Facebook used to be a great way for family and friends to reconnect, stay in touch, and share their adventures with others. Many Facebook users have taken the social media platform to another, less pleasant dimension in today’s hyperpoliticized culture.

Aside from negativity and the constant annoyance of too much information, many users are starting to worry about their security and privacy online. Facebook has a history of creating controversy, as evidenced by the debacle involving Cambridge Analytica.

This article will assist you if you want to permanently delete your Facebook account and all of the information the company has on you.

How to Temporarily Deactivate Facebook

Many users have been using Facebook for a long time. We have to say goodbye to a lot of memories, friends, memes, and other crucial information. You can temporarily deactivate your account if you’re concerned that you’ll forget about it or need something from it in the future.

1. Click the account menu at the top right of any Facebook page.
2. Select ‘Settings & Privacy’ then, ‘Settings’ again.
3. Click on ‘Your Facebook Information’ in the left-hand menu.
4. Next to ‘Deactivation and Deletion’ click ‘View.’
5. Make sure that the ‘Deactivate Account’ option is ticked then click on ‘Continue to Account Deactivation.’

If you deactivate your account, nobody will be able to see your profile. People won’t be able to search for you, and you won’t show up in their lists of Friends. Your Facebook Messenger account will still be active, though.

You can log back into your account on any device at any time to reactivate an account. You must sign out of all devices, including the mobile app, to avoid unintentionally reactivating your account.

Controlling Facebook Privacy

If privacy is your concern with Facebook, there are a few things you can do to limit the data the company shares with other businesses.

Facebook gives users some control over their data within the website, aside from the ability to disable location permissions and browse incognito.

Do this if you want more control over your Facebook privacy settings:

1. Follow the steps above by clicking on the arrow icon in the upper right-hand corner. Then, click on ‘Settings & Privacy.’
2. Click on ‘Privacy Shortcuts.’
3. Click ‘Manage your information.’
4. A new webpage will open. Here, you can follow the ‘Facebook’ > ‘I want to manage my data’ path.

Only links to instructions or Facebook’s privacy policy are provided by some of the options. However, some allow you to manage the company’s connected applications, ad preferences, and information sharing.

Adblock Plus includes a tool that enables you to disable the social media (Like) buttons integrated on websites other than the social network, helping you safeguard your data online without deleting Facebook. These buttons allow Facebook to monitor users’ online activity outside of Facebook, and this information may be made available to advertisers.

How to Permanently Delete Facebook

You can access the “Delete your Account” button in a number of ways. To start, you can deactivate your account as described above and choose the ‘Delete Account’ option.

You can also select the Delete Account option at the bottom of the page after following the instructions in the “Controlling Facebook Privacy” section. But if you need more guidance, follow these more detailed instructions:

1. Log into Facebook

To delete your Facebook account, you must log in for security reasons. You must reset your password if you’re deleting an account that you haven’t used in a while and you’ve forgotten it.

1. Go to the Find Your Account Page.
2. Type the email, phone number, full name, or username associated with your account, then click ‘Search.’
3. Follow the step-by-step guide.
4. If you can’t get a verification code, click on the No longer have access to these? option at the bottom of the pop-up window. Then, follow the steps to recover your login information.

2. Download your Facebook data

You may want to save your data first before permanently deleting Facebook. You can do this by choosing Settings from the drop-down menu in the top right corner of the screen.

The general account settings will be provided for your review. You can do this by clicking the link that says “get a copy of your Facebook data” at the bottom.

Before deleting your account, remember to complete this step. You will need to restart your account once it has been deleted in order to get your Facebook data. Your Facebook data is permanently erased 30 days after it is collected.

3. Permanently Deactivate Your Facebook Account

It’s time to deactivate your account now that you’re signed into Facebook and have saved all of your data. What you should do is:

1. Open Facebook and click on the arrow icon in the upper right-hand corner. Then, click on ‘Settings & Privacy.’
2. Click on ‘Settings’ again.
3. Click on ‘Your Facebook Information’ on the left side.
4. Click ‘View’ next to ‘Deactivation and Deletion.’
5. Click on the bubble next to ‘Delete.’ Then, click on ‘Continue to Account Deactivation.’

If you don’t think you’ll use Facebook again and would like to have your account deleted, we can take care of this for you, according to a pop-up window that should appear. Keep in mind that you cannot retrieve any of the content or information you have added or reactivate your account. Click “Delete My Account” if you still want to delete your account.

A pop-up window will now appear to remind you that this is a permanent choice. Retype your password to delete Facebook forever. Additionally, you must complete a CAPTCHA before clicking “OK.”

4. The cooling-off period

The process isn’t completely complete after selecting OK on the remove pop-up. Your account has been disabled from the site and will be completely erased within 30 days, as opposed to the prior pop-up. Within the next 30 days, you will have the ability to cancel your request if you log into your account.

You will have 30 days to change your mind after pressing the OK button on this message. After that, there will be no way to reactivate your account or have access to any data you didn’t preserve.

Sign back into your account to reactivate it.