delete your account within 30 days, but there is no going back after that.
It may take up to 90 days for Facebook from the start of the deletion process to erase all of your data from the platform, but you will not be able to access it during this period. Copies of your data may still be in backup storage after 90 days, but Facebook can only use it in the event of disaster, data loss, or for things like legal issues, term violations, and more. Just keep in mind that deleting your Facebook account is a permanent procedure, and there is no way to recover it after the 30-day grace period.
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