How to Permanently Delete Your Facebook

Ah, Facebook. The social media platform that has been at the heart of privacy scandals, security concerns, and misinformation campaigns for too many years now.

A lot of people have already left the social media giant.

For some, it was the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Or the fact that third-party apps could harvest not just your data, but your friends’ data too. And then use that information to influence key political votes. Or maybe a mere 200 to 600 million Facebook and Instagram passwords were kept in plain text.

Sometimes the reasoning can hit closer to home. Tired of the constant stream of targeted adverts? A creepy ex stalking you?

Even if it’s just because you want less distractions in your life, there are countless reasons why you might consider deleting Facebook.

Whatever yours is, we’ve got you covered. 👇

What to consider before deleting Facebook

Walking away from such a big social platform is no easy task.

Facebook is one of the easiest ways to keep in touch with family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. So, you probably have a lot of memories (good or bad) tied to the platform.

Before you take the step to delete your account, it may be worth talking to loved ones to plan how you’re going to keep in touch.

There are plenty of alternative social media platforms and secure messaging apps available.

How to save your Facebook data

Download your Facebook data first. For nostalgia’s sake or just to cringe at your past self.

You can actually get a copy of every photo and video you ever uploaded to Facebook.

You also get a few interesting insights, such as which advertisers uploaded contact lists that included your details.

To download your information, just follow these steps:

1. Click the account menu arrow in the top right corner on a web browser.
2. Select ‘Settings & Privacy’ and go to ‘Settings’.
3. In the left column, click ‘Your Facebook information.’
4. Next to ‘Download your information’, click ‘View’.
5. Add or remove any categories of data you want to download
6. Select the format of your download, your media files’ quality, and a data range of information.
7. Click ‘Create file’ to confirm the download request.

After you’ve made your download request, it will be flagged as pending in your ‘Available files’ section, under the ‘Download your information’ tool.

It can take several days for Facebook to finish preparing your download request.

Once it’s ready, you’ll get a notification letting you know you can download your data.

How to delete your Facebook account permanently

Now, with all your memories preserved, you’re ready to pull the plug on the social media giant.

1. Click the account menu arrow in the top right corner on a web browser.
2. Select ‘Settings & Privacy’ and go to ‘Settings’.
3. In the left column, click ‘Your Facebook information.’
4. Choose ‘Deactivation and Deletion.’
5. Choose ‘Permanently Delete Account.’
6. Click ‘Continue to Account Deletion.’
7. Click ‘Delete Account.’
8. Confirm this with your password and click ‘Continue.’

You’ll have 30 days to think this over. If you change your mind, simply log back in within the month, and your account will be restored.

It can take up to 90 days from your request for Facebook to completely delete all the things you’ve posted. During this time, Facebook will also keep your data for things like legal issues, terms violations, or harm prevention efforts.

How to deactivate your Facebook account

Let’s face it. The flood of news, politics, protests, scandals, and influencer drama can take a toll on anyone.

And even if you’re on Facebook just for cat videos and cute pics, it’s hard to avoid polarizing posts.

Sometimes, you might just need a break from all that to focus on your mental health.

In this case, you can choose to disable your Facebook account temporarily.

1. Click the account menu arrow in the top right corner on a web browser.
2. Select ‘Settings & Privacy’ and go to ‘Settings’.
3. In the left column, click ‘Your Facebook information.’
4. Choose ‘Deactivation and Deletion.’
5. Choose ‘Deactivate Account.’
6. Click ‘Continue to Account Deactivation’ and follow the instructions to confirm.

Facebook, the sinking ship

Did I mention that Facebook is the worst for your privacy? Let me put that into perspective with a nifty little timeline.

It’s also hard to take what Mark Zuckerberg at face value, because Facebook seems to do exatly the opposite plenty of times.

For example, on March 6, 2019, the CEO of Facebook said this about secure data storage:

People should expect that we won’t store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights

And then, barely one week later, Facebook opened a data center in Singapore. A country with a weak human rights record; especially when it comes to privacy and freedom of expression.

Not to mention that Zuckerberg also made it very hard to ignore his company’s influence online.

Facebook has code capable of tracking you in over 40% of free Android and iOS apps. This means even if you delete your Facebook account, you can still end up being tracked via unaffiliated apps.

You’ve probably seen the “Like” button embedded into a lot of websites too.

This is another way Facebook can hoover up information on what websites you like to visit, what links you clicked, how long you spent on a certain page, and much more.

You don’t need to have an account on the platform itself. But your activity on other websites is still being reported back to Zuck & Co.

Which is just great. Not. 🙄

But you can mitigate Facebook’s reach. Use CyberGhost VPN when you go online you restrict companies’ ability to keep tabs on you and serve you ads.

Mission accomplished

Well, Ghosties, that’s how you delete Facebook.

Are you planning on taking the plunge? Or have you been steering clear for a while now? Let me know in the comments.

I’m sure you’ll REALLY miss scrolling through endless feeds of baby and cat pictures. But just think of all the time you’ll save!