How to Delete your Facebook Account
If you have had enough of Facebook and want out, I’ll show you two ways.
You can temporarily disable (ie deactivate) your account, or you can permanently delete it off the Facebook servers.
Temporarily Disable your Facebook Account
If you deactivate your Facebook account your profile and all information associated with it are immediately made inaccessible to other Facebook users. What this means is that you effectively disappear from the Facebook service.
However, if you want to reactivate your account at some point in the future, your profile information (friends, photos, interests, etc) will be restored and your account will look just the way it did prior to deactivating it. Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service.
To deactivate, login to your Facebook account then click on Settings –> Account Settings,
Next click on Settings –> Deactivate,
Next select any excuse, click on Email opt out if you don’t want any email notifications from Facebook, then click on <Deactivate My Account>,
Done! Your account has just been deactivated and your friends can no longer see you on Facebook.
You can reactivate it at anytime simply by logging in as normal.. and everything (ie your profile) will be just like it was prior to deactivating it.
Deactivating your account gives you a second chance if you decide to use Facebook again sometime later.
Permanently Delete your Facebook Account
If you want to permanently delete your Facebook account knowing that all your profile, settings and information will be erased, then login to Facebook and scroll to the bottom of the page.. then click on Help Center,
Click on the Help Center tab, then type in Delete account in the search field,
Expand I want to permanently delete my account. How do I delete my account?,
Then click on the “Here” link..
To permanently delete your account click on <Submit>,
Done!
You have just permanently deleted your Facebook account.
Finally..
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14 Comments
Thanks for the guide. Just nuked my facebook account.
Haha nice work
I guess Facebook will only know at the end of the day, but I found this on their site http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12271 If they are ethical they would..————————————————–
I heard that Facebook doesn't remove completely accounts from their servers.
Feel free to use my instructions to do it yourself!————————————————–
Please delete my account on facebook! people are using my name and I do not longer feel safe towards my real friends.thank you.. eva kellerman
I haven't tested this but I would assume yes. If you have deleted you account then all your info should be deleted off FB's servers and you should be able to use the same email address.————————————————–
If I permanently delete my account, can I then turn around and set up a new account with that same email? I've goofed up my initial attempt so very badly that I can't figure out how to save myself and just want to start over …
Hi CarolSounds like you have had some real nightmares regarding your Facebook account. And I know what you mean about FB's help section, it is completely not user-friendly and quite cryptic at times. Thanks for commenting.
I would love to know how to get FaceBook to restore the proper account for me. I was a victim of a 419 scam – FB originally took care of the problem, deleted the hijacked account, got my friends, etc. set up on my account again – with new photo, and lots of friends (didn't want to lose those connections). Suddently I get a message when signing in that FaceBook has no email on record for me – so I verified the email and suddenly the deactivated account appears again and the GOOD one goes away. Contacting FaceBook help is a joke – there is no way to talk to anyone or to even ask an intelligent question. Seems as though our questions need to match what they already state in their FAQs! I'm totally baffled and ready to give up on FB entirely!
Thanks from dropping by.
this is a good information. thanks!
Maybe your account was reactivated when you logged back in??Or you might have had the option to still receive FB notifications even though your account was deactivated?————————————————–
thanks – I was Facebook addicted for a while but found deactivation a good tool to help me get over it and start living in the real world, lol. I still found though that even though I went through the deactivation instructions, my profile account seemed to 'automatically' get reactivated after a period of time, like after 3 months…. even without me loggin back in to reactivate… do you know if this is still the case?