How to deactivate my old facebook account

How to Delete an Old Facebook Account When You Can’t Log In

by Josh Kirschner on July 17, 2018
in Tips & How-Tos, Facebook, Privacy :: 427 comments

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Do you have an old Facebook account that you’re no longer using with posts or pictures from your younger days that you don’t want people to see? It’s easy to delete your account if you still have access to it. But what if you can’t remember the login information?

Here are the two steps you can take to try and recover account access so you can delete your account – and the associated unwanted former memories – permanently.

1. Try to recover your Facebook password

Go to https://www.facebook.com/login/identify to search for your account. You can search by the email or phone number you used to set up the account, or just by name (the search screen doesn’t mention that option but it works, too).

If you go the name route, your account may or may not show up, depending on your privacy settings. If you don’t see it, click “I’m not on this list” and you’ll be prompted to enter the name of a friend and search again.

Once you find your old account, you’ll be able to send a reset code to any of the email addresses or phone numbers you associated with your account. If you’re not sure which email address you used, Facebook will show you a redacted version (e.g., j*******[email protected]) that should spark your memory in case it’s an old email that you don’t log into anymore.

If you don’t have access to that email address or phone number anymore, try hard to regain access to that old email account. Because it gets far bleaker from here…

2. Use Facebook’s Trusted Friends feature

If you can’t access the email address or phone number on your account, your only other hope is Facebook’s Trusted Friends feature. Launched in 2013, Trusted Friends lets you regain access to your account in case of forgotten credentials by asking three “trusted friends” to supply a reset code. The big problem with Trusted Friends is that you had to have set it up in advance for your account, which very few people have done, according to a quick check I did of my friends and other random accounts.

(To set it up for an account you still have access to: 1. Go to Settings (down arrow). 2. Go to your Security and Login Settings. 3. Scroll down to Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact if you get locked out and click Edit. 43. Click Choose friends and follow the on-screen instructions.)

If you fall into the category of one of the lucky few who set this up, when you tell Facebook that you “No longer have access to these?” on the email and phone recovery page you’ll be provided with an option to enter a new email or phone number and continue with the process.

Click “Reveal My Trusted Contacts” and type the full name of one of your trusted contacts. Facebook will then give you a special URL that each of your three friends need to access. The URL contains a recovery code to reset your account, which your friends need to provide back to you. You will need to contact your friends and provide them the URL – Facebook will not do this for you. If you can’t contact one of your trusted friends for whatever reason, you’re out of luck.

As I mentioned above, if you didn’t already set up Trusted Contacts, it’s too late now. When you tell Facebook you can’t access the email account, you won’t have the option to provide a new email address or phone number, you’ll just be told to try logging in again (in other words, you’re outta luck).

3. Report your old account as fake

While Facebook makes deleting an old account difficult, thanks to the proliferation of Facebook account spoofing, deleting a fake account is far easier. So one of our clever readers told us in the comments he reported his old account as fake and it was quickly deleted. Another reader also had success going this route.

To report your old account as fake:

Go to the profile of your old account
Click the three little dots on the bottom right of the cover photo and select "Give feedback or report this profile"
Click on "Pretending to Be Someone" and then click "Me"

Let us know in the comments if this method works for you, too.

4. There is no option four (at least no easy one)

I reached out to Facebook and they have confirmed that, for security reasons, they will only allow you to delete your account if you can access it through one of the two official methods above (or our "unofficial" workaround). Those photos of your ex-relationships, nights of drunken bacchanalia and really, really bad choices of hairstyle are going to live on forever in the Facebook universe.

However, you may be able to pursue avenues outside Facebook’s standard deletion policies. For example, if you reside in the EU, the GDPR provides the right for consumers to demand companies delete their personal information on request. And if Facebook isn’t responding to a request, you may be able to take the issue up with your country’s privacy officer.

According to Facebook’s Privacy Policy, disputes can be resolved through a third-party company called TrustArc. However, at the time of publishing this article, Facebook is blocking its own link to the TrustArc feedback form as malicious (irony noted). Instead, you can use Facebook’s Data Policy Help Center Contact form or send a snail mail letter to:

Facebook, Inc.
ATTN: Privacy Operations
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Since these aren't officially sanctioned means of getting your account deleted, we don't know what your likelihood of success will be. If you go this route, let us know how you fare in the comments below.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please do not put requests to have your Facebook account deleted in the comments. We cannot delete your account – you must follow the steps with Facebook we outlined above.

[Image credit: Facebook login via BigStockPhoto]

Permanently Delete Your Facebook Account

If you have additional Facebook profiles and delete or deactivate your Facebook account, you can also delete or deactivate all profiles under your account. Learn how to delete or deactivate individual profiles.

What happens if I permanently delete my Facebook account?

You won't be able to reactivate your account

Your profile, photos, posts, videos, and everything else you've added will be permanently deleted. You won't be able to retrieve anything you've added.

You'll no longer be able to use Facebook Messenger.

You won't be able to use Facebook Login for other apps you may have signed up for with your Facebook account, like Spotify or Pinterest. You may need to contact the apps and websites to recover those accounts.

Some information, like messages you sent to friends, may still be visible to them after you delete your account. Copies of messages you have sent are stored in your friends' inboxes.

If you use your Facebook account to log in to Oculus, deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Oculus information. This includes your app purchases and your achievements. You will no longer be able to return any apps and will lose any existing store credits.

What if I don't want all my content deleted, but I want to take a break from Facebook?

You can take a break from Facebook and temporarily deactivate your account. When you temporarily deactivate your account:

People won't be able to see or go to your Facebook profile.

Your photos, posts and videos won't be deleted.

You can still use Facebook Messenger. Your profile picture will still be visible in your conversations and people will still be able to search for you by name to send you a message. You will continue to appear to friends on Facebook in places where they can message you.

You can still use Facebook Login for your other apps, like Spotify, Pinterest or Games.

You will not be able to use your Facebook account to access Oculus Products or your Oculus information.

You can choose to come back whenever you want.

Learn how to temporarily deactivate your account.

Learn how to permanently delete your Facebook account.

We're currently updating our Facebook settings. Facebook settings may not look the same for everyone.

Delete your Facebook account through your Facebook Settings

To permanently delete your account:

Log into Facebook from a computer.

Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.

Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.

Click Your Facebook Information.

Click Deactivation and Deletion.

Choose Delete Account, then click Continue to account deletion.

Click Delete Account, enter your password and then click Continue.

Can I cancel my account deletion?

If it's been less than 30 days since you initiated the deletion, you can cancel your account deletion. After 30 days, your account and all your information will be permanently deleted, and you won't be able to retrieve your information.

It may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all the things you've posted. While we're deleting this information, it's not accessible to other people using Facebook.

Copies of your information may remain after the 90 days in backup storage that we use to recover in the event of a disaster, software error, or other data loss event. We may also keep your information for things like legal issues, terms violations, or harm prevention efforts. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

To cancel your account deletion:

Log into your Facebook account within 30 days of deleting your account.

Click Cancel Deletion.

How to restore access to your Facebook account

You cannot log in to your Facebook account ? There may be several reasons: Your account may have been deactivated, hacked, or you simply forgot your password or the email address associated with your account. In this article, we will tell you how to restore access to Facebook account .

How to solve the problem with logging into your Facebook account
- Using email address or phone number
- What to do if your contact details have changed
- Via Facebook Support
What to do if your Facebook account has been hacked
- What to do if your account was blocked by Facebook itself

How to solve a problem with logging into your Facebook account

Using an email address or phone number

To recover your account using your email address or phone number, go to the Facebook home page and under the password field, click Forgot your account? (Forgotten account?) and enter the email address or phone number associated with your Facebook account.

If Facebook recognized your profile automatically, you only need to reset your password using the confirmation code. Choose whether you want to receive a verification code to your email address or phone number. Select the desired method and press Continue (Continue).

Once you receive the code, enter it in the field Enter the code (Enter the Code) and press Continue (Continue). You can now change your Facebook password and reactivate your account.

If Facebook does not recognize your profile, go to the Facebook recovery page, enter your Facebook email address or phone number to identify your account. Then follow the instructions above to reset your password and regain access to your account.

What to do if your contact details have changed

If you have changed the email address or phone number associated with your Facebook account, the recovery process will take a little more time and effort.

If you find your account but don't have access to your email address or phone number, press Can't access them? (No longer have access to these?) at the bottom of the popup.

Following the instructions, enter your current phone number or email address and click Continue (Continue) so that Facebook can contact you.

Then press Reveal my trusted contacts (Reveal my trusted contacts) are your close friends who can verify your identity - and enter the full name of the contact you selected. If you spelled it correctly, Facebook will display a list of all your trusted contacts, and you can contact them to get three security codes .

If this procedure was successful, you can create a new password and link your Facebook account with your new phone number or email address.

Via Facebook Support

If you are still unable to recover your Facebook account using the above method, go to the Facebook Support Page, upload a photo (in JPEG format) of your ID card or passport , email address or phone number that was previously associated with your Facebook account and click Send (Send).

Note . If you no longer have access to your old email address or phone number, please report the issue to [email protected] and wait for Facebook support to resolve it.

What to do if your Facebook account has been hacked

If your account was compromised , the hackers may have changed your password and you will not be able to log in. But even in this case, you can restore access using the old password.

First of all, report to that your account has been hacked - to do this, select the option My account has been hacked (My Account Is Compromised). You will then be able to use your old password to log in. After that, change the password to a new one.

Important : Use strong passwords to protect your account; You can also use dedicated password management apps and use 2-step verification.

What to do if your account was blocked by Facebook itself

Cases of blocking user accounts by the service itself have become more frequent. In most cases, the reason for blocking is that the social network algorithm sees violations of the rules of use in the user's actions. In this article, we explain in detail what these cases are and what can be done if your account is blocked.

How to permanently delete a Facebook account? Instructions with screenshots

The difference between deletion and deactivation

Deactivation acts as a temporary account freeze. For example, you decided to go to the mountains and indulge in a digital detox without Facebook and constant notifications, but you know for sure that in a couple of months you will return and you will need an account with all contacts and messages. By the way, about messages - when you delete your Facebook profile, you will also delete the link to Messenger, which will lead to the loss of all dialogs and data in correspondence. Therefore, if an account on FB is no longer needed, but private messages are a different matter, then you can use the account deactivation option instead of deleting it.

Read related: How to delete old posts from Facebook Timeline

How to deactivate a Facebook account

From the web version

menu) and select "Settings", or simply follow this link.

Click "Edit" on the "Account Management" block

And click "Deactivate Account" at the very bottom of this settings block.

To prevent your account from being deactivated by a colleague who doesn't really like you, but left his work computer on, Facebook will ask you to enter the current account password, and only after that the account will be deactivated. Messenger will keep its performance and history of correspondence, but when you again want to share your thoughts, mood or tell Mark what's new, you can always activate your account again, completely restoring all the data.

From the mobile app

Tap the hamburger menu on the bottom bar of the app, then Settings & Privacy > Settings.

Next, you need the "Account Management" menu item. By the way, on the current screen, you can use the application to download the archive of the data you downloaded.

And in "Account Management" - the section "Deactivation and deletion".

After that, it remains only to finally decide on the decision about deactivation or removal by selecting the appropriate item.

How to delete an entire Facebook account

If you have definitely decided that you will no longer need it, as well as Messenger (leave - so leave), then instead of deactivating your account, which still leaves the possibility of rolling everything back, it would be preferable for you to delete the entire account, without the possibility of recovery.

Read related: How to permanently delete accounts from Twitter, Instagram and TikTok

From the web version

In the same way as during deactivation, go to the general Facebook settings, but from the "General" tab go to "Your information on Facebook". Here you can also request an archive of all information for downloading to your computer, if you definitely don’t feel sorry for the account, but all those hundreds of photos, records, notes and comments are a pity. The social network will create an archive of all this data for you, which can be downloaded before deleting your account.

On the deletion page, you will once again be asked to deactivate your account instead of deleting it, just in case, if you need Messenger, and also to download the archive with the information you uploaded.

You can then unzip the data file and make sure that everything is actually saved - from your saved objects and links and account information to all photos (taking into account the nesting hierarchy of your albums) and Likes and list friends at the time of account deletion.

If you have thought it all over and decided to permanently delete your account, all that remains is to press the appropriate button and then enter the account password for confirmation.

If you suddenly change your mind about deleting after deletion (yes, this also happens), then you will have 30 days to restore your account, you just need to log into it and click "Cancel deletion" on the page that appears after logging in .

Well, if within a month after the deletion you have not decided to restore your account, then you will not be able to do it after.

From the phone

All steps are similar to account deactivation, except for the final one - you just need to select "Account deletion" instead of "Account deactivation".

This is about deleting a profile, that is, a personal page. In addition, sometimes it becomes necessary to delete the company page.

How to delete a business page on Facebook

From the web version

First of all, you need to go to the page that you administer and click on the "Settings" menu.

To delete a page, you need the lowest item in the general settings block.