This post is about how to deactivate your Facebook account. Whether you are scared about the online privacy policies that allows Facebook to sell your private information to third parties or you are tired of the buzzing and competition on social media such as Facebook, then you must know there is a difference between deleting your Facebook account and deactivating your account.
When you delete your Facebook account, your account and every detail about the account is gone permanently. So, you won’t be able to reactivate it again. When you take this step, Facebook keeps your account for about 90 days in case you have a change of though before removing your data completely from their backup system.
As a reminder, the moment you delete your Facebook account you won’t be able to use Facebook messenger, you won’t be able to use Facebook login for other apps or websites you may have signed in with your Facebook account examples Pinterest, Instagram, Spotify, LinkedIn, your blog, Google etc.
However, when you deactivate your Facebook account, your information such as photos, posts, messages, friends list are hidden that nobody can access or search them.
Here is a step by step on how to delete your Facebook account
- Visit the delete your account page on https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account Here you will find an option to deactivate your and delete account.
- At the bottom right-hand corner, click on Delete Account and tap Continue
- Follow the instructions to confirm
The moment you take this account, you can initiate cancel account deletion within 30 days of deleting your account. After the 30 days, you won’t be able to recover your account.
To cancel your account deletion:
- Login to your Facebook account within 30 days of deleting your account.
- Click on Cancel Deletion.
Facebook has an option for you to download a copy of your information like photos and post before you delete your account.
Steps to Download your Information
- Go to “Settings”
- Click on “Your Facebook Information”
- Click on “View”
- Click on “Download Your Information”
- Check or uncheck the boxes on the right side of the page to select or remove categories of data from your request.
- Choose the format of your download and the date range of your request.
- Click “Create File” to confirm your request.
- A notification will be sent to you that your download request has been prepared.
- Follow step 1 to step 4 above to download.
- Click on “Download” you will be prompted to re-enter your password before the file downloads.
How to Temporarily Deactivate your Facebook Account
- Scroll to the button of Facebook and tap “settings & Privacy” or Click on the Upside-down triangle in the top right corner of any Facebook page, then go to “Settings”
- Scroll down and click “Account Ownership and Control” below “Your Facebook Information”.
- Click “Deactivation and Deletion”.
- Choose “Deactivate Account” and tap “Continue”.
- Then follow the instructions to confirm.
To reactivate your account when you’re ready to come back from your “Facebook break”, just log in to Facebook or use any third-party app or website that you have used Facebook to log in to before. To complete the process you must have access to an email or mobile number.