How do u delete a facebook account

Finally ready to unfriend Facebook?

The social media giant has drawn its share of criticism on multiple fronts, such as how it handles the spread of misinformation on its platform or its strategies for safeguarding your personal data.

Recently, social justice and civil rights groups are urging users to join in a nationwide boycott of Facebook, claiming the site has caused significant harm to American life.

And last year, following the death of George Floyd, advertisers pledged to stop marketing on Facebook as part of a temporary boycott over the social network's failure to remove hate speech.

Whether it's to avoid political rants or worries about how your data is managed, it is fairly easy to escape Facebook if and when you're ready to leave.

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Here's how to delete or deactivate your Facebook account:

Deactivate or delete?

Facebook gives you two choices: either deactivate your account or delete it.

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 you, and pages you control will be deactivated. However, some information like messages you send may remain visible to other users.

When you delete your account, it's permanent 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 have access to messages you sent after your account was deleted. Facebook says copies of some data such as log records may stay in their database "but are disassociated from personal identifiers."

How to deactivate Facebook

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 an 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.

How to delete Facebook permanently  

Take the same steps as deactivation, only you will choose to Delete. After that, take the necessary steps and your account is deleted. If 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 make take up to 90 days to fully delete everything tied to your account.

If you do choose to delete, you might also want to download a copy of your information on Facebook such as photos or videos.

A word on Instagram and WhatsApp

They're both owned by Facebook, too. So if you completely want to rid yourself of all things Facebook, you might want to consider deleting your Instagram or WhatsApp accounts.

More social media separation: 

• Instagram: How to delete or deactivate your account
• Twitter: How to delete or deactivate your account 
• Snapchat: How to delete or deactivate your account
• Robotexts: How to stop them before it's too late
• TikTok: Here's how to delete and request a file with all our your data
• Metaverse: Everyone wants in. But what exactly is it?

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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The quick and easy way to delete your Facebook

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This wikiHow teaches you how to delete your Facebook account with no option of retrieving it later. You cannot perform this process from the Facebook mobile app.

Steps

1. 

   1

   Go to Facebook's deletion page. In a web browser, navigate to https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account by typing it into the address bar and pressing ↵ Enter.

   • If you are not automatically logged in, enter the email address or phone number and password for your account, then click Log In. It's a blue button in the middle of the page.

2. 

   2

   Click Delete My Account. It's below the warning message in the middle of the page. Clicking it invokes a pop-up window.

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3. 

   3

   Enter your password again. You'll do so in the "Password" field at the top of the window.

4. 

   4

   Type in the captcha code. This code is the jumble of letters and numbers in the middle of the window; you'll type your answer into the field below the code.

   • If you can't read the code, you can click either the Try another text or the an audio captcha link below the code to generate a new one.

5. 

   5

   Click OK. This will submit your code. If it's correct, another pop-up window will appear.

   • If you incorrectly entered your password or captcha code, you'll be asked to try again.

6. 

   6

   Click OK to delete your account. It's at the bottom of the pop-up window. Total account deletion can take up to 14 days, but your account will be gone from Facebook after that time frame.

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Add New Question

• Question

  How can I delete a Facebook account permanently without waiting for 14 days?

  

  You don't have to wait 14 days, the account will disappear immediately. This term is for that case if you change your mind and want to activate your profile again.

• Question

  If I permanently delete my account, will I be able to log in again?

  

  No. When you "permanently delete" your Facebook account, you delete all traces to it and will not be able to log into it again.

• Question

  When I delete my account, what message do my friends get?

  

  No message will be provided to any of your contacts. They just won't be able to see your profile anymore.

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Video

• You can download your account data by going to Settings, clicking General, and clicking the Download a copy link below the bottom option on this page.

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• You will not be able to restore your account after the 2 weeks of the permanent deletion process have passed.

  <b>Thanks! We’re glad this was helpful.</b><br />Looking for more fun ways to learn on wikiHow?<br />Learn about yourself with <a href='/Quizzes'><b>Quizzes</b></a> or try our brand new <a href='/Games/Train-Your-Brain'><b>Train Your Brain</b></a> word game.

• Facebook may still retain information from your account in their databases.

  <b>Thanks! We’re glad this was helpful.</b><br />Looking for more fun ways to learn on wikiHow?<br />Learn about yourself with <a href='/Quizzes'><b>Quizzes</b></a> or try our brand new <a href='/Games/Train-Your-Brain'><b>Train Your Brain</b></a> word game.

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