How to Permanently Delete Facebook vs Deactivate: Steps and Timing
Permanently deleting Facebook erases your account after a 30-day grace period, while deactivating only hides it. Steps, timing and what to save first.
To permanently delete a Facebook account, open Accounts Center from Facebook’s settings, choose Account ownership and control, then Deactivation or deletion, pick your profile, select Delete account and confirm with your password. Facebook keeps the account in a pending state for 30 days, and logging back in during that window cancels the deletion. Deactivating is the reversible option: it hides your profile until you log in again, while deletion removes the account, your posts, photos and Facebook Messenger access for good once the waiting period ends.
What is the difference between deactivating and deleting Facebook?
Deactivation is a pause that you can undo at any time, and deletion is permanent after 30 days. The two options affect your account in different ways:
- When you deactivate, people can no longer see your profile or search for it, but Facebook keeps all of your data. Some things stay visible, such as messages you already sent.
- A deactivated account comes back in full, with friends, photos and posts, as soon as you log in again.
- You can keep using Messenger while your Facebook account is deactivated, if you choose that option during deactivation.
- Deleting the account removes your profile, posts, photos, videos and the rest of what you added, and you cannot reactivate it after the grace period.
- Deleting also ends your access to Messenger and to any apps or websites where you signed in with Facebook.
If you only need a break, deactivate. If you want Meta to stop holding your Facebook data, delete.
How do you permanently delete your Facebook account step by step?
The deletion option sits inside Accounts Center, which Meta uses for Facebook, Instagram and Messenger settings. Menu names shift slightly between the app and the website, but the path is close to this:
- Open Facebook and tap or click your profile picture, then choose Settings & privacy, then Settings.
- Select Accounts Center.
- Choose Personal details, then Account ownership and control.
- Select Deactivation or deletion.
- Pick the Facebook profile you want to remove if more than one account is listed.
- Choose Delete account and tap Continue.
- Follow the prompts, which may offer to download your information first, then enter your password and confirm.
Meta’s own steps, including any recent menu changes, are on the Facebook Help Center. If you cannot get into the account because someone else changed the password, recover it first using the steps in our guide to getting back a hacked Instagram or Facebook account, then delete it.
How long does Facebook take to delete your account?
Facebook waits 30 days before it starts the permanent deletion, and Meta says removing everything can take up to 90 days from that point. During the first 30 days the account is hidden, and a single login cancels the request. Avoid opening the Facebook app on any phone or tablet where you are still signed in, and turn off any other app that logs in with Facebook, because that counts as logging in.
After deletion begins, other people cannot see your information on Facebook while the process runs. Meta also states that copies of some data can remain in backup storage for a period after the account is gone, and that log records may be kept in a form that is not tied to your name.
What should you save before deleting Facebook?
Download your data first, because nothing can be recovered once the account is gone. Facebook’s Download your information tool, also in Accounts Center, exports posts, photos, videos, comments, messages and friend lists. Our guide to downloading a copy of your Facebook data walks through the formats and how long the export takes.
Before you confirm, also check these:
- Sites and apps where you used “Continue with Facebook”. Switch each one to an email login or you may lose access to it.
- Pages you manage. A Page where you are the only admin is deleted with your account, so add another admin first if the Page should survive.
- Groups you run. Hand over admin rights to someone else.
- Photos that exist only on Facebook. The data download covers them, but check that the files opened correctly.
- Contacts you reach only through Messenger. Swap phone numbers or email addresses before Messenger stops working for you.
What stays on Facebook after you delete your account?
Messages you sent to other people stay in their inboxes, because those copies belong to the recipients’ accounts. Comments and posts you made are removed, but any copy someone else made (a screenshot or a reshared photo saved elsewhere) is outside Facebook’s control. If a friend tagged you in a photo they uploaded, the photo stays on their profile, though the tag to your account is gone.
Does deleting Facebook delete Instagram or WhatsApp?
Deleting Facebook does not delete Instagram or WhatsApp. Instagram has its own account even when it is linked to Facebook in Accounts Center, and you must delete it separately from the same Deactivation or deletion screen by choosing the Instagram profile. WhatsApp is a separate service tied to your phone number, with its own delete option in the WhatsApp app under Settings, then Account. If you plan to keep Instagram or WhatsApp but want less of Meta’s assistant in them, see which Meta AI features you can turn off.
Quick answers
Can I cancel a Facebook account deletion?
Yes, within 30 days of the request. Log in to the account and choose Cancel deletion when Facebook asks. After that window the account cannot be restored.
Can I reactivate a deactivated Facebook account later?
Yes. A deactivated account has no time limit, and logging in with your email or phone number and password brings it back with your content in place.
Will my friends be notified that I deleted Facebook?
Facebook does not send friends a notice. Your profile disappears from search and their friend lists, and your name may show as “Facebook User” in old message threads.
Can I use the same email to make a new Facebook account?
Once deletion is complete, the email address is free and you can sign up again with it. The new account starts empty, with none of the old friends, posts or photos.
