I don’t know about you, but I know when Facebook first came out, I immediately made an account to take part in the newest internet social phenomenon. I guess one could say I was so excited that I made an account for which I would soon forget the password. Who knew, right? Well, that old profile is still on Facebook, can be found, and I want to delete it.
Are you like me wondering: Can you delete a Facebook account? Do you have an old Facebook account you want to delete but you don’t know the password? No worries, we are in this together! Let’s get that old account deleted (or at least deactivated).
The ease of deleting your Facebook account will put a smile of relief on your face
You could be deleting a Facebook account for many reasons. However, it’s crucial to note that Facebook permanently deletes your account after a 30-day grace period. So, you do have time to cancel the deletion during this window but once the account is fully deleted after 30 days, it cannot be recovered, and all associated photos, posts, and videos are gone forever.
If you manage a Facebook Page—such as one for your beloved pet sharing cute pictures—you’ll need to transfer ownership of that Page to another account before initiating deletion. Otherwise, the Page will become inaccessible along with your account.
In other words, before clicking that final Delete button, take a moment to think it through and consider whether you might want to back up your data or explore alternatives, such as deactivating your account.
Once you’ve made up your mind to delete the account, follow these steps in the Facebook App on iPhone or Android to delete with ease.
Log in to the Facebook profile and click on your profile picture in the top-right corner
Tap Settings & Privacy and then Settings
In the Accounts Center heading, tap on Personal and Account Information
Select Account Ownership and Control
Tap Deactivation and Deletion
Tap Delete account, and then Continue to Account Deletion
Deactivating a Facebook account is another option if you are not 100% sold on getting rid of that old Facebook account forever. When deactivating a Facebook account, you’re basically telling Facebook that you are taking a break and might want to access this account later.
Deactivating is a good route if you are doing a 30-day digital detox, want some time to think about deleting the account, or just need a break. If you deactivate your account, you can gain access to it again whenever you’re ready by simply logging back in.
How to deactivate your Facebook account: Facebook app iPhone/Android
Log in to the Facebook profile and Tap the three horizontal lines in the bottom-right corner (on iPhone) or the top-right corner (on Android)
Select Settings & Privacy and then Settings
Under the Account heading, tap on Personal and Account Information
Select Account Ownership and Control
Tap Deactivation and Deletion
Tap Deactivate Account and then Continue to deactivation. Facebook will ask for a reason for deactivation and ask you to confirm your password to finalize the deactivation process.
When you deactivate your Facebook account, you are basically just putting it on hold. Your profile is hidden but your data remains and can be returned to whenever you log in again. Your Messenger also stays active unless you also deactivate itseparately.
On the other hand, deleting your account is permanent. A deleted account means that, after a 30-day grace period, your profile, posts, photos, and messages are permanently gone. So, if you're just looking for a break, deactivation is the way to go. But if you're ready to say goodbye to Facebook for good, deletion will make sure you leave it all behind.
No password? No problem. Facebook has many features you can use to gain access to your account, even if it is so old that the password could literally be “password123.” Even though we are a secure email provider, and we take password security seriously, we won’t judge you for those past fails with your password. I mean, come on, it was 2009 – who didn’t use a poorly secure password?
However, as we always say, you have options:
Password Recovery
Try to recover the password by searching for your account with the email or phone number used to set up the account or the name of the profile.
Once you have found the correct account, you’ll be able to send a code to the phone number or email address associated with the account. If you are unsure which email address it is, Facebook will show you a redacted version (e.g. m******j@mail.com)
We hope you were able to log in that way, because the other options are not as promising.
Trusted Friends Feature
Gaining access to your account with the Facebook Trusted Friends feature can be a bit tricky because it is a newer feature that you would have had to enable when you had access to the account.
If you’re confident in your younger self or just want to check it out for the heck of it, the feature works by requesting reset codes from three to five trusted friends that you chose through Facebook when the feature was activated.
You would contact these friends, provide them with the URL from Facebook and then get the reset codes from them. If you’re unable to reach one of your trusted friends, then unfortunately you won’t be gaining access with this method.
Report your old account as a fake
You’re not 100% out of luck if the other recovery features don’t work. Maybe you just really want to delete that old account. You can do that by reporting it as a fake. This is a fast-track option on how to delete an old Facebook account, especially when you don’t have the password. Reporting your old account is done in three steps:
Go to the profile of your old account
Select the three dots on the bottom right of the cover photo and click “Give feedback or report this profile”
Click “pretending to be someone,” and then click “Me”
Goodbye Facebook account doesn’t always mean goodbye Messenger! Here is the scoop: Deleting your Facebook account doesn’t immediately kick you out of Messenger and when you are deleting your account, Facebook will give you the option to either delete Messenger or keep using it.
If you choose to keep Messenger:
Your conversations and messages will remain active.
Your friends can still contact you on Messenger as if nothing ever happened.
If you choose to delete Messenger:
Your Messenger account will also be deactivated, and nobody will be able to access your messages.
Group chats will still show your previous messages, but your name will appear as “Facebook User.”
So, if you want a clean break from Facebook but still need to chat with your friends, think twice before you tick the “delete Messenger” box during the deletion process.
If you have some important data on Facebook or some pictures and chats you’d like to keep for old times’ sake, then you might want to take a moment to download and preserve your data before hitting that “delete” button. Here’s how to archive your data:
Start by signing into your account on a desktop browser (you can also do this on mobile, but it’s smoother on a bigger screen).
Click on your profile picture at the top right corner and select Settings & Privacy, then Settings.
On the left-hand menu, find and select Your Facebook Information. Then click on View next to this option.
Select Your Data: Facebook lets you choose what to download—photos, posts, messages, and even your reactions to posts. Want it all? Keep everything selected.
Choose File Format and Date Range: Opt for JSON or HTML format, and specify a date range if you don’t need your entire Facebook life story.
Hit Request a Download. Facebook will process your request and notify you when your file is ready for download.
Once you’ve downloaded your data, it’s yours to keep forever—or until you realize that high school prom album probably didn’t need saving. Either way, you’ll have all your memories safely archived for when nostalgia hits.
Pro tip: Facebook and old email addresses
As you can see, it is hard to delete – or pretty much do anything with – a Facebook account if you no longer have access to the email address associated with your profile. So if you ever decide to change or delete your email address, be sure to change the email address in your Facebook settings BEFORE you terminate the old email account – otherwise you won‘t be able to receive any automatic emails Facebook sends to your old address asking you to confirm changes like account deletion.
Alternatively, if you want to keep that old email address associated with your Facebook account, be sure to keep the email account active by logging into it regularly.
Whew! You finally deleted that account but now you’re regretting it and singing “Baby come back, you can blame it all on me.” We get it! Sometimes we don’t know what we’ve got till it’s gone. Luckily for us, there is an option to recover your deleted Facebook account.
I know what you’re thinking: “But I thought I didn’t have a chance to get it back!” Well, if you realize you want your account back within 30 days of deleting it, you have a fighting chance. There is no opportunity to recover your deleted account if it has been longer, because after the 30-day “change your mind” period, all your information on that Facebook account will be permanently deleted.
Here are the steps to cancel your account deletion.
Log into your Facebook account within 30 days of deleting it.
Click, Cancel Deletion
See, now you have options. You can recover access to your old account. You can deactivate your account to come back to it later, you can delete your account to come back to it never… or within 30 days if you want to cancel deletion. You also have super cool skills you can share with the folks you meet. You can delete a Facebook account on iPhone or Android from the convenience of your Facebook app. If those are not super cool tricks, then we don’t know what is!
Now go on and delete that account... or don’t. But before you do, we would love to hear your feedback on this article. And if you need a secure mail account to recover your Facebook account, why not sign up for a free mail.com account today?
This article first appeared on November 14, 2022, and was updated on December 12, 2024.
