Before deleting your Facebook account, you need to follow these 6 steps
I’m Gen Z and it’s no secret that we prefer TikTok and Instagram over Facebook. With more and more of my friends and family leaving Facebook, I decided it was time to do the same. Before I get into that, here are six things I care about and would suggest you do the same.
1 Try deactivation first
Before you decide to permanently delete your Facebook account, consider whether a temporary hiatus might work for you instead. If you think this might be the case, temporarily deactivating your Facebook account is a great option.
This would allow you to leave Facebook without losing your memories or your friends and followers. This way you can experience what it’s like to be away from the app and decide if you really want to commit to leaving for good.
If you choose to keep your Facebook account after deactivation, you can come back without the hassle of setting everything up from scratch. However, if you permanently delete your account, all your data will be lost. Your account will essentially no longer exist, and if you later decide you want to keep Facebook, you’ll have to start over.
You can deactivate your Facebook account by following these steps:
- Go to Menu tap on settings icon in the upper right corner and then See the Account Center for more information.
- Now tap Personal dataand then Account ownership and control.
- Tap Deactivation or deletion. If your Facebook and Instagram accounts are linked, you may be prompted to select the account you want to deactivate. Simply select your Facebook account.
- Choose Deactivate account and tap on Continue.
- Follow the on-screen instructions, such as entering a password.
Even after you deactivate your account, you’ll still be able to use Messenger to stay in touch with friends and family. However, all pages you control will be disabled until you reactivate your Facebook account. If you permanently delete your account, your Messenger and any pages you manage will also be deleted.
2 Back up content you’d like to keep and important conversations
I post a lot on social media and use my Facebook account to preserve my memories. If you’re anything like me and have hundreds of posts, don’t forget to save the pictures and videos you like.
You can save pictures you’ve posted on Facebook to your camera roll by going to profile and tap your name at the top to open your account. Tap Photoopen the image, then tap three horizontal dots in the upper right corner of the screen. Simply select Save photo.
To save a video, go to your Facebook profile and tap videos instead. Open the video you want to save, tap three horizontal dotsand select Download the reel from the menu.
However, if you would like to save more than individual pictures and videos, I recommend downloading your entire Facebook history. This gives you a comprehensive file containing your posts, messages, saves and collections, stories, comments and reactions, and more.
You can download your information from Facebook by going to Menu and tap on security icon. Then tap on For more information, see Account Center > Your Information and Permissions > Download Information. Finally tap Download or transfer informationselect your Facebook account (if your Instagram is linked) and follow the on-screen instructions.
3 Notify friends and groups
My Facebook friends list is full of extended family, teachers who have taught me over the years, and friends I’ve made along the way. While those I’m connected to on other social media platforms may still be in touch, I think it’s important not to leave anyone wondering where I’ve disappeared to.
So it’s a good idea to let your Facebook friends and any groups you interact with regularly know you’re leaving and make sure they know where to reach you. Instead of going to the trouble of texting each friend individually and risking missing someone, one of the easiest ways to do this is by posting a Facebook status or story to let everyone on your friend list know about your decision.
4 Check linked apps and services and unlink them
Linking my Facebook account to third-party apps like Spotify or games so I can log in with just a tap and bypass the whole account creation process is a feature I’ve relied on a lot over the years. Facebook says you will no longer be able to use Facebook login for these accounts, and you may need to contact the respective app and website to restore these accounts.
So disconnecting these accounts before saying goodbye to Facebook is a smart move. You can do so by going to profile and tap on settings icon in the upper right corner. Then scroll down until you see Apps and websites under Your activity.
Enter your Facebook account credentials and you’ll see all the apps and websites linked to your Facebook account. You should go to these sites and apps to see if you can use an alternative sign-in method that preserves your account data.
If you want to unlink an app on Facebook, simply tap on the app you want to unlink and press Removeand then tap on Remove again.
5 Note Important birthdays
Although I’m not particularly proud to admit it, one of the main reasons I’ve taken so long to not delete my Facebook account is because I have the worst memory and tend to forget birthdays. It’s one thing to miss a distant acquaintance’s birthday, but when it’s someone I care about, I feel guilty for days. Facebook birthday reminders have honestly been my lifesaver.
So, when I decided to delete my Facebook account, I decided to note important birthdays that I wanted to keep track of. There are plenty of apps to help you remember birthdays. However, since I rely on Google Calendar for my day-to-day planning, I’ve added all the key birthdays to my calendar and set them up as annual recurring events so I get a reminder every year.
Fortunately, you don’t have to scroll through each friend’s profile to find their birthday. Just head to Home tap on Search icon at the top right and enter “Birthday”. Select the first option that appears and you will see a complete list of your friends’ birthdays.
Now write them down in any application or system you prefer!
6 Remove personal data
Although permanently deleting your Facebook account should erase most of your personal data, erasing your digital footprint is a step I would recommend doing as a final farewell to Facebook. Before you completely delete your account, take a moment to review your profile and remove any information you don’t want to stay with, such as your contact information and email.
While Facebook has its time, I notice more and more people deleting their Facebook account and I don’t blame them. If you’ve decided to join them, I highly recommend following all the steps I’ve listed above to avoid any hiccups in the future.