Deactivating & Deleting Your Account

If you have additional Facebook profiles and delete or deactivate your Facebook account, you also delete or deactivate all profiles under your account. Learn how to delete or deactivate individual profiles.
If you deactivate your account:
  • You can reactivate whenever you want.
  • People can't see your timeline or search for you.
  • Some information may remain visible to others (example: messages you sent).
  • You will not be able to use your Facebook account to access Meta Quest Products or your Meta Quest information.
If you delete your account:
  • You can't regain access once it's deleted.
  • We delay deletion a few days after it's requested. A deletion request is cancelled if you log back into your Facebook account during this time.
  • Some information, such as messaging history, isn't stored in your account. This means friends may still have access to messages you sent after your account has been deleted.
  • Copies of some material (example: log records) may remain in our database but are disassociated from personal identifiers.
  • If you use your Facebook account to log in to Meta Quest, deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Meta Quest information. This includes your app purchases and your achievements. You will no longer be able to return any apps and will lose any existing store credits.
We're currently updating our Facebook settings. Facebook settings may not look the same for everyone.
Deactivate your Facebook account
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
  3. If Accounts Center is at the top left of your Settings menu, you can deactivate your account through Accounts Center. If Accounts Center is at the bottom left of your Settings menu, you can deactivate your account through your Facebook Settings.
Deactivate your Facebook account through Accounts Center
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center at the top left of your screen.
  4. Click Personal details, under Account Settings.
  5. Click Account ownership and control.
  6. Click Deactivation or deletion.
  7. Choose the account or profile you want to deactivate.
  8. Select Deactivate account.
  9. Click Continue then follow the instructions to confirm.
If you have additional Facebook profiles and delete or deactivate your Facebook account, you also delete or deactivate all profiles under your account. Learn how to delete or deactivate individual profiles.
You can deactivate your account temporarily and choose to come back whenever you want.
Deactivate your account through your Facebook Settings if you don't have access to the new Pages experience
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Privacy, then click Your Facebook Information.
  4. Click Deactivation and Deletion.
  5. Choose Deactivate Account, then click Continue to Account Deactivation and follow the instructions to confirm.
You can deactivate your account temporarily and choose to come back whenever you want.
Deactivate your account through your Facebook Settings if you don't have access to the new Pages experience
  1. From your main profile, click account in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Your Facebook Information in the left column. If you have Facebook access to a page in the new Pages experience: Click Privacy, then click Your Facebook Information.
  4. Click Deactivation and Deletion.
  5. Choose Deactivate Account, then click Continue to Account Deactivation and follow the instructions to confirm.
When your account is deactivated:
  • No one else can see your profile.
  • Some information, like messages you sent to friends, may still be visible.
  • Your friends may still see your name in their friends list. This is only visible to your friends, and only from their friends list.
  • Group admins may still be able to see your posts and comments, along with your name.
  • You will not be able to use your Facebook account to access Oculus products or your Oculus information.
  • Pages that only you control will also be deactivated. If your Page is deactivated, people can’t see your Page or find your Page if they search for it. If you don’t want your Page to be deactivated, you can give someone else full control of your Page. You’ll then be able to deactivate your account without deactivating the Page.
Keep in mind that if you choose to keep Messenger active or are logged into Messenger when you deactivate your Facebook account, then Messenger will remain active. Learn how to deactivate Messenger.
When your Facebook account is deactivated, but you still have Messenger:
  • You can still chat with friends on Messenger.
  • Your Facebook profile picture will still be visible in your conversations on Messenger.
  • Other people can search for you to send you a message.
Reactivating your account
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. Remember, you'll need to have access to the email or mobile number you use to log in to complete the reactivation.
If you are the only person that has full control of a deactivated Page, you can reactivate your Page after you reactivate your Facebook account.
You can reactivate your Facebook account at any time by logging back into Facebook or by using your Facebook account to log in somewhere else.
Remember that you'll need to have access to the email or mobile number you use to log in. If you can't remember your password, you can request a new one. If you can't access the email associated with your account, learn how to reactivate your account.
If you have additional Facebook profiles, you can also delete or deactivate all profiles under your account. Learn how to delete or deactivate individual profiles.
What happens if I permanently delete my Facebook account?
  • You won't be able to reactivate your account
  • Your profile, photos, posts, videos, and everything else you've added will be permanently deleted. You won't be able to retrieve anything you've added.
  • You'll no longer be able to use Facebook Messenger.
  • You won't be able to use Facebook Login for other apps you may have signed up for with your Facebook account, like Spotify or Pinterest. You may need to contact the apps and websites to recover those accounts.
  • Some information, like messages you sent to friends, may still be visible to them after you delete your account. Copies of messages you have sent are stored in your friends' inboxes.
  • If you use your Facebook account to log into Meta Quest, deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Meta Quest information. This includes your app purchases and your achievements. You will no longer be able to return any apps and will lose any existing store credits.
What if I don't want all my content deleted, but I want to take a break from Facebook?
You can take a break from Facebook and temporarily deactivate your account. When you temporarily deactivate your account:
  • People won't be able to see or go to your Facebook profile.
  • Your photos, posts and videos won't be deleted.
  • You can still use Facebook Messenger. Your profile picture will still be visible in your conversations and people will still be able to search for you by name to send you a message. You will continue to appear to friends on Facebook in places where they can message you.
  • You can still use Facebook Login for your other apps, like Spotify, Pinterest or Games.
  • You will not be able to use your Facebook account to access Meta Quest Products or your Meta Quest information.
  • You can choose to come back whenever you want.
Learn how to permanently delete your Facebook account.
We're currently updating our Facebook settings. Facebook settings may not look the same for everyone.
To permanently delete your Facebook account:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
  3. If Accounts Center is at the top left of your Settings menu, you can delete your account through Accounts Center. If Accounts Center is at the bottom left of your Settings menu, you can delete your account through your Facebook Settings.
Delete your Facebook account through Accounts Center
To permanently delete your account through Accounts Center:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Accounts Center at the top left of your screen.
  4. Click Personal details, under Account Settings.
  5. Click Account ownership and control.
  6. Click Deactivation or deletion.
  7. Choose the account or profile you want to delete.
  8. Select Delete account.
  9. Click Continue then follow the instructions to confirm.
Delete your Facebook account through your Facebook Settings
To permanently delete your account:
  1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
  2. Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
  3. Click Your Facebook Information.
  4. Click Deactivation and Deletion.
  5. Choose Delete Account, then click Continue to account deletion.
  6. Click Delete Account, enter your password and then click Continue.
Can I cancel my 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 we're deleting this information, it's not accessible to other people using Facebook.
Copies of your information may remain after the 90 days in backup storage that we use to recover in the event of a disaster, software error, or other data loss event. We may also keep your information for things like legal issues, terms violations, or harm prevention efforts. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
To cancel your account deletion:
  1. Log into your Facebook account within 30 days of deleting your account.
  2. Click Cancel Deletion.
Android
To uninstall the Facebook app from your Android device:
  1. Go to your device's settings and open your application manager.
  2. Tap Facebook.
  3. Tap Uninstall.
To reinstall the Facebook for Android app, download it again from the Google Play Store.
Facebook Lite
To uninstall the Facebook Lite app from your Android device:
  1. Go to your device's settings and open your application manager.
  2. Tap Lite.
  3. Tap Uninstall.
To reinstall the Facebook Lite for Android app, download it from the Google Play Store.
iPhone
To uninstall the Facebook app from your iPhone:
  1. Press and hold the app icon.
  2. Tap Remove App.
  3. Tap Delete App.
To reinstall the Facebook app on your iPhone, download it from the iTunes App Store.
iPad
To uninstall the Facebook app from your iPad:
  1. Press and hold the app icon.
  2. Tap Delete App.
  3. Tap Delete.
To reinstall the Facebook app on your iPad, download it from the iTunes App Store.