How to Permanently Delete Facebook Account (2026 Full Guide)

TL;DR: To permanently delete your Facebook account in 2026, go to Accounts Center → Personal Details → Account Ownership and Control → Delete Account, enter your password, and confirm. There's a 30-day grace period — logging back in cancels the deletion. Data purge from Meta's backup servers takes up to 90 days. Before you click delete, run the pre-deletion checklist below or you'll lose Pages, Groups, Meta Pay balance, and third-party sign-ins with no recovery.

Quick answer

Situation	Action
Delete permanently	Accounts Center → Delete Account
Take a break (30-day break)	Deactivate — keeps Messenger working
Delete but keep Messenger	Impossible via deletion. Deactivate instead.
Lost password	Reset password first, then delete
Delete a Page	Different flow — Page settings → Remove Page

Deactivate vs. Delete — the critical difference

Deactivation = pause. Reversible any time. Messenger keeps working. Photos and posts hide but aren't erased.

Deletion = permanent. 30-day grace period, then unrecoverable. Messenger and connected apps die with the account.

Choose deactivation if you're maybe leaving. Choose deletion only if you're certainly leaving.

The pre-deletion checklist (the part Meta doesn't warn you about)

Complete this before clicking Delete or you'll lose data with no recovery:

• ☐ Download your Facebook data — Settings → Your Facebook Information → Download Your Information. Include photos, videos, posts, messages, friends list. Takes 1-48 hours to generate. Wait for the email.
• ☐ Transfer admin rights on any Pages you run — Page → Settings → Page Roles → assign another admin. Otherwise the Page dies with you.
• ☐ Transfer ownership of Groups you created — Group → Members → promote another admin → Members → step down as admin. Otherwise the Group becomes leaderless and Facebook may archive it.
• ☐ Withdraw Meta Pay balance — any money in your Meta Pay wallet is gone after deletion.
• ☐ Cancel Meta Verified subscription — otherwise you're still billed after deletion.
• ☐ Unlink Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp — Account Center → Accounts → Remove each. Otherwise linked accounts may be affected.
• ☐ Note every third-party site you signed into with Facebook — Spotify, Airbnb, dating apps, games, Meta Quest. You'll lose access to those unless you switch to email/password login first.
• ☐ Resolve open Marketplace orders — pending shipments or unsold items.
• ☐ Save any Messenger conversations you want — Menu → Settings → Download Your Information → include Messenger.
• ☐ Notify important contacts — friends who only reach you via Messenger.

Do all of this before you touch the delete button.

How to permanently delete Facebook — mobile app

1. Open the Facebook app.
2. Tap the Menu (three horizontal lines) → Settings & Privacy → Settings.
3. Tap See more in Accounts Center at the top.
4. Tap Personal Details → Account Ownership and Control.
5. Tap Deactivation or Deletion.
6. Choose the specific Facebook profile.
7. Tap Delete Account → Continue.
8. Enter your password.
9. Confirm the final prompt.

Deletion is scheduled. Your profile goes offline instantly.

How to permanently delete Facebook — desktop

1. Go to facebook.com and log in.
2. Click your profile picture (top-right) → Settings & Privacy → Settings.
3. Click Accounts Center in the left sidebar.
4. Click Personal Details → Account Ownership and Control.
5. Click Deactivation or Deletion.
6. Choose your Facebook account.
7. Click Delete Account.
8. Follow prompts, enter your password, confirm.

Same flow as mobile — different button locations.

What happens in the 30-day grace period

• Your profile is invisible to other users immediately.
• Anyone logging into your account (including you) can cancel the deletion.
• Messenger login with your Facebook credentials also cancels the deletion.
• Meta Pay transactions try to process; some fail.
• Pages you admin enter transition state — if you have co-admins, they see a warning.

If you cancel: your account restores exactly as it was, with all data intact.

What happens after 30 days

• Profile, posts, photos, and Messenger history erase from public view.
• Meta continues to hold backups for up to 90 days for legal/compliance reasons.
• Your name and messages remain visible in other people's inboxes for messages you sent (as "Facebook User" instead of your name).
• Comments you left on other people's posts stay but attribute to "Facebook User."
• Data in ads and marketing systems may persist longer per Meta's data retention policies.
• You cannot recover the account after this point — no exception.

Delete Facebook without a password

You can't. Facebook requires the password as the final confirmation to prevent malicious session-based deletions.

If you lost the password:

1. Go to facebook.com/login/identify.
2. Enter your email or phone number.
3. Receive a code via email/SMS.
4. Set a new password.
5. Then proceed with deletion.

Full password recovery walkthrough: Why can't I log into Facebook.

Delete Facebook when your account is hacked

If a hacker changed your login and you can't get in to delete:

1. Recover the account first via facebook.com/hacked or Recovery Hub.
2. Verify your identity (photo ID may be required).
3. Once inside, change password and enable 2FA.
4. Then proceed with normal deletion.

Do not create a second account to "delete" the hacked one — Meta detects duplicates and rejects appeals.

What Meta keeps after you delete

By Meta's own data policy (updated 2025), the following persist:

• Financial records for tax and legal compliance (7 years).
• Aggregated ad performance data you contributed to (no personal identifier).
• Messages you sent to other users — visible in their inboxes as "Facebook User."
• Backup snapshots for up to 90 days.
• Legal-hold data if you were subject to any investigation or dispute.

Full personal-data erasure is not guaranteed. If you're in a GDPR region, you can submit a formal erasure request via privacy@meta.com after deletion.

Delete Facebook but keep Instagram / Threads

The Meta Account Center linking rules:

• If Instagram is linked to Facebook via Account Center, deleting Facebook triggers a prompt asking if you want to keep Instagram.
• Choose Keep Instagram — the Instagram account continues with its own credentials.
• If you never linked them, they're already independent.

Verify before deletion: Accounts Center → Accounts → check which ones show as linked.

Delete a Facebook Business Manager account

Personal deletion does not delete your Business Manager account. Separate flow:

1. business.facebook.com → Business Settings → Business Info.
2. Scroll to bottom → Permanently Delete Business.
3. Confirm.

Business assets (ad accounts, Pages, catalogs) transfer or delete based on your setup.

Reactivate a deleted account (within 30 days)

• Go to facebook.com and log in with your usual credentials.
• Facebook prompts: "Your account is scheduled for deletion. Do you want to cancel?"
• Click Cancel Deletion.
• Account restores in seconds.

After 30 days, this option is gone forever.

Common deletion problems

"Delete Account" is greyed out Your account has an unresolved item — a pending appeal, an active Meta Verified subscription, an open Marketplace transaction. Resolve it, then try again.

"Something went wrong" Meta occasionally rate-limits deletion requests. Try again in a few hours or on a different device.

Deletion succeeded but email keeps arriving Your email is still on newsletter lists. Unsubscribe via the email footer — Facebook can't do it for you post-deletion.

Third-party site says "Facebook login failed" Expected — you deleted the login source. Sign into that site with email/password or a different social login.

The bottom line

• Accounts Center → Personal Details → Account Ownership and Control → Delete Account. Same path on mobile and desktop.
• 30-day grace period — logging in cancels the deletion.
• Up to 90 days for full backup purge.
• Run the pre-deletion checklist or you lose Pages, Groups, Meta Pay, and third-party sign-ins forever.
• Password is required — reset it first if forgotten.
• Deactivation is the reversible alternative that keeps Messenger working.

Related guides

• Why can't I log into Facebook — because most people can't delete because they can't log in.
• How can you delete photos from Facebook — clean up specific content instead of full deletion.
• How do you sign out of Facebook Messenger — deactivation is often what people actually want.
• How to stop Facebook notifications — sometimes silencing beats deleting.
• How to see who unfriended you on Facebook — export your data before deletion so you have a record.