How to Delete or Deactivate A Facebook Account

Are you getting tired of the drama on Facebook? Want to get away for a while? This post will guide you on how to do so.

There are many means of addressing/approaching the issue of getting  a break from Facebook if need be. Be rest assured, all the means give effective results… they only have different implications.

Deleting/Deactivating A Facebook Account

Implications of Deleting

This action is drastic. Basically, by deleting a Facebook account, you lose access to that account and all data along with it. Fortunately, you can download all data from your account to an external storage before initiating the deletion process. Other implications of deleting a Facebook account are given below.
  • The deletion is delayed for a few days after the request is made. If you log in during this period, the deletion is cancelled.
  • It takes 90 days for all data on your account to be completely to be deleted. Note however that your information will not be accessible on Facebook during this time.
  • Some things not stored in your account, like messages that you’ve sent to friends will remain active.

Implications of Deactivating

Contrary to deleting, this action is much less severe. By deactivating your Facebook account, you simply hide your information so that your friends and everyone else will have no access to your page. This way, Facebook holds on to your data until you reactivate your account.
Deactivation is the obvious choice if there’s a slightest chance you might want to re-use that account sometime in the future. Other implications are listed below.
  • You have the privilege of reactivating your account whenever you want.
  • Other Facebook users are disabled from seeing your Facebook Timeline, or searching for you.
  • Some information such as messages you’ve sent may remain visible.
  • Facebook saves your account information in case you reactivate.

Now that the implications of deleting and deactivating have been cleared up, let’s look at how to initiate these actions.

Before embarking on deleting your account, you may want to download data from your account to an external storage. To do this, follow the steps below.
  • Click the account menu down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page in your web browser.
  • Click Download a copy of your Facebook data at the bottom of your “General Account Settings”.
  • Click Start My Archive.

The file that begins downloading will contain your Facebook profile information, so be very careful about where you keep it.

How to Delete a Facebook Account

The steps to initiate this action are comprehensively presented below.
  • Go to the Facebook deletion page by visiting this link.
  • Enter your login details i.e. your email or phone number and your password.

A new window will pop up with a warning message. This window also has the Delete my account and Cancel option buttons.

  • Click the Delete my account button.
  • Enter your login details again in the panels provided on the window that pops up.

Another window will pop up prompting you to enter your Facebook password and the displayed Captcha code.

  • Enter your password and the Captcha code correctly.

If you incorrectly entered your password or Captcha code, you’ll be asked to try again.

  • Click OK.

You’ll get a warning message on a new pop-up window telling you that your account has been deactivated from the site and will be permanently deleted within 14 days. Note that if you log into your account within this 14 day period, you’ll have the option of cancelling your deletion request.

  • Click the OK button below the warning message.

And that’s that for the deletion process. On to the deactivation process.

How to Deactivate  a Facebook Account

Before deleting your account, you may want to download data form you account to an external storage.
  • Login to your account.
  • Click the menu bar which appears on the top right corner (iOS devices) or bottom right corner (Android devices) of every page.
  • Select Settings.
  • Scroll down and click Deactivate your account.

At this point, you’ll be asked if you’re sure you want to deactivate your account. Then you’ll be asked to select a reason for wanting to deactivate your account. Possible reasons will be presented to you to choose from.

  • Choose your reason.
  • Afterwards, you’ll be asked if you want to opt out of receiving emails from Facebook. Confirm and Cancel options are present here.
  • Select the option which suits your needs
  • Click Confirm finally to deactivate your account.

Reactivating a Deactivated Facebook Account

There’s really no biggie here. To reactivate your account, all you have to do is enter your login details and log into Facebook. Your data is restored once your login is completed.

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