Anyone may think of deactivating their Facebook account regardless of why. Deciding whether to deactivate or delete your Facebook account is critical as for deactivation, you can retain it, but deleting means, you will lose all data for good.
Deactivating your Facebook account means you want to take a break from Facebook temporarily, and you may think of returning to Facebook whenever you want. However, deleting your Facebook account means you want to get rid of your account permanently. You only have 30 days to change your mind and restore your account. After 30 days, you can’t do it anymore.
Here’s a detailed guide for deactivating or deleting your Facebook account and the differences between them.
All steps are the same if you are a mobile or PC user.
Deactivating your Facebook account
When you deactivate your Facebook account, you can come back whenever you want. While it’s deactivated, users can’t see your timeline or search for you, and Facebook will deactivate the pages you control. However, some information, like messages you send, may remain visible to other users.
Step-by-step to deactivate your Facebook account
- Go to your main profile, and click the arrow icon at the top right corner.
- Choose “Settings & Privacy,” then “Settings.”
- On the left column, you’ll see an option called “Your Facebook Information.”
- Head toward “Deactivation and Deletion” at the bottom of the page. You’ll then be given the option to deactivate or delete.
- Choose “Deactivate” and follow the necessary steps.
- Keep in mind any time you log in after this automatically reactivates your account.
Deleting your Facebook account
It’s permanent when you delete your account, and you can’t go back. Everything you have added to your account is deleted permanently within a few days of your decision. Friends may still access messages you sent after you deleted your account. Facebook says copies of some data, such as log records, may stay in their database “but are disassociated from personal identifiers.”
How to delete your Facebook account?
Take the same steps as deactivation; only you will choose to Delete. After that, take the necessary steps, and your account will be deleted.
In case, for any reason, you change your mind after choosing to delete, Facebook says you have 30 days to cancel the account deletion. Facebook also says it takes 90 days to delete everything tied to your account.
If you choose to delete it, you might also want to download a copy of your information on Facebook, such as photos or videos.
