Delete Facebook GuideDansk

How to delete your Facebook account

Facebook's own instructions are spread over many help pages. This is the short version: what to sort out first, what you can skip, and exactly where to click.

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Do this first

Before you delete

These steps protect what you want to keep. Once your account is gone, you cannot get any of it back.

  1. When the account is deleted, your photos, videos, posts and messages are gone for good.

    How to do it
    1. Open Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information.
    2. Choose Download or transfer information, select your Facebook profile and pick All available information (or just photos and messages).
    3. Choose the format HTML if you want to browse the files yourself, and High media quality.
    4. Facebook notifies you when the file is ready – it can take from minutes to a few days. Download it before you continue.
    Open Download your information

  2. If you use Facebook to log in to other websites, apps or games, you will be locked out of them when Facebook is deleted.

    How to do it
    1. Open Settings → Apps and websites to see every service you have logged in to with Facebook.
    2. For each one you want to keep: log in to the service and add an email and password (or another login method) in its own account settings.
    3. Using a Meta Quest headset? Make sure it uses a Meta account and not your Facebook login, or you may lose your purchases.
    Open Apps and websites

  3. Pages that only you control are deleted together with your account.

    How to do it
    1. Switch to the Page, then open Settings → Page setup → Page access.
    2. Choose Add new, find the person and give them access with full control.
    3. Repeat for every Page that should live on. Pages you don't need can simply be deleted with your account.
    Open your Pages

  4. If the only admin of a group leaves, the group is paused until someone accepts the admin role. Members can still read it, but nothing new can be posted.

    How to do it
    1. Open the group and go to People (Members).
    2. Tap ⋯ next to a member and choose Invite to be admin.
    3. Wait until they have accepted before you delete your account.
    Open your groups

  5. Only relevant if you run ads or a business portfolio. If you are the only admin, the business can lose access to its ad accounts and Pages.

    How to do it
    1. Open Meta Business Suite → Settings → People.
    2. Give another person full control of each business portfolio you want to keep.
    Open Business settings

  6. Deleting Facebook also closes Messenger. Messages you have sent stay in the other person's inbox, but you lose your copy.

    How to do it
    1. Check that Messages was included in the download from the first step.
    2. Encrypted chats may not be in that file. In Messenger, go to Settings → Privacy & safety → End-to-end encrypted chats → Message storage to download them.
    3. Tell the people you talk to how they can reach you instead.
Optional

Clean up – only if you want to

Not needed to delete your account. Useful if you want to deactivate instead, or want old activity hidden right away.

  1. Everything is removed when the account is deleted anyway. During the 30 days before deletion, your profile is simply hidden.

    How to do it
    1. Open your Activity log to see likes, comments and posts in one place.
    2. Filter by type (for example Likes and reactions) and remove what you want gone.
    Open Activity log
Delete

Delete your account

When you have done the steps above, you are ready.

  1. This is the actual deletion. Deactivating only hides your profile – choose delete if you want it gone.

    How to do it
    1. Open Accounts Center → Personal details → Account ownership and control → Deactivation or deletion.
    2. Choose your Facebook profile (not Instagram), select Delete account and tap Continue.
    3. Facebook may suggest alternatives and offer a data download. Continue past them, enter your password and confirm.
    4. On your phone: Menu ☰ → Settings (gear icon) → Accounts Center, then the same steps.

    If you have several Facebook profiles, Instagram or Meta accounts in Accounts Center, only the profile you choose is deleted.

    Open Deactivation or deletion
Afterwards

The next 30 days

Facebook waits 30 days before deleting your account for good.

  1. If you log in to Facebook – or use “Log in with Facebook” anywhere – within 30 days, the deletion is cancelled.

    How to do it
    1. Log out and delete the Facebook and Messenger apps from your phone and tablet.
    2. Log out of Facebook in your browsers.
    3. After 30 days the deletion is final. Facebook says it can take up to 90 days to remove everything from its systems.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between deactivating and deleting?

Deactivating hides your profile, and you can come back whenever you like by logging in. Deleting removes your account, photos, posts and Messenger for good after 30 days.

Can I cancel the deletion?

Yes, within 30 days. Log in to Facebook and choose Cancel deletion. After 30 days it cannot be undone.

What happens to my messages?

Messages you have sent are still visible to the people you sent them to. Your own copy of the conversations is deleted.

Is my Instagram or WhatsApp deleted too?

No. Only the Facebook profile you choose is deleted. Instagram and WhatsApp must be deleted separately if you want them gone.

What happens to my comments and photos in other people's posts and groups?

They are deleted along with your account. Photos of you that others have uploaded belong to them and are not deleted.