Delete Your Facebook Account Without Losing Photos and Other Info
Guide on how to leave the all-consuming social media platform
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As Facebook continues tightening its grip of totalitarian control over the world's population, more and more people are deleting their account and leaving the "social" media platform behind.
Following a series of personal data scandals and the ever-worsening censorship issues with Mark Zuckerberg's social network, Facebook has given us plenty of reasons to want to delete our accounts.
As if the massive leaks of private information and silencing of conservative voices ahead of the US elections in 2020 wasn't enough, there’s now a truly disgusting report about the working conditions of people who monitor the content Facebook users upload.
Many have now decided that enough is enough and are ready to leave Facebook, but it's actually easier than you may think to shut down your account without losing your personal info such as your precious photos.
It's worth keeping in mind that once you delete your Facebook account, you won’t be able to use Facebook Login for other apps you may have signed up for with your Facebook account, such as Spotify or Pinterest, but you can create new ways to log in without it.
You may need to contact the apps and websites to recover those accounts.
It will also delete your Facebook Messenger account, but your Instagram account will remain active.
Here’s how to delete your Facebook account.
Tell your friends you’re quitting Facebook
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Before you go, consider your Facebook friends and family members.
They might want to know you’re leaving, and you don’t want them to think you’ve dropped off the face of the planet or unfriended and blocked them.
Consider making a post that says you’re quitting in a week, as one of my editors did, and how they can reach you moving forward.
Once you’ve sounded the alarm, here’s what to do.
Visit the Facebook homepage, tap the arrow on the far top right and select ‘Settings’
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This is the main area where you can manage all sorts of things on your Facebook account.
Select ‘Your Facebook Information’ on the top left of the page
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Select ‘Deactivation and Deletion’
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Tap ‘Permanently Delete Account’
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Facebook warns that, when you delete your account, “you won’t be able to retrieve the content or information you’ve shared on Facebook. Your Messenger and all of your messages will also be deleted.”
There’s an option to deactivate your account if you think you might want to come back later. But if you’re sure you want to quit Facebook forever, tap “Continue to Account Deletion.”
Download your Facebook files
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Facebook gives you a last chance to download a copy of everything you’ve ever stored on the social network, including your photos, posts, location data and more.
- Tap “Download Info” to choose what you’d like to save, then choose “Create File” to get the folder. It can take a few days to get this if there’s a lot of stuff.
- Tap “Delete Account” if you don’t care about that, or create a file and come back to the Delete Account page when it’s ready.
Delete your Facebook account
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- Now tap “Delete Account” again.
- Log in with your Facebook password to confirm it’s really you.
- Accept the final warning, which says you have 30 days to reactivate your account and cancel the full deletion. But, after 30 days, the process begins and you won’t be able to retrieve anything.
- Tap “Delete Account” one last time.
That’s it
Now you’re done.
You’ve deleted your Facebook account and, as long as you don’t try to log in over the next 30 days, your account will be gone forever.
