Facebook offers two options for those who want to get rid of their account. The first one is to deactivate it, and the second one is to permanently delete it. Next we will clarify the difference between these two procedures and we will see how to perform each one of them.
Facebook offers two options for those who want to get rid of their account. The first one is to deactivate it, and the second one is to permanently delete it. Next we will clarify the difference between these two procedures and we will see how to perform each one of them.Deactivating your account
When you deactivate your account, your profile and all its associated information are immediately made inaccessible to other Facebook users. Although this means that you effectively disappear from the service, your information will remain saved by Facebook so that you can reactivate your account whenever you want after 24 hours have passed since the deactivation.
By using this procedure, many users deactivate their account for temporary reasons, and when they return to the service, they recover their “list of friends,” their photos, and everything else, just as it was before they left.
To deactivate your account you must click on the small triangle at the top right hand corner of the page and then select the option that says “Settings.”
Once you have done that, in the left hand menu, click on the Security option, which is the one indicated in the next image:
Then, near the bottom of the screen, at the right hand extreme of the “Deactivate your account” line, click on the link that says: “Edit”
And then click on the “Deactivate your account” link that appears.
To complete the deactivation you will have to choose your reason for leaving from a list of options and then click on the Deactivate button. This will open a pop up box asking for your password: Enter it and click on the Confirm button. Finally, you will be asked to read a captcha text and enter it. Do so and click on the Submit button. This will lead you to Facebook's home page, where you will see a message confirming that your account has been deactivated.
Permanently deleting your account
Facebook also offers an option for those who want their account deleted with no chance of recovery. This option is only accessible in this link, which is provided in the Facebook Help Center when you type “delete my account” in its search box.
Once you have opened the page of that link, you must click on the “Delete My Account” button and then, in the pop up box, you must enter your account password and a captcha text. Once you are done with that, click Okay. Facebook will ask you to confirm the action, so you will have to click on an Okay button again.
Although your things will disappear from Facebook once you have done that, to finish the deletion process you will have to avoid logging in to your account during the next 14 days. After that period of time your information will be no longer available, never again.
