There are plenty of reasons why you’d want to delete Facebook. Maybe you’re concerned about privacy, maybe you want to rebel against modern social paradigms, or maybe you’re just sick of endless cat memes. Whatever the reason, it’s not too difficult to sod the whole thing off. Here’s how.

Delete or deactivate Facebook account – what’s the difference?

There are two different ways to get your Facebook account offline. The first is deactivating, which means:
  • You can reactivate your account whenever you want
  • People can’t see your Facebook Timeline, or search for you
  • Some information may remain visible (like messages you’ve sent)
  • Facebook saves your account info (like friends and interests) in case you reactivate
But deleting your account is a much more serious matter. If you delete your account:
  • Facebook delays deletion for a few days after the request is made. If you log in during the grace period, the deletion is cancelled
  • You can’t regain access to your Facebook account once it’s deleted
  • It can take up to 90 days for your data that’s stored in backup systems to be deleted. However, your info isn’t accessible on Facebook during this time
  • Some things aren’t stored in your account, like messages that you’ve sent to friends – these will remain active
  • Copies of some material (like log records) may remain in Facebook’s database, but are “disassociated from personal identifiers,” according to the company
Basically, deactivating is a way to cool off from Facebook for a while, while deleting is a permanent solution that you should think carefully about before choosing.