How To Delete Your Facebook Account (and All Its Data)

While you can delete (or deactivate) your Facebook account at any time, Meta may hold onto your data for up to another six months afterward.

February 4, 2025

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Facebook Knows More About You Than You Think

Whether you're trying to protect your online privacy, cut back on social media, or hide old posts and photos from colleagues, partners, and friends, deleting your Facebook account is a good place to start.

Meta — Facebook's parent company — has been involved in several data breaches and security incidents over the past 15 years that have impacted hundreds of millions of Facebook users.

A 2024 study on the privacy risks of the top social media platforms found that Facebook was by far the most invasive (with Meta-owned Facebook Messenger and Instagram coming in next).

While it’s relatively easy to permanently delete your Facebook account, Meta may retain your Facebook data for up to 180 days afterward. This means that even a deleted account is still vulnerable to data leaks and exposures.

Deleting your Facebook account is a critical first step — however, it's not the only thing you need to do to safeguard your online privacy.

How To Permanently Delete Your Facebook Account

The Facebook account deletion process varies depending on the device you use and your type of account. Regardless of your setup, however, Facebook presents you with two options when you try to delete your Facebook account:

Delete your Facebook account permanently. This option permanently deletes your Facebook profile and your Facebook information, including photos, videos, and posts. Deletion also prevents you from using Facebook apps and Messenger with that account. Only messages that you sent to friends will remain in their inboxes.
Deactivate your Facebook account temporarily. This option hides your profile and account information until you choose to reactivate it. While other users cannot search for or see your account, messages that you sent will still be visible and Meta will retain your data.

On a desktop computer, there are two methods for permanently deleting your Facebook account. Both methods start with clicking on your profile picture in the top-right corner and selecting Settings & privacy and then Settings.

If you see Accounts Center at the top left of your screen, you can delete your account from there. If Accounts Center is at the bottom left of your screen, you'll need to delete your account through Facebook Settings. ‍

Pro Tip: If the fear of losing your Facebook photos, videos, and data is stopping you from deleting your account, you can download a copy of your information here.

Delete your Facebook account through Accounts Center

‍When Accounts Center is at the top left of your Settings screen, you can delete your account in the following way:

Click on Accounts Center and select Account Settings and then Personal details
Click on Account ownership and control or use the provided link to get there directly
Select Deactivation or deletion and choose your account
Select Delete account, your reason for leaving, and Continue
Here, you will have the option to Download your Facebook information, Transfer a copy of your Information, and/or Review linked apps before you delete

Delete your Facebook account through your Settings

‍When Accounts Center is at the bottom left of your Settings screen, you can delete your account in the following way:

Click on Your Facebook Information
Select Deactivation and Deletion and then Delete Account
Click on Continue to account deletion and then Delete Account
Enter your password and select Continue
Here, you can Download your Facebook information, Transfer a copy of your Information, and/or Review linked apps before deleting your account

Delete your Facebook account on iPad, iPhone, Android, and mobile browsers

‍If you're using a mobile device to delete Facebook (via the Facebook app or mobile browser), start by clicking on the hamburger button (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner and then select Settings and privacy.

‍From there, the process will vary depending on your device. Use the appropriate Facebook help page to guide you on:

Pro tip: Facebook offers a 30-day grace period during which you can cancel or reverse your account deletion. Simply log in to your account within 30 days and click on Cancel Deletion.

Request that Facebook delete your “Shadow Profile”

‍After you delete your Facebook account and after the 180-day data retention window, Meta may still store certain information, including your name, phone number, and email address. Even if you've never had a Facebook account, there's a good chance Facebook has this data for you — a so-called "Shadow Profile."

According to Meta’s privacy policy, the company collects this information about you from the address books of other users. Yet, there is a way to remove some of this information:

Visit the Help Center page for people who don't use Meta products
Scroll down to the How Non-Users can exercise their rights section
Select Click here or simply visit https://www.facebook.com/contacts/removal
Choose from your mobile number, landline phone number, and/or email address
Follow the on-screen instructions to delete and block your information

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9 More Quick Ways To Protect Your Online Privacy

A deleted Facebook account will improve your online privacy, but you'll need to take additional steps if you want to truly minimize your digital footprint.

Facebook and other social media sites have made your personal information public and widely available to data brokers, scammers, and hackers. The details about which topics and sites you search, what you like, and where you shop may be known and shared by companies, advertisers, and fraudsters.

While you can't make yourself invisible online, you can take steps to reduce the information that is available about you:

Avoid oversharing. If you aren't going to delete Instagram and your other social networks, you should at least cut back on how much you share on these platforms. For example, consider skipping the highly personal "About" section in your profiles, and think twice about sharing your location.
Strengthen your social media privacy settings. Your privacy settings and permissions control who can see the information, posts, photos, and videos that are contained in your accounts. Unfortunately, many are set to public by default. Consider making your profile private, clearing your search history regularly, and blocking location sharing.
Check for leaked information. Use a Dark Web scanner to find out if any of your personal information has already been leaked in a data breach. If an account has leaked, you'll want to change any associated passwords and information immediately.
Delete unused or unneeded accounts. Every account you create stores your information and makes you more vulnerable to data leaks. If you no longer use an account or app, log in and delete the account. If you can't delete the account, replace your personal information with fake data.
Use a password manager. A password manager will help you create and store unique passwords for all of your accounts. It will also help you keep track of the accounts that include your personal information, and it will alert you if any passwords have been leaked or compromised.
Disable cookies and ad-tracking. Many websites now give you the option to reject cookies, but you can also do this at the browser level. For example, Google Chrome allows you to block third-party cookies and ad-tracking in its privacy and security settings.
Manage your online activity. You can't completely block search engines from tracking you, but you can limit what information they save. For example, from Google Chrome's My Activity Dashboard, you can delete your web and app activity and control how Google sites and apps save your information.
Opt out of data broker lists. Data brokers scrape the web for your personal information to sell to research companies, marketers, and even scammers. You can request that they remove your information from their sites by completing their manual opt-out processes. Aura can also send data broker opt-out requests automatically for you.
Use an identity protection service. The best identity theft protection services provide comprehensive security for your personal information. For example, Aura offers data monitoring, a virtual private network (VPN), ad blockers and anti-trackers, and a privacy assistant that automates the data broker opt-out process.

‍The Bottom Line: The Less Personal Data You Share Online, the Better

By deleting your Facebook account, you can significantly reduce your exposure — and increase your online safety. But there are even more proactive steps you can take by changing your online habits and updating privacy settings to limit your personal information online.

Aura's privacy-focused identity theft protection packages come with automatic data broker opt-out services, industry-leading Dark Web and data breach scanning and alerts, and a military-grade VPN. If something does happen to your information, Aura offers 24/7 U.S.-based White Glove Fraud Resolution support and $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage for every adult on your Aura plan.

🔒Aura protects your online privacy, identity, and data — try it free for 14 days.

Editorial note: Our articles provide educational information for you to increase awareness about digital safety. Aura’s services may not provide the exact features we write about, nor may cover or protect against every type of crime, fraud, or threat discussed in our articles. Please review our Terms during enrollment or setup for more information. Remember that no one can prevent all identity theft or cybercrime.

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